By Seth Daniel
A gathering of Chelsea’s creative community took place last Thursday, July 27, at the Mystic Brewery, where artists including Chris Barnes, X. Bonnie Woods and Ali Clift assembled for the City’s new initiative to catalog all artists living and working in Chelsea. Though Chelsea has maintained an active artistic presence over the years, a comprehensive identification of these creators and their work has never been undertaken.
The Chelsea Cultural Council has launched an effort to assess the artists in the city and their various talents.
The evening brought together both established and emerging artists alongside municipal leaders for networking and discussion. According to Sharlene McLean, chair of the Cultural Council, “This is something we’re doing in conjunction with the artist survey we’re running to identify all the artists who live and work in Chelsea,” she said. “We decided it would be nice to have an event to kick it off where artists could met each other. Also, many of us on the Cultural Council don’t know each other and many of the artist don’t know each other. The overall effort is to get a sense of the artistic resources here and what their ideas are about holding artist-related events that will help them…This will not be the last time we get together for certain.”
Bea Cravatta, director of the Recreation and Cultural Affairs Division, emphasized the importance of understanding the artistic talent present in the community. The Cultural Council, which operates under her department, requires significant strengthening, she noted.
“There’s a lot of financial support out there; it’s just about where to find it and is your timing right,” Cravatta explained. “This work is the heart and soul of the city and very, very important for health and enjoyment of the entire city.”
Veteran artist X. Bonnie Woods praised the event, noting that bringing together the artistic community and the Cultural Council was valuable. She reflected that this marked the first such occasion she could recall.