{"id":16104,"date":"2020-04-19T06:40:12","date_gmt":"2020-04-19T10:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/?p=16104"},"modified":"2020-04-19T10:40:43","modified_gmt":"2020-04-19T14:40:43","slug":"somerville-home-alone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/2020\/04\/19\/somerville-home-alone\/","title":{"rendered":"Somerville Arts Council Launches \u2018Home Alone\u2019 Online Events As City Arts Agencies Transition To Social Distancing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On Thursday night, the <a href=\"https:\/\/somervilleartscouncil.org\/homealone?fbclid=IwAR1v759pGt9vBLndeBnmMzN2OCkhgvaDNaVJo8hYVvsFkswbe2tY6j0QpI0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Somerville Arts Council kicked off its \u201cHome Alone Art Series\u201d<\/a> with <a href=\"https:\/\/somervilleartscouncil.org\/homealone\/parallax\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cParallax,\u201d<\/a> a performance livestreamed on Facebook. Callie Chapman and Catherine Murcek danced while Christopher Konopka provided sounds and video. They described it as \u201can improvisation that explores multidimensionality of space through the web.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The online performance is one of the ways the council is transitioning from live arts events to \u201ca virtual event where we\u2019re featuring Somerville artists,\u201d Arts Council Event Manager Iaritza Menjivar tells me. \u201cIt\u2019s super simple to submit. We\u2019re asking Somerville artists to show us their talents, to show us what they do.\u201d (Disclosure: In the past, I\u2019ve created events in collaboration with the Somerville Arts Council and other city departments.)<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none; overflow: hidden;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fcalliechapmankorn%2Fvideos%2F10222014229322397%2F&amp;show_text=0&amp;width=560\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The \u201cHome Alone\u201d series shows how city arts agencies are transforming their live programming to help stem the spread of coronavirus. <a href=\"http:\/\/cambridgeartscouncil.org\/riverfestival\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cambridge Arts (where I work part-time) is turning its annual June River Festival into a series of online events dubbed the Stream Festival<\/a>. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.boston.gov\/departments\/arts-and-culture\/boston-virtual-arts-and-cultural-events\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Boston Mayor\u2019s Office of Arts and Culture is organizing a directory of virtual arts events and programs<\/a> organized by groups in Greater Boston.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHome Alone\u201d is \u201creally just a way to support artists right now who depend on freelance work,\u201d Menjivar says. It\u2019s also a way \u201cto communicate and have events for our public because most of our events are cancelled.\u201d Somerville announced on April 4 that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.somervillema.gov\/april7coronavirusupdates\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201call City-sponsored or permitted public events and large gatherings will be canceled in Somerville through June, including the City\u2019s annual Fourth of July fireworks.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/somervilleartscouncil.org\/homealone\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cHome Alone\u201d series continues<\/a> each Tuesday and Thursday at 7 p.m. on Facebook:<\/p>\n<p>April 21: \u201cFor Love of Music\u201d with percussionist Greg Jukes<br \/>\nApril 21: \u201cAscend, Ascend\u201d performance by Janaka Stucky<br \/>\nApril 28: \u201cStories with Puppets, Masks &amp; What\u2019s Around Your Home\u201d by Rosalita\u2019s Puppets<br \/>\nApril 30: \u201cOriginal Music from Home\u201d by Chris Freedman<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16113\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16113\" style=\"width: 960px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/picSomervilleHomeAloneFlierw.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-16113\" src=\"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/picSomervilleHomeAloneFlierw.jpg\" alt=\"The Somerville Arts Council's \u201cHome Alone Art Series.&quot;\" width=\"960\" height=\"960\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/picSomervilleHomeAloneFlierw.jpg 960w, https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/picSomervilleHomeAloneFlierw-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/picSomervilleHomeAloneFlierw-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/picSomervilleHomeAloneFlierw-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/picSomervilleHomeAloneFlierw-370x370.jpg 370w, https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/picSomervilleHomeAloneFlierw-70x70.jpg 70w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-16113\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Somerville Arts Council&#8217;s \u201cHome Alone Art Series.&#8221;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Somerville Arts Council has also launched the Facebook group <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/2555594324713636\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cSomerville Creates\u201d<\/a> to, as the webpage says, \u201cenable artists and cultural producers of all kinds to come together and share creative expression. Call it Art in the Time of Quarantine, if you will. While this is an unchartered and difficult time for all of us, let&#8217;s see how we can harness art to create reflection, hope and beauty\u2014and show solidarity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe good things that can happen while we\u2019re stuck at home,\u201d Menjivar says. \u201cThey\u2019re both support systems for artists during this uncertain time and an outlet for emotional stress and entertainment\u2014something to see and watch.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Somerville\u2019s popular and widely influential music festival PorchFest, which began in 2011 by inviting Somerville musicians to play free shows on their porch one Saturday each May, is shifting online. They\u2019ve renamed this year\u2019s edition <a href=\"http:\/\/somervilleartscouncil.org\/porchfest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CouchFest<\/a> and are asking music folks to \u201cpost either prerecorded live videos or plan to do a Facebook Live performance on May 9,\u201d according to the website.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nibblesomerville.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nibble Kitchen<\/a>, a restaurant that the Somerville Arts Council opened at Bow Market in Union Square last fall to feature a rotating cast of chefs preparing international cuisine, has <a href=\"https:\/\/nibblesomerville.com\/temporarily-closed-but-look-forward-to-seeing-you-down-the-line-soon\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">been closed since March 14 because of coronavirus<\/a>. In the meantime, the arts council has launched <a href=\"https:\/\/nibblesomerville.com\/nibble-at-home\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cNibble At Home,\u201d<\/a> a series of videos and posts featuring the Nibble entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none; overflow: hidden;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FNibbleKitchen%2Fvideos%2F201780757932967%2F&amp;show_text=0&amp;width=476\" width=\"476\" height=\"476\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>If this is the kind of coverage of arts, cultures and activisms you appreciate, please support Wonderland by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/wonderlandlandfanclub\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">contributing to Wonderland on Patreon<\/a>. And <a href=\"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/subscribe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sign up for our free, weekly newsletter<\/a> so that you don&#8217;t miss any of our reporting.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Thursday night, the Somerville Arts Council kicked off its \u201cHome Alone Art Series\u201d with \u201cParallax,\u201d a performance livestreamed on Facebook. Callie Chapman and Catherine Murcek danced while Christopher Konopka provided sounds and video. They described it as \u201can improvisation that explores multidimensionality of space through the web.\u201d The online performance is one of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16108,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100],"tags":[706,740,26,382],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16104"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16104"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16116,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16104\/revisions\/16116"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}