The interior of Michelle Hallee Wong’s home near Fisher Hill is striking. Amid the white crown molding, gold-framed artwork and wooden floors dressed in large rugs with ornate patterns, the standouts are various furniture pieces she created, like the tripod side tables in the living room and the tea-caddy-turned-jewelry-boxes in the dining room. The pièce… Continue reading How a retired Brookline physician’s intricate card table won ‘best in show’ at a regional woodworking competition
Category: Features
Step by step: Local artists paint dance lessons on Brookline sidewalks
Caitlyn Kwan stood on the balls of her feet, as instructed by the footstep silhouettes painted on the ground beneath her and the directions that told her to “travel on your toes.” With her arms held out in front of her in a semicircle, she lightly walked four steps — right, left, right, left —… Continue reading Step by step: Local artists paint dance lessons on Brookline sidewalks
News in brief: New welcome booklet, Arts Commission seeks grant applicants
Booklet welcomes immigrants, new residents The town’s Immigrant Advancement Committee recently created a 30-page welcome booklet for new arrivals to the town, including refugees and immigrants, with information about local government, medical and mental health resources, schools, transportation and more. “We know that whatever your country of origin or your economic status, settling in to… Continue reading News in brief: New welcome booklet, Arts Commission seeks grant applicants
Brookline Then and Now: Sealey’s Ice Cream and Rifrullo, 1936 and 2024
[metaslider id=37046] In 1936, a former stunt flyer and air taxi operator named Lloyd Seaman, who had lost his plane in an accident, opened an ice cream shop with his wife Rhoda in the one-story commercial building at the southwest corner of Boylston and Cypress Streets. Seaman, who had worked at the Neapolitan Ice Cream… Continue reading Brookline Then and Now: Sealey’s Ice Cream and Rifrullo, 1936 and 2024
Art for the birds: Brookline’s turkey sculpture flock arrives
[metaslider id=36445] Five larger-than-life painted fiberglass turkeys are coming to a street corner near you. As part of a federally-funded, town-led project to create more public art, five artists unveiled the four-foot tall turkeys at a “Flock Party” last week, as a mascot in a turkey costume danced around outside the Marriott Courtyard in Coolidge… Continue reading Art for the birds: Brookline’s turkey sculpture flock arrives
Brookline Then and Now: The Town Website
[metaslider id=36123] In December 1996, Brookline launched its first town government website, shown in a homepage screenshot from July 1997. The site, according to an article in the Brookline TAB, “will provide Brookline residents an on-line forum for the exchange of information and ideas.” (This first town site was built and maintained for the town… Continue reading Brookline Then and Now: The Town Website
Brookline Music School marks 100 years of teaching with performances by 137 students
More than 100 performers filtered in and out of the Brookline Music School’s Kennard House on Sunday, carrying cellos, violins, and printed sheet music. As parents, families and community members looked on, the musicians performed four recitals through the afternoon and evening. The recitals, held in the Bakalar Recital Hall, spanned a wide variety of… Continue reading Brookline Music School marks 100 years of teaching with performances by 137 students
Photos: Sculptures animate Riverway Park in 25th annual Studios Without Walls exhibition
[metaslider id=35301] Sixteen sculptures were installed in Riverway Park last week, for the 25th installment of Studios Without Walls. Hosted by the Brookline Department of Public Works, the sculptures by local artists will be in place all summer until Sept 2. Studios Without Walls started in 1999 at Allandale Farm, and has grown and expanded… Continue reading Photos: Sculptures animate Riverway Park in 25th annual Studios Without Walls exhibition
Decades-old Kennedy family mural painted over without warning
A mural featuring Kennedy family photos and memorabilia that long adorned a wall in the neighborhood where John F. Kennedy was born is now gone. The owner of the building on the corner of Harvard and Thorndike Streets, which contains Anna’s Taqueria, painted over the mural in early May with no warning, to the frustration… Continue reading Decades-old Kennedy family mural painted over without warning
Gateway Arts marks 50 years of empowering artists with disabilities
[metaslider id=34724] Gateway Arts’ celebration of its 50th anniversary is continuing this month with an exhibit that spotlights its younger artists. The Brookline nonprofit organization, which provides art training, studio space and other support to people with disabilities, was founded in 1973 during the years of nationwide deinstitutionalization, when people with mental illnesses or developmental… Continue reading Gateway Arts marks 50 years of empowering artists with disabilities
