The narrative that we've created in America doesn't contain enough of the everyday people... who are ordinary like me but doing extraordinary things. - L'Merchie Frazier On the Mass Cultural Council's Creative Minds Out Loud podcast, L'Merchie Frazier discusses how art can be transformative to the community members she works with. "My work is centered on speaking out … [Read more...]
From the Archives
Anna VQ Ross: Poetry in an Apprehensive Climate
Anna VQ Ross (Poetry Fellow '18) writes poems that confront our current climate of apprehension and disconnection in an effort "to pierce it and understand it." In this audio clip, Ross reads her poem Almost a Mothering. She also discusses the poem's origin as well as the questions that drive her work. (Though Mass Cultural Council interviewed her long before the COVID-19 … [Read more...]
Studio Views: Wen Yu
Wen Yu is a multimedia artist who utilizes research to create projects integrating art, technology, story-telling, and tangible materials. She is currently Artist in Residence at Cambridge Community Television (CCTV), where she is working with immersive media technology to explore the migration of people, culture, and ideas. Here, she discusses her latest project and the way … [Read more...]
What Does a Healthy Partnership Between Organizations and Artists Look Like?
Periodically, we pose questions about issues artists face in their work and lives. This month, we asked a group of artists and arts professionals: What does a healthy partnership between cultural organizations and local artists look like? Gabrielle Schaffner, ceramic artist Ideally, it's a lively two-way relationship. Cultural organizations have the power to magnify … [Read more...]
Cagen Luse: Drawn to Comics
Boston-based artist and illustrator Cagen Luse is the originator of Lunch Time ComiX, a biographical rendering of his family and growing up and living as a "racially ambiguous artist, father, foodie, sci-fi nerd and husband." He is also a member of Comics In Color (CiC), an organization that promotes comics by and about people of color in Boston who love comics and comic book … [Read more...]