Medford has an ever-expanding arts community. For a long time, there was no physical center that this community could call home, which made it difficult for smaller artists to find somewhere to both create and showcase their work. However, after years of trials and setbacks, the Arts Collaborative Medford opened its doors in February, hoping to become a place for both artists and art lovers alike to enjoy.
“Our mission is to create [an] accessible, welcoming space for everybody and for all types of makers — it goes a little bit beyond artwork. It is just about us having a physical center that’s centered around creativity and also finding community,” Regina Parkinson, executive director of the Arts Collaborative Medford, said.
Parkinson explained the factors that contribute to the Collaborative’s success. Theory Wellness, a medical and recreational cannabis shop that owns the building, decreased the Collaborative’s monthly rent, allowing them to open with less financial burden. To cover other costs, the Collaborative uses local and regional grants, rentals in their studio space, partnerships with organizations such as Ready, Set, Kids! and individual donations. Parkinson noted that the Collaborative does not charge a general admissions fee at this time.
“It’s free for people to come in, and I very much plan to keep it that way. So, we have to find our balance of how we’re gonna keep the lights on and also make this as accessible as possible because I don’t want anyone to feel like they can’t come,” she said.
The Arts Collaborative Medford is home to 12 in-studio artists, who use an array of mediums from painting and photography to sculpting and jewelry making. They are also in the process of creating a music program for local and college bands, solidifying their organization as a home for art in all forms.
While Parkinson wants this to be a space for as many artists as possible — especially to award their Louise-Musto Choate scholarship which gives selected artists free studio space for one year — she wants her in-studio artists to create a strong foundation within the Collaborative.
“It is a hope that [artists] come in here with a sense to build community, and they stick around to see that through,” she said.
To widen the scope of their community outside of artists, the Collaborative holds workshops with an occasional fee, open to anyone who signs up. Parkinson emphasized their importance along with some struggles the Collaborative has faced in getting them off the ground.
“It’s easy to be impatient, quite frankly. We don't have our max capacity on our workshops when I think that we should sometimes. I do think we are slowly getting there, and we do have a core following,” Parkinson said. “We have some generous community members that see the value, they have given us money and they keep coming back for the workshops on top of that.”
On Saturday, a mending workshop hosted by Mystic Makerspace — a project of Arts Medford focused on providing a creative and educational community for adults — took place in the Collaborative.
Kerri Babish, a Medford resident and one of the main instructors from Mystic Makerspace, discussed how workshops like this are a way to achieve important connections between different generations.
“I really love the fact that [for] Mystic Makerspace in particular, our mission is to work with adults,” Babish said. “I love being in spaces where I’m learning from people who are older or younger than me. So I would invite [locals and Tufts students] to this space because that’s what this is: another place where that’s possible.”
The mending workshop was scheduled for an hour and a half. After attendees had finished trickling in, people were pretty quiet — as to be expected in a room full of strangers. However, as time passed, conversation became lively and progressed from how these clothes could be mended to why they needed mending in the first place. People discussed their jobs, kids, hobbies and hardships; once the time was up, many stayed until the room had to be vacated. Both local residents and Tufts students left with fewer strangers in the world.
Kerri Babish assists an attendee of the mending workshop.
Arlington resident Katerina Cai attended the mending workshop. There for practical purposes, she found the experience both educational and collaborative.
“I’m learning skills that I can really put into use,” Cai said. “They are actually relatively accessible skills, so I feel like I’m also understanding it, and the people have been really encouraging, helpful and friendly in describing them to me.”
Local resident Jamie Ryan came to the workshop to fix up some pants he needed for his work in house painting. Now retired from a 30-year-long career as a firefighter, Ryan is in the process of joining the Collaborative to explore his interest in art.
While the local community members outnumbered Tufts students, there were a few Tufts students in attendance. Max, a senior at Tufts with an interest in crafting, wanted to attend an event in the local community and settled on the Collaborative’s mending workshop.
Max highlighted the positive influence that Medford and Somerville have on Tufts despite the negative impact the University can have in return. They expressed that attending events such as this mending workshop could help bridge the gap between Tufts and its host communities.
This is the first time that Mystic Makerspace has hosted an event in the Collaborative. Babish discussed how the Collaborative has allowed for their organization to have a further reach.
“We do have a lot of our workshops at the library, which is fantastic because it’s central, but it’s not convenient for every part of the city,” she said. “It’s just really nice to have different spaces that are accessible to different parts [of the community].”
Babish is hopeful that Mystic Makerspace will hold future workshops within the Collaborative for locals and Tufts students to attend.
Outside of the workshops, the Collaborative has formed a connection with the Tufts School of the Museum of Fine Arts. Parkinson explained past and present exhibits involving the SMFA’s graphic novel club and bookmaking class. She attributed the formation of the relationship with the SMFA to Collaborative board member Gary Roberts.
“[Roberts] came in with a mission to really make that roadway clear between us and Tufts, between us and the School of Museum of Fine Arts. There’s no reason why there shouldn’t be a really strong connection,” Parkinson said.
The Collaborative has also worked closely with the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life through their Tisch Scholars Program. Parkinson wants Tufts students to know about the resources available to them at the Collaborative.
The Arts Collaborative Medford is relatively new, and Parkinson made it clear that creating a strong bond between the organization and Tufts is a priority for her.
“We are just at the beginning of a relationship with Tufts,” Parkinson said. “So if you have needs and thoughts and ideas, I want to hear from you.”
