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© 2021 The Somerville Times. All rights reserved.
The mural in the roadway is a source of pride for some, and irritation for others who reside near this section of Hudson St.
By Erin Wade
Last summer, a community group came together to design and paint a Somerville Neighborway mural on Hudson St., a quiet one-way that runs parallel to Highland Avenue between Cedar and Central streets, like other groups have done on Willoughby Street and similar roads near Hudson where there is light traffic and cars move below the speed limit.
But the Hudson Street mural is now a sore spot for a community that has spent almost a year engaged in back-and-forths about whether the on-street art is trash or treasure and whether notification of neighbors was enough for approval of a permanent addition to the street.
“This is hands down a communication issue,” said Chandler Philpott, who was involved with organizing the mural, in an email Sunday.
The street-wide conflict began shortly after the mural was painted on the pavement outside 137-141 Hudson St. early last September.
Alicia Amaral, whose house is adjacent to the mural, said she was never notified that the large, colorful mural would be painted, and that two or three fliers mentioning potlucks or block parties and, in smaller font, discussions or painting of a mural were insufficient notification of such a major change to the area directly in front of her home.
She believes better notification may have gone out via email – a fact that several people involved in the design and painting of the mural have verified – but said she’s not part of the Hudson St. email list.
“Apparently, there’s some kind of Listserv that’s Yahoo Groups, or something like that, that I’m not on,” Amaral said, clarifying that an old email address may be subscribed to the email list but that she no longer has access to the account.
Amaral, whose driveway leads directly to the spot – known as “the bend” – where the mural was painted, said she and at least three other residents of Hudson Street, including other direct abutters of the mural, are concerned that it encourages kids to play in the street, lowers property values and, with Amaral noting that “there’s no accounting for taste,” is simply an eyesore.
The mural is circular and features a labyrinth at its center, a layer of painted tulips and an outside ring of rabbits. Amaral describes it as being “Easter themed” – its colors are reminiscent of an Easter egg, with bright purples, blues, yellows and reds.
Mark Chase, a co-founder of Somerville Neighborways and lecturer in Tufts University’s Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, and Adam Polinski, a transportation analyst for the city of Somerville, say that there’s no real risk to pedestrians standing inside the Hudson Street mural, because it’s almost entirely out of the flow of traffic.
“If a car wants to not hit other cars and go around that bend correctly, they’re going to almost completely avoid the mural,” Polinski said over the phone. “From our standpoint, the cars are going slow and they’re avoiding that mural if they’re driving in a manner that is conducive to their own safety.”
Polinski said that most of the cars on Hudson Street are traveling between 19 and 23 mph, below the 25 mph speed limit for the road. Chase said he found that at the bend, 85 percent of drivers are at speeds of less than 18 mph.
All of this adds up to a small number of car crashes in the last seven years – 18 on Hudson St. overall, since 2010, with only three happening on non-intersection stretches of the road, like the bend where the mural is, according to Polinski. Polinski said that none of those three crashes resulted in injuries or involved a pedestrian or a cyclist.
“As far as Somerville’s streets go, Hudson St. is very safe. The crash data backs that up, the speeds back that up,” Polinski said.
But Amaral said she and her neighbors are also concerned about backing their cars out of their driveways, which empty directly onto the mural, and potentially hitting someone playing on the mural whom they didn’t see.
Chase acknowledged that problems arising from blind spots while reversing out of a driveway are real, but Polinski said that these types of crashes are often avoidable and rarely result in serious injury because of low speeds.
“We want to believe that people will look and use appropriate action when backing out of their driveways and that everyone involved in the situation will take the necessary action to ensure that something like that doesn’t happen,” Polinski said.
Community leaders who chose the spot in the bend for the mural, like Melissa Dullea, another abutter of the mural, note that it has always been used as an area to gather and play.
“It’s a neighborhood focal point where we have our summer block party, potluck and Somerville Sunsetters concert,” Dullea said in an email.
But that doesn’t change the fact that Amaral and others on the street dislike the aesthetics of the mural and feel left out of the process of creating it.
“I would’ve loved to have gotten to know my neighbors and participated in the community and had something that I could be – that would be really cool there, or something that we could all enjoy. But, that’s the saddest part about it,” Amaral said.
Chase said that, since the issues on Hudson St. began to arise, a new process has been put in place requiring that all residents of homes directly next to proposed Neighborways sign off on mural designs because the goal of Somerville Neighborways is to bring neighbors together and build community.
