Join Mayor Ballantyne in celebration and the Somerville Arts Council tonight for their Local Cultural Council grant season and awards. Meet and network with the 2024 LCC grant awardees, LCC review panelists, and Arts Council staff and board. Wednesday, February 21, 6:30 p.m. Join in to celebrate these awardees and this community process at Warehouse XI, 11 Sanborn Court, Union Square. https://fb.me/e/8c7woC2eY.

The Pintar Maletas Workshop, led by Laidy Saenz, will take place on Saturday, February 24, at the Somerville Museum.

Globally, one out of seven people are immigrants, refugees, or migrants. Migration refers to the movement between two locations whether by choice or involuntarily. It may take time to plan travel or happen quickly. A suitcase or bag is often the beginning of this journey.

Eagle Feathers #298 – Poor Richard

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

E Pluribus Unum, the Latin phrase meaning “Out of many, one” is on the Great Seal of the United States and was proposed to and accepted by the Continental Congress in August, 1776. The motto meant that one indivisible nation, the United States of America, was being formed from thirteen separate colonies. One of the three men assigned with creating the seal of this emerging country was Benjamin Franklin. 

After so many years of discussion, argument, and finally tentative agreement, plans for the demolition of the much-maligned McCarthy Overpass and the subsequent reconstruction of that particular stretch of McGrath Highway are now fully under development thanks to funding secured by MassDOT.

The plans call for extensive renovation of the roadway, inclusion of bike lanes and lots of greenery to help beautify the area.

*

Kaleidoscope: Queer Visions is a call for art, sponsored by the Mass Cultural Council, the Somerville Local Cultural Council, and the Boston Figurative Art Center.

*

Recently I caught up with musician, therapist, and poet Melissa Nilles. Her latest project is the Ruby Grove Band. Like many artists in our community she juggles a lot of things to make the daily nut, but her music is her passion, and she makes sure it stays a big part of her life.

*

Katie Mihalek is a writer living in Somerville, MA. She has earned a M.S. in Medical Sciences from Boston University and is an MFA Candidate at Emerson College in Creative Writing. She has received support from the Kenyon Review Writers Workshop and the Southampton Writers Conference, and is the current Editor-in-Chief for Redivider. Her work can be found in Sheila-Na-Gig, Spectrum, Mistake House Magazine, Beyond Words, and others. Her chapbook, Aurora Uteralis, is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press in 2024.

The City of Somerville Anti-Displacement Task Force presents a virtual night of Uplifting Youth Experiences: a special set of presentations from the Department of Racial & Social Justice’s Youth League and students from the Harvard Kennedy School, John F. Kennedy School of Government. The presenting groups will be providing the task force and the community an opportunity to listen to research and perspectives on displacement and gentrification from our youth.