Natick Report

More than you really want to know about Natick, Mass.

TCAN annual meeting goes virtual on June 3

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(Update: Meeting video embedded below)

The Center for the Arts in Natick (TCAN) invites members, donors, sponsors and patrons to its livestreamed annual meeting on June 3 at 7pm.

While TCAN’s in-person events have been scrapped of late due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization has been offering livestreamed concerts and films. It continues to schedule in-person events as well in hopes that the health crisis subsides.

At its annual meeting, TCAN leaders will  “reflect on the accomplishments of the previous year and share plans for the future.”

If they know the future, we’re all ears…

TCAN

More: Wellesley electrical boxes coming alive

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LOVE 01760 reveals where & when Natick art installation will be

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heart artists natick center

Natick’s feel-good LOVE 01760 community art project, which has solicited hundreds of handmade half hearts from residents and organizations across town, has announced that it will make the hearts full and display them publicly from July 16-Aug. 9 on the pedestrian bridge in Natick Center. Last year, the bridge was adorned with hundreds of flowers stitched together to form a tunnel of love.

Laminating, documentation and more work remains to be done in the 6 weeks before the hearts go public,  including the collection of those in honor of graduating high school seniors (due June 5) that will be transformed into a newfangled yearbook. Funds are being raised to help pay for the laminating, etc.

Hearts have been popping up across town at individual homes, businesses and municipal entities, such as the police and fire departments.

Natick police heart

The hearts for the public installation are all done now, though mini hearts are still being cranked out using a template supplied by LOVE 01760.

Some 1,500 people are already part of the LOVE 01760 Facebook group, and plenty will be needed as volunteers to assemble the public art installation next month.

metro pets love 01760 heart

More: Wellesley electrical boxes coming alive

TCAN gets $40K casino apology grant; Foundation for MetroWest issues funds

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TCAN, Natick

The Center for the Arts in Natick (TCAN) has been awarded nearly $40K though the Mass Cultural Council in the first round of Gaming Mitigation grants designed to help non-profit and municipally-owned performing arts centers across Massachusetts in the face of competition for entertainment talent from the state’s casinos. Monies are being awarded to 52 outfits.

The grants are funded through gaming revenue compiled by the casinos. The funds must be used to pay for touring shows and artists—something TCAN looks forward to showcasing once live events are deemed safe again in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

More MetroWest funding news

The Foundation for MetroWest has granted over $1.25 million in emergency funds to community organizations since the COVID-19 pandemic began, much of it channeled through programs such as the MetroWest Emergency Relief Fund and Feed Framingham COVID-19 Fund to meet urgent needs related to childcare, seniors and food assistance.

The foundation said it was too tricky to break out funding specifics for Natick organizations that received funding, as some got funding through multiple sources. But this is a list of organizations that serve Natick specifically or includes Natick among the community they serve.

  • Dignity Matters
  • Lovin’ Spoonfuls’
  • Hope & Comfort
  • A Place to Turn
  • Family Promise MetroWest
  • Charles River Center
  • Natick Organic Community Farm

 

Enough with the ‘Peace,’ ‘Love’ & ‘Understanding’ rocks in South Natick

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I’d been thinking recently that it might be fun to start seeding the neighborhood with more artsy rocks bearing subversive or at least more interesting messages than the standard “Love” & “Hope” ones typically found on these painted gems. But a certain adviser suggested that might be taken as affront by those spreading cheerful and uplifting sentiments, so I held off.

I’m happy to report, however, that someone in South Natick has taken up the cause.

south natick rocks

south natick rocks

Filed Under: Art

Natick student’s art showcased at Page Waterman’s Virtual Gallery exhibit

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Pandemic can’t stop creativity, as local high school painters, potters, photographers, and sculptors have demonstrated at the 4th annual juried exhibition, NEXT UP!, taking place online at Wellesley Square’s Page Waterman Gallery through May 16. The quality and diversity in the art from the students is once again top-notch at this anticipated Virtual Gallery Experience show.

Page Waterman Gallery, Natick artists

The jurors for the show were Liliana Glenn, a Natick-based artist; Jessica Roscio, Assitant Director and Curator, Danforth Art Museum; and Chris Wood, Garden Club of America Photography Judge..

“I was impressed beyond words by the overall quality of the submissions,” Wood said. “You made our job as judges a truly challenging one. Every single piece was commendable in one way or another, and I wish we could have given each and every one of you an award. Your creativity shines, and in this uncertain time, I truly believe that art, and the good it does for our souls, is more important than ever.”

Page Waterman Gallery, Natick artist

Page Waterman Gallery manager Ryan Black said, “I want to thank the students for sharing their work with us, but I also want to take a minute to thank all of the teachers who help us organize, communicate with the students, and ultimately make Next Up possible each year. I also want to thank our wonderful jurors who took on the impossible task of awarding only a handful of these great works. I know it wasn’t easy and the process is so subjective.”

Congratulations to all winners, honorable mentions, and participants.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Art