“I would say that that’s the change that’s happened from Neighborways’ standpoint,” Chase said. “Now, as I’m moving forward, I’m like, ‘You’ve got to continually invite people to be involved, no matter how late in the process you are.’”
Paula Woolley, who helped to paint the mural and has lived on Hudson St. since 1996, said in an email that she hopes the group can find a solution that works for everyone on the street.
“I’m very sorry that the mural came to be a divisive issue on the street for a few people, and I hope we can all work together to design and paint a new one, after the gas work is finally finished on our street,” Woolley said.
As of now, Chase and Amaral say that the redesign process has stalled because of pushback from some of the other critics of the mural.
But Chase continues to work with other community groups in different parts of Somerville, and beyond, to design more murals. As he does, he tells project leaders the story of what’s happened – and is continuing to happen – on Hudson Street, as a way to drive home the point that communication with abutters of planned projects is key to the success of a Neighborway.
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Was never know as the bend. It was always called the circle before the yuppies came in. All the neighborhood kids would always play in that spot.
“…..these types of crashes rarely result in serious injury” are you kidding? What do you call serious? If you’re elderly, a child, pregnant, etc., etc. Any injury is serious. If it causes someone to miss work it’s serious. What a ridiculous, insensitive thing to say.
Yes, was always called the circle. Light traffic and slow speed? Try viewing in September when school starts and vacations are over in the morning between 7:30-9AM. Chalk not paint should have been chosen and let the artist change it up every year. This is graffiti and needs to be removed. Can I circulate an approval form and paint sports emblems of my non Boston favorite teams? This was a nice idea but poorly executed.
The mural is unsightly. I live in Somerville and have for 50 years and I would NOT want that in front of my house. Put it in front of the so called Mayor’s house and see if he likes it, I don’t think so. It has to go. Put it in a playground or the parking lot at the old Cummings School that will brighten up that area for sure.
Amen, looking before moving a car, in any direction, is required by law I believe. Are you pretending comments about accidents that haven’t happened are insensitive? That’s as silly as being upset about paint on the street. I’ve lived here almost 35years and believe me, there used to be lots of kids that actually played in the streets here and didn’t get run over. If people can’t look out for pedestrians while driving, those people shouldn’t be driving.
I live on Hudson st and have for my whole life 35 years. I will say the circle is a place we played at all day in the summer and now that this ugly painting is on the ground I agree it would Per tray a place to play for kids and I would never let my kids play in the circle like I did with the cars that fly down Hudson she on a daily basis especially during the school year when people cut down Hudson sto by pass highland Ave in the morning. I think this was poorly organized and wouldn’t be for another mural to be painted.
Thanks
Hudson St lifer
So much anger about so many things. This doesn’t sound as much about a mural as it does a few bitter and hateful people yelling and screaming, lying and criticizing. It’s a big drawing in the street that 30 or 40 people worked on, kids and adults, to try to make something nice. I live on Hudson Street (20+ years) and when I walk by I see adults, teens, and kids playing on this thing every single day – no exaggeration. With all the loud and messy demolition and construction, year after year, the never ending gas line repairs and street closures, potholes and sidewalks in need of repair – and the thing someone focuses on is a colorful mural drawn in the street? The problem is not the mural but the unkind and critical person(s) who only want to tear down something positive. SAD!
I lived on Hudson Street for several years, before the mural was done, but still know a number of people there. I remember it being a friendly neighborhood, lots of families and kids, where I always felt welcome by both old and new old residents. Kids played football in the street and sledded down the alley 40 years ago, and today they play Frisbee and walk the labyrinth. I saw the mural on Google Street View and it looks like a happy addition to the street. It seems to me that the mural is a symbol that represents families and kids. It tells people that this is a *neighborhood*, not a cut-through for people trying to save time by avoiding Highland Ave. I know there are others that see Hudson Street as a real estate investment and as an opportunity to make money at the expense of the neighborhood. They may be developers, condo/townhouse owners, or landlords, but their priorities are mainly to insure increasing property value and to portray the street as being a hip place where other highly paid professionals should come to buy high and sell higher. I hope that the family-oriented contingent of the street continues to make it kid and family friendly. And I hope that those without kids or family will value those kids that play there and are excited about the mural, and that they will drive safely and back out of their driveways slowly and carefully.
This is a lovely mural. Anyone who would be against having it here hates art, culture, and people.
