This bike ride highlights the new, improved, and proposed Jamaica Pond region parkways and trails.  The ride will include the new Casey Arborway project, Franklin Park, Forest Hills Cemetery, and the Roslindale Gateway Path.  Representatives from the City of Boston, MassDOT, and DCR will be providing updates on the ride.

Ride departs at 5:30pm from the Jamaica Pond Boat House.

Leader – Charlotte Fleetwood

TBD

Leaders – David Loutzenheiser, Jamie Errickson, Joel Barrera

Meeting at West Concord commuter rail station at 3pm

The Minuteman, Bruce Freeman, and Assabet Trails are close to being built out in this area.  They come close together but do not connect. This ride will scope out potential routes of future trails that can connect these.  The ride will be a loop taking in a newly completed section of the Bruce Freeman and well as Assabet Rail Trails. There is about a mile of wide packed dirt trail, so 32mm+ tires recommended.

Leaders – David Loutzenheiser and Jeff Collins

RESCHEDULED FROM JUNE 1 Beacon Street in Brookline has inconsistent bicycle accommodation and many parking spaces in the median that are unused.  Join us for a walk along Beacon St to listen to advocates describe a proposal to restore the median reservation next to the Green Line for a bicycle and pedestrian use.  Parking would be reconfigured.

Leaders – Jacob Meunier and Jules Milner-Brage

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/672104636496554/

Join us for the grand finale in our summer series!  This walking tour will start in Porter Sq and end at Assembly Row.  In between we will see and talk about neighborways, innovative bicycle treatments, status of the Green Line Extension, and Assembly Row development.  After the walk, join us for dinner and drinks at Assembly Row.

Leader – Mark Chase

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/593529494395898/

Join the North Suburban Planning Council on Thursday, April 11th to talk about MassDOT’s RailVision plan.

After regular community updates the group will hear from Alexandra Markiewicz from MassDOT Planning and have a discussion building upon the group’s Suburban Mobility Study from 2017.

We’re postponing… but! In response to the Massachusetts’s Governor’s guidance in response to the outbreak of COVID-19, we’re postponing this event. In the meantime, however, we’re still thinking about these important issues, and know you are, too. We invite you to sign up here to receive occasional emails on this and related topics. We apologize for any inconvenience and look forward to being in touch!

How might creative acts of remembering and imagining in public help us reframe the past and present–and see more inclusive futures?

Join the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) and New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) for a conversation that explores the power of public art to catalyze critical dialogue around public memory, representation, and belonging, and to transform public life. You’ll hear from artists, curators, and organizers who use creative strategies to reframe public memory and imagine future possibilities for more inclusive, thriving spaces and communities.

Guest Speakers:

Paul Farber – Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Monument Lab and Senior Research Scholar at the Center for Public Art and Space at the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design (keynote speaker and moderator)
Erin Genia (Dakota/ Odawa) – Multidisciplinary artist, educator and cultural worker specializing in Indigenous arts and culture
Kate Gilbert – Executive Director of Now + There
Stephen Hamilton – Artist and educator, based in Boston

This event is part of a series organized by the MAPC’s Arts and Culture Department and NEFA’s Public Art Department in conjunction with MAPC’s MetroCommon 2050 planning process. This unique, cross-sector initiative brings together artists and creators, planners, and policymakers to discuss the evolving relationship among public art, public memory, and public policy and to explore how artists can envision and shape more inclusive, thriving spaces and communities in Greater Boston.

We’re postponing… but! In response to the Massachusetts’s Governor’s guidance in response to the outbreak of COVID-19, we’re postponing this event. In the meantime, however, we’re still thinking about these important issues, and know you are, too. We invite you to sign up here to receive occasional emails on this and related topics. We apologize for any inconvenience and look forward to being in touch!

What can municipal staff working in the areas of planning, open space and recreation, and public arts do to address untold histories, engage with controversy, and leverage the power of public art and public memory in these discussions?

Join the Metropolitan Area Planning Council and New England Foundation for the Arts for a professional development workshop designed for municipal staff on new approaches to public memory and public art in Greater Boston.

In this workshop, you’ll learn about best practices for facilitating dialogue about controversial monuments and memorials in your community, and about inspiring examples of public art and public history projects that are transforming public memories of places around the country. You will also engage in small group discussions where you’ll have an opportunity to learn about lesser-known historic and cultural stories in our region and how those stories and experiences can be actively engaged in place-based planning and programming related to public art, creative placemaking/placekeeping initiatives, and more.

Facilitators and Speakers: To be announced

This event is part of a series organized by the MAPC’s Arts and Culture Department and NEFA’s Public Art Department in conjunction with MAPC’s MetroCommon 2050 planning process. This unique, cross-sector initiative brings together artists and creators, planners, and policymakers to discuss the evolving relationship among public art, public memory, and public policy and to explore how artists can envision and shape more inclusive, thriving spaces and communities in Greater Boston.