Portrait Series Celebrates the Faces of Villa Victoria

Artist Francisco De la Barra honors Villa Victoria's residents in his solo show.

Billowy faces, replicating Villa Victoria’s current residents, line the walls of the art center’s Galeria. There’s Maria Flores, an outspoken woman in a elegant hat who runs a senior dance group in the neighborhood. And Trevor, a young Haitian boy from a large family who, upon seeing his portrait, decided he would become an artist. Each image tells a different story, but it was a focus on the community as a whole that motivated Francisco De la Barra, the exhibit’s solo artist. “A lot of individual decisions I made in each painting were influenced by things I saw in Villa Victoria,” said De la Barra during a recent interview. “When painting a particular face, I did think about that person, but most of the time was thinking of the Villa.” …

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Patch Passport

Hidden Gem: The Piano Factory [VIDEO]

The former piano factory was converted into artist lofts in 1974.

Its massive presence has stood on Tremont Street since 1853. Once the Chickering Piano Factory, it was converted to an artist community known as the Piano Craft Guild in 1974. The Gallery, with its wood beams and stone columns, showcases the work of Boston’s finest young talent. “It’s the pulse of the building,” says James de Crescentis, current director of the gallery. “It extends to the neighborhood and community - at times people just wander in from the street when they see the activity inside.” Famed, right-brained prodigies have been known to dwell here. Well-known artists like Paul Goodnight, Milton Derr, Ken Beck, and Catherine McCarthy currently call the surrounding lofts home. And the original members of Blue Man Group once …

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Christopher Treacy

1:23 pm on Monday, July 25, 2011

Well done, Mich - video is really carefully edited and the feel of the gallery comes across quite nicely.   more ›

IFFBoston Spotlight

IFFBoston Highlight: Hungry, Humble & Focused

A local documentarian honors a Roxbury basketball team and its father-figure coach in "Push: Madison vs. Madison."

Attendees of “Push: Madison vs. Madison” poured into the two-level viewing room of the Somerville Theatre this past Saturday night. Locals greeted one another as Coach Dennis Wilson, the real-life lead of the documentary, walked up and down the aisles shaking hands with former students and neighborhood friends. It was a family affair – and Coach Wilson, a Roxbury-native, was the patriarch. The film tells the story of the 2007 undefeated season of Roxbury’s Madison Park Vocational High School basketball team. It follows the Madison Park Cardinals and their attempt at a first-time state championship, while uncovering each player’s personal struggles of living in the inner-city. Raheem Singleton, Jakeen Cobb, and David Daniels, former members…

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IFFBoston Spotlight

IFFBoston Highlight: Unraveling a Local Genius

"Heaven+Earth+Joe Davis" follows the life and mind of MIT researcher and science-artist, Joe Davis.

A man with a self-made peg-leg, wearing a yellow raincoat and pants, washes dishes in return for beer at the Plough & Stars in Cambridge. He has also re-written DNA code and created an aircraft through electrically-powered frog legs. Joe Davis, the indefinable character, may have remained an enigma if not for “Heaven+Earth+Joe Davis,” the intimate documentary on this pioneer of science and art. Writer/Director Peter Sasowsky presents audiences with a collage of family and peer interviews and childhood video footage thoughtfully laced into a visual diary of Joe at work in his research labs and art studios. A man who literally muscled his way into MIT as an unpaid research affiliate and lecturer continues that role today - some 20 years …

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IFFBoston Spotlight

Gallery: IFFBoston Kick-Off Party

The Independent Film Festival of Boston celebrated the start of the weekend at the Liberty Hotel.

It was night three of IFFBoston and filmmakers, actors, and industry veterans - who had already befriended one another - partied and danced late into the night at Liberty Hotel's ballroom. Old-school hip-hop was spun most of the night while attendees discussed the evening's films including "Heaven+Earth+Joe Davis," a documentary about Cambridge MIT's research scientist and artist. Another locally themed film debuted Saturday night - "Push: Madison vs. Madison," the story of a Roxbury basketball team and coach. To view the entire schedule and to purchase tickets visit iffboston.org.

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Viewfinder

Photo Gallery: A Raw Glimpse into the Boston Ballet

Early morning rehearsals are a way of life for these Boston ballerinas.

It's a new year at Boston Ballet. The shimmer of the Nutcracker has been swept from the stage - the Snow Queen's frock stored away until next winter. Spring is approaching along with a line-up of fresh performances beginning with "Elo Experience" on March 24. Company dancers continue to tirelessly train and prepare for challenging choreography. I dropped in to 19 Clarendon Street in the early morning hours to witness a women's company class held in their Grand Studio.

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Latino Center Caters to a Multi-ethnic South End

Villa Victoria Center for the Arts to celebrate Black History Month and Chinese New Year.

An unassuming church sits on the quiet side of West Newton Street in Boston’s South End. Behind the twin red doors is Villa Victoria Center for the Arts – the only multi-disciplinary Latino arts complex in New England. Adding to the contradiction, this Latino-based organization will be hosting events for both Black History Month and the Chinese New Year in February. “The population of the community has changed greatly,” says Javier Torres, Director of the non-profit. “It’s our responsibility to be responsive to the change in demographics without forgetting our Puerto Rican heritage.” Villa Victoria Center for the Arts was opened in 1986 as part of a community movement that began in the 60s. Local Puerto Rican leaders, looking to renew and …

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From Russia to the South End - Boston Ballet's Keenan Kampa

One of Boston Ballet's newest and brightest dancers opens up about her career and daily life in the hub.

Keenan Kampa could be an average blond-haired, blue-eyed 21-year-old woman - except that she's the first American to graduate from the prestigious Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia. Keenan talks to Patch about her first year as a professional dancer - and life as an exceptional, ordinary girl. What's a typical day like for you, as a Boston Ballet dancer? We have technique class each morning from 9:45-11:15 a.m. I'll usually get to the studios thirty to forty-five minutes before in order to stretch and warm-up. Once class has finished, we have rehearsals throughout the day from 11:35-6:30 p.m. When we are performing in the theater, our schedule varies slightly depending on the time of the performance. How has your experience…

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