{"id":3805,"date":"2017-10-31T10:54:43","date_gmt":"2017-10-31T14:54:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/?p=3805"},"modified":"2017-11-28T00:22:14","modified_gmt":"2017-11-28T05:22:14","slug":"artfarm-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/2017\/10\/31\/artfarm-2\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We Have A Home For ArtFarm And We Have It In Writing\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Disclosure: I regularly work with the Somerville Arts Council to present festivals in the city.<\/em>
\n* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *<\/p>\n

After years of uncertainty for Somerville\u2019s ArtFarm<\/a>, the proposal for a community facility combining art and agriculture near Union Square seems poised to move forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe long-term home of the ArtFarm will be the former waste transfer site and \u2026 the only other structure that will share the more than 2-acre site will be the pump station, which will occupy one corner,\u201d Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone affirmed\u00a0in a letter presented at a community meeting about the project<\/a> at the Brickbottom Artists building in Somerville last night.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a home for ArtFarm and we have it in writing,\u201d announced Peter Marquez, a longtime Brickbottom person and long involved in the community ArtFarm planning team.<\/p>\n

\"ArtFarm<\/a>
ArtFarm greenhouse, July 20, 2017. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Plans for the \u201ccreative commons\u201d on the site of the former waste transfer station on Poplar Street at Linwood Street, near Union Square, have been under community discussion for as many as four years, but stalled as it grew unclear how much Curtatone still supported the project.<\/p>\n

Curtatone\u2019s announcement yesterday was generally received as good news among the more than 40 people in attendance. This was a notable change from the anger and dismay expressed at community meetings with Curtatone\u00a0<\/a>in recent months\u00a0at which the mayor offered proposals to perhaps replace the ArtFarm plans with construction of a sewer pumping station, fire station and\/or police station on the site. At a July forum with the mayor, one woman said the changing proposals felt like \u201ca bait and switch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Curtatone had been scheduled to attend yesterday\u2019s forum, but canceled at the last minute, writing that he wasn\u2019t up to attending because he was \u201crecovering from emergency arm surgery due to an injury.\u201d Instead, Marquez read Curtatone\u2019s two-page letter to the audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo start the ArtFarm development, approximately one acre of the 2-acre site will be made available for ArtFarm in the near future,\u201d Curtatone wrote. \u201cContractors currently on this portion will vacate the site at the end of this construction season (this winter), cleanup has already begun, and site and sidewalk improvements including fencing will follow in phases.\u201d<\/p>\n

Curtatone wrote that work on ArtFarm can move ahead without being tied to pump station construction. The city will find a different location for a new police station, he wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see opportunities to have the pump station funding serve double-duty to help support ArtFarm development,\u201d Curtatone wrote.<\/p>\n

Curtatone stated that management of ArtFarm design going forward will switch from the Somerville Arts Council to park planners in the city\u2019s Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development \u201cwith continued input and programmatic guidance from the Arts Council.\u201d More meetings for community input are expected.<\/p>\n

Curtatone assured that during pump station construction \u201cno debris and no construction vehicles will encroach on the ArtFarm\u2019s initial site,\u201d that the two projects will have separate entrances and be fenced off from each other. He plans to submit a funding request for the pump station to the city\u2019s Board of Aldermen on Nov. 9.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy administration,\u201d Curtatone wrote, \u201cis committed to making ArtFarm a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Political leaders attending last night\u2019s meeting expressed support for ArtFarm.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho we are as a community\u2014the artists, the creative community\u2014is what really defines it right now,\u201d Ward 2 Alderman Maryann Heuston told the crowd. \u201cWhere are these kinds of spaces in the rest of the city? \u2026 How can we replicate that vision in other places across the city?\u201d<\/p>\n

At-large Alderman Mary Jo Rossetti and state Rep. Mike Connolly suggested they would support funding for the project going forward.<\/p>\n

Audience members asked about the status of funding for ArtFarm (more than $1 million raised so far, plus likely another $600,000 or so from community preservation funds, Marquez said); which part of the parcel would be the ArtFarm part; if the architecture of the planned pumping station could be an asset to ArtFarm. Answers would have to wait at least until Curtatone could reschedule his appearance.<\/p>\n

Marquez noted that Curtatone\u2019s note specified no timeline or financial commitment. He also called for more clearly spelling out the Arts Council\u2019s role going forward. \u201cWe need to digest this and think about how we organize and reconnect with the process,\u201d Marquez said.<\/p>\n

Then Marquez praised Somerville Arts Council Director Greg Jenkins for his efforts to keep the project moving forward. \u201cNext time you see Greg pat him on the back and let him know it\u2019s worth it. He has the toughest job in the city,\u201d he said. \u201cLet him know he\u2019s appreciated.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Disclosure: I regularly work with the Somerville Arts Council to present festivals in the city. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3806,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100,114],"tags":[93,26],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3805"}],"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=3805"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3805\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3813,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3805\/revisions\/3813"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}