Ugh! What an eyesore. First of all, permission – in writing – from each and every resident in the area should be obtained before such a thing is done. Then, if it goes ahead, PLEASE get a competent artist/designer to execute a visually agreeable design. This thing looks like a half-baked throwback to 60’s/70’s hippy-dippy pseudo-art. Anyone who thinks this thing is aesthetically pleasing is off their rocker.
It is graffiti plain and simple.
What I find interesting is the blatant lie that Ms. Amaral insists on telling over and over that she would have like to have been involved. She was invited before the painting began, repeatedly. After if was finished she repeatedly told complete strangers (myself included) that it would be removed. She was also invited to partake in the redesign process but refuses to do so unless it is first painted over. The city even offered to hire a professional mediator to help the discussion between Ms. Amaral and neighbors who worked on the mural. Again, she refused. She is a bitter, un-neighborly, unfriendly woman who really is not interested in the sense of community that this street has.
Art is very subjective, and not every single person will be pleased with a final design. What did happen was that 40+ neighbors came together to offer ideas and this was the final result.
Reply to “Interested in Public Art”. Ms. Amaral is not lying. Even the city counsel members AND the organizers of the program have admitted that they made a mistake by not properly informing all neighbors. The leader of the Neighborways program met with Ms. Amaral and APOLOGIZED for the lack of communication, and he openly admitted that the communication should have been better, and ALL neighbors should have been informed and that there should’ve been a vote. The fact that you are accusing her of lying is infuriating because you are very wrong.
She received a flyer about a “block party”, but that’s all she received ahead of time. There was no indication on the flyer that there was going to be a large PERMANENT easter-themed mural directly in front of her house. She was NOT informed about the art work prior to it being painted, and that’s why we have this problem. She should’ve received a formal CERTIFIED LETTER from the city ASKING FOR HER VOTE on the matter. Many other neighbors have corroborated her story, reporting that they too experienced the same lack of notification.
Think about it, why would she “pretend” to not know that was going to be permanently painted on the street? She would’ve stopped it from the beginning if that was the case. She’s also willing to work together on a NEW design, something that EVERYONE can agree with, and not just your exclusive neighborhood clique.
The ugly art affects her property value. Even though some people like it, other people don’t like it at all (see some of the comments above) and therefore that reduces the pool of possible renters or buyers in the future. As a property owner myself, I would not want that horrendous eyesore in front of my house, especially if I was not given the opportunity to vote on it ahead of time.
How would you feel if I painted something that you don’t like in front of your house, permanently, and didn’t bother to tell you about it, aside from an invitation to a “block party” with no indication of a permanent street painting?
“Again, she refused. She is a bitter, un-neighborly, unfriendly woman who really is not interested in the sense of community that this street has.”
Do not talk about her like that. She does care about the community. You pretend to have the moral high ground but it did not take long for you to descend into personal insults, because that’s all you have. Guess what, that’s *not an argument*.
Congratulations. The Neighborways program has officially backfired due to the non-inclusive, self-centered, elitist attitudes of the organizers.
To Interested in Public Art: This is exactly what I meant when I said the saddest part of this situation is the division in the community. There was no call for the nasty things you said about me behind the cloak of anonymity. For the record, every word I said was the truth. You have no basis to say that I was asked to be included. As for being bitter, un-neighborly, unfriendly and not interested in the community, you have no basis for that either because you don’t know me. I hope to see you at the next neighborhood gathering. Perhaps we can discuss this like amicable adults and not over comments on the internet.
There are three houses directly adjacent to the mural. Two out of the three homeowners do not like the mural and they are upset that they were not properly informed ahead of time and were not involved in the decision-making process.
I was at both of the public counsel meetings. There is a consensus that lack of proper communication by the organizers was the root cause of this dispute. This conclusion was agreed upon by the city representatives and the head of the Neighborways program. In terms of future projects, they said that they are going to improve communication and will make sure to obtain sign-off from all neighbors who live nearby, especially the property owners who live directly adjacent to the location of the artwork. They said that’s the process that “should have” happened in this case.
Going forward on Hudson street, it is important to make sure that all neighbors are able to work together constructively to create a new plan that everyone can agree upon, especially those who live closest to the location of the project.
If people put more of their time and effort into things that really matter instead of complaining about things like this, just imagine what they could accomplish.
It just seems that putting things into perspective, a street mural is the least anyone has to complain about in this city.
Paint it black!