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Posted by Katie Hargrave | April 7th, 2010
For the past year, the Action Mill has been coordinating a community engaged research project in Davis Square, Somerville, a neighborhood just outside of Boston. The project began because two Action Mill members were living in the area (Nick grew up there and still calls Davis Square home, and Katie was attending graduate school in Boston and living there because of its relatively cheap rents and proximity to the T). We were interested in looking back to the time before the MBTA expanded into this neighborhood, a move that drove up rents and pushed many of the longstanding old guard out.
When the MBTA built the T stop in Davis Square, there was a program that set aside one half of one percent of construction costs to provide funding for art in the subway stops. One such project was a series of ceramic tiles made by children at the Powderhouse Community School in 1978-79. That school is now closed, and many of the children have moved away. The Action Mill began collecting their stories and memories about Davis Square (then and now). The result is the Davis Square Tiles Project.
From April 1st through May 23rd, several Davis Square businesses that represent the "old" and "new" Somerville have a selection of the tile responses on display, including Diesel Cafe, Sessa's Italian Specialties, Magpie, Redbones, Johnny D's Uptown Restaurant, and Downtown Wine and Spirits.
On April 19th at 6pm, Diesel Cafe is hosting a reception for our project. If you are able to be in town on that date, join us there!
We are still collecting personal histories of everyone involved in the process of creating these tiles, and there are several ways you can help:
1) If you made a tile, please add your story to our website
2) If you know someone who made a tile, please let them know about this project or send them our way!
3) If you are interested in participating in the project further, help us find and interview a tilemaker. Sign up on our website.
Help us collect all 249! We are more than a quarter of the way to our goal!
