If you’re in the market for low-cost— or even free— arts and music offerings in the city, this is the high season in Dorchester. There are a flurry of great takes on tap over the next couple of weeks and — with some planning— you can hit them all if so inclined.
Let’s start with this weekend’s Pear Square Art Fair, a free event staged near Edward Everett Square, the historic crossroads of Mass Ave., Columbia Road, East Cottage and Boston streets. It’s been dubbed “pear square” by some in the last decade because of the brozen sculpture that pays homage to the fruit crop that once dominated the mainly forgotten farmlands that once swept across the town-turned-neighborhood.
On Saturday (July 21), a group of volunteers have pulled together an assortment of art vendors and music acts that will be staged in nearby Richardson Park, home to the enormous flagpole and a statue to Everett, the former Secretary of State and vice-presidential candidate who died in 1865. Saturday’s fair will also include food from the popular Banshee bar on Dot Ave and tours of the city’s oldest house, the Blake House, that is adjacent to the park. It’s set to run from 12-8 p.m.
The Strand Theatre comes alive this weekend for the opening of a 16-show run of Leftovers, a play produced by CompanyOne Theatre Company. The performances are pay-what-you-can events, meaning you can donate any amount you see fit to support the show and its mission. The play by Josh Wilder is part of a “residency” at the Strand that promises to bring more shows and includes an apprentice program for high school teens to learn more about theatre —a cause definitely worth supporting at Dorchester’s city-owned home for the arts. Read more about the show and CompanyOne in today’s Reporter.
Another Dot-based exhibition opens this week— and is also featured in a story on our cover today. The Dorchester Art Project swings open the doors to its Fields Corner space on Saturday night for an opening reception of a five-week-long exhibit featuring the works of 56 local artists. The “Altarations” installation uses the notion of “sanctity” as its launch-pad, but as you can see from a quick review of the sample shown in our pages today, it takes on a broad range of subjects. Saturday’s reception runs from 6-9 p.m. in the second-floor space of 1486 Dorchester Ave.
If jazz is more your taste, the third annual Dudley Jazz Festival will fill your cup on Sat., July 28 from 12-6 p.m. The concert, organized by Roxbury’s own Fred Woodard and his Creative Culture Arts collective, will be staged at Dorchester’s Mary Hannon Park on Dudley Street. (It will move indoors to the Bolling building if storm clouds roll in.) The concert has an impressive bill of talent— from Woodard himself on the guitar and a quartet led by tenor sax-man Ricky Ford. Lydia Harrell,winner of the 2017 Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival Voice Competition, will share the stage with the likes of vibraphonist Monte Croft, ho has played with such jazz giants as Branford Marsalis and Terence Blanchard. Croft has also done work in TV and film, lending his talents to shows like “Luke Cage” and movies like The Greatest Showman. The Dudley festival is free and open to the public.
There’s more to come next month, including free dusk movies at Pope John Paul II Park on Thursdays (starting Aug. 9) the Tenean Beach Day (Aug. 4, 12-5 p.m.) and the Dorchester Beach Festival (Sat., Aug. 25, 3-8:30 p.m.) at Savin Hill.
Our pages our popping with new events every day— so stay tuned for the latest on music and arts events in and around Dorchester.
– Bill Forry
