Building Art

The word “excessive” came to mind when I read about the major North Ave. complex proposed for 175 North Ave. There’s no doubt that the space is underutilized and could be developed nicely. I love the idea of a mixed use residence. It’s the five stories that I nearly choked on. I appreciate that a couple of the members of the ZBA were concerned with the fifth floor and how to minimize its impact. My suggestion would be to eliminate it and refer to page 98 of the “Wakefield Development Master Plan” where it shows two examples of mixed use buildings in Cambridge and Waltham but notes in each caption that “A height of four stories is more appropriate for North Avenue in Wakefield.” I wonder, regardless of the stories, where will Wayne Woodworking go and is he now priced out of Wakefield? But, alas, it is not up to me so that is all I will say on that topic.

In the same week that I read about the above proposed development, I also read the March 6th edition of the Globe Magazine in the Boston Sunday Globe titled “The Arts Issue.” The issue discusses how Boston is losing artists and is working to hold onto its remaining artists as many are driven out by higher housing costs and fewer live-work spaces in the city. So, along with the artists will go the lively arts scene. It made me reflect on the efforts Wakefield has recently made to embrace and concentrate on the arts, particularly on Albion Street. This is wonderful, but perhaps Boston and other cities could lend Wakefield some practical insights and ideas in terms of how to cultivate an arts community with various housing initiatives. The head of the Somerville Arts Council explains why it is important to have artists living in your community, “The dynamic nature of what the arts community brings in is multiple-fold. Artists typically work day jobs, but at night and on weekends, they perform or put on gallery shows or hold concerts that invigorate the city.” Housing remains one of the keys to attracting and keeping artists. A couple of initiatives mentioned are tax incentives for landlords who rent to artists as well as zoning requirements so that some developers commit to affordable artist-specific units.

Perhaps it is time to decide how committed we are to establishing a vibrant arts scene in Wakefield and make a conscious effort to keep our talented artists of all sorts (the practical and beautiful art of woodworking certainly being one) and to attract more. In this light, I can’t help but also realize how fortunate we are to have a talented school superintendent who also happens to have a rich background in the arts herself. Strange, wonderful . . . natural coincidence? Wakefield could really blaze a trail in the elementary and middle grades with a foundation in the arts, as we already are a good head and shoulders above many towns in that arena. A more concerted focus on the arts would serve our young people so well emotionally and intellectually while other school systems sink even more money into the next, fleeting technological fad. Music, theatre, film, textiles, woodwork, dance, writing, culinary, visual, and the many fine arts have only somewhat recently been fading from American schools. I think it would do our young and old alike a world of good to be exposed to the many practical and creative ways a person can express himself and experience satisfaction outside of the dull and endlessly disappointing glow of yet another screen. They need more than one outlet of expression.

There is a quote from Mark Twain that I do not always agree with, but thought perhaps it might apply in some way to Wakefield at this moment in terms of how to focus its future growth and coordinate its efforts in whatever direction that might be. Twain wrote, “Behold, the fool saith, ‘Put not all thine eggs in the one basket’—which is but a matter of saying, ‘Scatter your money and your attention’; but the wise man saith, ‘Put all your eggs in the one basket and–WATCH THAT BASKET.”

[This submission is a month old since submitting it to the Wakefield Daily Item a month ago, but I had meant to post it on the Patch for those who do not get the paper. Needless to say I was a bit slow about it, so here it is as originally written. It sounds like some of the arts housing and initiatives are already in the works, which is great to hear.]