Davis Square T art tells area's story (Boston Globe)

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

"In April, members of the Davis Square Tiles Project began an effort to track down the children - now between 35 and 45 years old - who created the artwork at the Somerville T station. The goal was to find out how their lives have changed and how they view the changes in their old neighborhood. "


www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/07/10/project_chronicles_davis_square_over_30_years/

Comments

[in-parentheses.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting! I've been wanting someone to do this forever.

[livingadream.livejournal.com]

This is amazing! I've always wanted to know who drew the skunk. Hah

[ron_newman]

An earlier post on this subject: http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/1754569.html
The project web site: http://davissquaretilesproject.com/

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Awesome post! Unfortunately the project website is offline at the moment. Hope it comes back up soon so I can see it.

Thanks Ron

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

The site seems offline right now, hope it's only temporary...

Re: Thanks Ron

[ron_newman]

Thanks, I just now e-mailed him to congratulate him on the Globe article and ask him why he took the site down.

Re: Thanks Ron

[ifotismeni]

maybe he exceeded his provider's bandwidth limit, what with all the referrals coming from boston.com...

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Thanks for linking to that article! I always love looking at those tiles. The thing that always impresses me is the wide range of cultures represented in the kids' names.

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

I wish they'd do a similar project at Broadway T station...

[perich.livejournal.com]

This is a neat idea! I'm glad it's happening.

Re: Thanks Ron

[spatch]

I'm hoping he had taken that into consideration, seeing as how he was approached by the Globe and all, but maybe the actual amount took him by surprise. Or the server got Slashdotted (just without the Slashdot users.)

The site was mentioned last week on Universal Hub and I was really happy to see the responses, and I too am holding out for the interview with the kid who drew the skunk.

Is your avatar an image of the skunk tile?

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

Looks neat. I had never noticed that particular tile...

[cheeseydreams.livejournal.com]

Yes! I actually know a couple of the kids who made tiles, so hopefully they'll do a follow up soon.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Yes, it is! I I made it because I wanted an icon to use when I was complaining about the T (though of course I'm not complaining right now :-))

website back up

[daviststop.livejournal.com]

Website crashed from all the traffic - we didn't know when this story was coming out, but now we've made changes to handle the additional load.

Re: Thanks Ron

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

The site is back up, but running slowly. I got to read some of the bios of the now-grown tile makers. It's fascinating, but also a little sad. They describe their 80s childhoods in West Somerville, all saying how the kids used to play outside in the streets in big groups, everyone knew everyone and were friends with their neighbors, adults kept an eye on everyone else's kids. On person talked about the Chandler Street crew of kids and the fun they would have outside before thay had to go in when the street lights came on. It's sure not like that now. To walk around the neighborhood, you would think no children lived here...

Re: Thanks Ron

[countlibras.livejournal.com]

>>To walk around the neighborhood, you would think no children lived here...

my sister lives in Davis sq, and it's really obvious that kids live on her street. the neighbors all seem to know each other, which completely confuses me even now. (I don't know my neighbors, but I suspect my street is mostly rental units.)

I'm waiting to read about...

[mamabunny72.livejournal.com]

who made the two bunny tiles, naturally :-)

Re: Thanks Ron

[miraclaire.livejournal.com]

My street has tons of kids playing outside all the time. We've also had something of a baby boom (I think it's 5 kids in the last year)

Re: I'm waiting to read about...

[soft-shoulder.livejournal.com]

It's a HARE raising event!

[kims98.livejournal.com]

I had heard about this so it was wonderful to get to read it. Those stories are fascinating, especially how the T stop changed Davis Square so much. It also is timely given the imminence of the Green Line Extension!