In new exhibition, Brookline artist Pelle Cass displays ‘chaotic’ time-lapse photography
Pelle Cass’s most well known time-lapse photographs feature frenzied scenes of people playing sports or walking in public. Arms extend in every direction, balls fly around, and people cross in and out of frame. But the 69-year-old artist and Brookline resident would rather not venture out to snap shots – he prefers to be sitting… Continue reading In new exhibition, Brookline artist Pelle Cass displays ‘chaotic’ time-lapse photography
Brookline Then and Now: Looking east down Heath Street from Hammond Street
[metaslider id=33853] The large house behind the stone wall in the older picture was built in the 1750s by members of a religious movement known as New Lights. It served as their meeting house and as the home of their deacon, farmer and shoemaker Elhanen Winchester, and his large family. Heath Street, on the right… Continue reading Brookline Then and Now: Looking east down Heath Street from Hammond Street
Photos: Lunar New Year celebration at the Brookline Public Library
[metaslider id=31828] On Saturday at the Coolidge Corner Library, a big crowd watched as the Gund Kwok Asian Women’s Lion and Dragon Dance Troupe put on a spectacular “lion dance” as part of the weeks of Lunar New Year festivities. The holiday, celebrated in China and other Asian countries, celebrates the first new moon of… Continue reading Photos: Lunar New Year celebration at the Brookline Public Library
Brookline Then and Now: Brookline Avenue, from streetcars to buses
[metaslider id=31970] The older photo, which is undated, shows a streetcar coming down the tracks on Brookline Avenue on its way from Governor’s Square (now Kenmore Square) to Brookline Village. Connections could then be made to other lines going east to the Back Bay via lower Washington Street, west to Newton via Boylston Street, or… Continue reading Brookline Then and Now: Brookline Avenue, from streetcars to buses
Hanging in Boston’s City Hall, a Brookline artist’s work makes a statement about sustainability
Walk into Boston City Hall and look up. Suspended above the ground in the cavernous concrete building hangs an art installation, woven from colorful synthetic materials leftover from a convention center trade show. The installation curves in the air, hanging above employees and visitors at City Hall as they sip coffee. It’s the art of… Continue reading Hanging in Boston’s City Hall, a Brookline artist’s work makes a statement about sustainability
Amid a statewide migrant shelter crisis, one family in need finds a temporary home in Brookline
As a flood of migrants overwhelms shelters and other resources in Massachusetts, one family that had been sleeping on the floor at Logan Airport has found refuge in the six-bedroom home of a Brookline couple whose nest has started to empty. For the family – 34-year-old Anthonyne, 38-year-old Edner, 15-year-old Naika, and 6-year-old Eduardo –… Continue reading Amid a statewide migrant shelter crisis, one family in need finds a temporary home in Brookline
Coolidge Corner art gallery closes after cannabis shop abruptly ends agreement
The Brookline Arts Center has been forced to close its gallery in Coolidge Corner, after the cannabis dispensary where it has been located elected not to renew an agreement slated to end on Jan. 31. The BAC, a 60-year-old nonprofit that offers art classes, exhibitions and outreach programs, had partnered with Sanctuary Medicinals to use… Continue reading Coolidge Corner art gallery closes after cannabis shop abruptly ends agreement
Brookline Then and Now: The Candler Cottage, 447 Washington Street
[metaslider id=28381] The Candler Cottage, built in 1850, was designed by architect Richard Bond. The sketch of the house appeared that year in the book “American Cottage and Villa Architecture.” The first owners were Susan Candler, a widow, and her brother, Dr. Charles Wheelwright. Wheelwright, a naval surgeon, described the house in a letter. “It… Continue reading Brookline Then and Now: The Candler Cottage, 447 Washington Street
Who’s behind the colorful utility boxes popping up around Brookline?
Wondering why 10 utility boxes around town have turned colorful over the past few weeks? It’s part of a town-led effort to make Brookline more photogenic and “visually vibrant” by enlisting artists to brighten up drab parts of public infrastructure. Funded by $225,000 from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), the town set out… Continue reading Who’s behind the colorful utility boxes popping up around Brookline?
Brookline Then and Now: Boylston Street East of Cypress Street
[metaslider id=26105] These photos show the north side of Boylston Street from Cameron Street, on the right, to Cypress Street. The building on the left in both photos is just across Cypress Street. It was featured in an earlier Then and Now and is the only building in the older photo that is still standing.… Continue reading Brookline Then and Now: Boylston Street East of Cypress Street