Brockton Art

On Friday November 5th at 5 p.m. Joe Angelo's Cafe will be hosting the Grand Opening of the City of Champions: Youth Vision in Context exhibit, an outdoor exhibit of large photographs by 10 young Brockton photographers.

The exhibit will run until November of next year and was completed by Mary Beth Meehan, historian Willie A. Wilson, Jr, and Artists for Humanity.

Other supporters are the Office of Mayor Linda M. Balzotti, The Brockton Redevelopment Authority, The Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, Brockton Community Schools, Stonehill College, Brockton building owners: Joe Angelo, Christopher Cooney and the Metro South Chamber of Commerce, Mark Linde, Robert Malley of the Brockton Parking Authority, John and Paul Merian, Evelyn Nessralla, Paul Protentis, and Pastor Michael Walker.

The reception is free and open to the public

Massasoit Community College Theatre Co.

This Saturday October 27th the Massasoit Community College Theatre Co.
will be holding auditions for “Yes, Virginia: The Musical”at the Buckley Performing Arts Center at 1 Massasoit Blvd.

Actors of all ages are encouraged to audition at 3 p.m. and should bring 16 bars of sheet music to perform.

 In 1897 a young girl named Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the New York Sun asking if Santa Claus was real. The response that editor Francis Church wrote to young Virginia about the beauty of a child's imagination, affirming the existence of Santa Claus. The story was adapted into an animated television special in 1974 and into a holiday musical  in 1996.

Massasoit Community College Theatre Co. will be performing the musical from Thursday, December 20th-Sunday December 23rd. It will be directed by Nathan Fogg, with Musical Direction by Steve Shannon.

Coaching For Change Inc.

COACHING FOR CHANGE, INC

MISSION STATEMENT

Empowering urban teens to overcome social and structural barriers to education and employment by teaching workforce skills through sports apprenticeships

Coaching For Change, Inc. is a unique sports program that uses sports to improve college and career readiness skills to high school students. 

Today I spoke with founder  Marquis Taylor about Coaching For Change's mission and their upcoming 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament.

Mr. Taylor founded Coaching For Change while in graduate school in 2010 and it has been running now for eleven months. Working with the Boys and Girls Club and the Keith School in Brockton, the organization creates employment opportunities in athletic environments for high school students in the greater Brockton area.

The application process is available through the Boys and Girls Club, where teens fill out an application as they would for any job, complete with references and recommendations. Teens are then trained to coach youth sports, educated about social issues in their community, and taught entrepreneurial, marketing, and financial skills through various programs.

Marquis Taylor expressed that too often teenagers are considered to be the problem in their communities. His organization strives to empower teens to be part of the solution to the problems in their community, while allowing them to earn money and learn skills that will allow them to succeed at college or in their future careers. 

On Saturday November 10th Coaching For Change will be partnering with the Mayor's Youth Council for a 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament at the Boys and Girls Club at 233 Warren Avenue from 2 to 6 p.m. The objective of the tournament is  for an opportunity for teens to work together, interact in a positive way, and promote a healthy lifestyle.

Ages: Boys and Girls 14-19

Date:  Saturday, November 10, 2012

Location: Boys & Girls Club of Brockton

 Time: 2 - 6 pm

Sixteen Teams

Registration: You can register as a team or an individual: $40/per team and $15/per individual 

Brockton Council on Aging; Improving the lives of seniors

Brockton Council on Aging's purpose is to assess the needs and provide programs and services to seniors in the community and strives to improve their quality of life.

 "The Council on Aging offers, through its staff and volunteers, easy access to an array of general programs, information, and socialization opportunities to seniors 60 years of age and older."

The Mary Cruise Kennedy Center at 10 Father Kenney Way offers various programs and activities including line dancing, Tai Chi, bowling, aerobics, and and computer classes

Movies are shown every Thursday and this month they will be showing The Artist, Don't Know How She Does It, Secretariat, and My Fair Lady

UPCOMING EVENTS IN OCTOBER

Harvest Luncheon- October 16th 12:00 noon

 

Friends of the Brockton Council on Aging Annual Bake Sale- October 26th 9 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

 

Halloween Party- October 31st 12:00 noon

 

 

 

 

Brockton's Cultural Council

Brockton Cultural Council, is an organization that promotes and maintains the vitality of cultural activities within the Brockton community. The Council is committed to funding a diverse cross-section of activities.

 

They support a broad variety of art forms such as the ongoing work of individual artists and writers, environmental and historical education projects that bring together artists, and other types of organizations, local cultural groups and projects that serve youth, elders, low-income, and disabled individuals.

 

Upcoming Grant Application Deadline

October 15th, 2012

 

 

Grant applications for Brockton projects in the arts, humanities and interpretive sciences are now
being accepted by the Brockton Cultural Council, a local volunteer organization appointed by the Mayor to re-grant state funds, administered by the Massachusetts Cutltural Council, at the local level. Grant applications must be postmarked no later than October 15, 2012 for qualifying projects executed between September 1, 2012 through December 31, 2013.

Grants are distributed to projects in Brockton that promote access, education, diversity and excellence in the performing and visual arts; in the humanities, such as history, social studies, philosophy and literature and in the interpretive sciences, learning ways that nature, science and technology relate to our lives. Grants are also issued for ticket assistance for K-12 cultural school field trips (one field trip per school). Grantees may be qualified individuals or non-profit organizations or organizations with a non-profit purpose. Project collaboration between organizations and individuals is encouraged as are new projects.

Applications and both state and local council eligibility requirements can be found online at www.mass-culture.org and www.mass-culture.org/Brockton#. Please mail the original and eight copies of the application form and supporting documentation to:

Brockton Cultural Council

P. O. Box 999

120 Commercial Street

Brockton, MA 02303

Inquiries/questions may be addressed via email to brocktoncultualcouncilinfo@gmail.com.

Examples of past Brockton Cultural Council grantees include: Brockton Public Library Foundation's Museum Pass Program and children's programs, Brockton Historical Society Photograph Digitization Project, Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs Summer Concert Series, D. W. Field Park Association's Towerfest Family Day, M.I.T. Women's Initiative Be WISE Science and Engineering Middle School Outreach Program, Friends of the Council on Aging oil painting class, Brockton Symphony Orchestra's Free Family Concert, Jubilate Chorale's Winter Concert, G.B.S.P.A.'s monthly writing and poetry workshops, Living Independently for Equality's monthly music series for disabled adults, Fuller Craft Museum's SENSEation Family Day and many school field trips.

In addition, the Brockton Cultural Council contributed FY2012 grant funding to the Handel and Haydn Society's Collaborative Youth Concerts, now in its 25th year of community outreach to high school choral students.  WGBH TV highlighted Brockton High School students in its coverage of the anniversary event which culminated in a choral concert with orchestra accompaniment at Symphony Hall in Boston in March 2012.

 

Evidence of the impact an individual artist, Mary Beth Meehan, with grant funding can have is the "City of Champions" digital photography project that is now hanging on buildings in downtown Brockton. It received coverage in the Boston Globe and New York Times as well as winning photography contests. Her website has many links to the coverage this project received.

 

- Donna Eleyi

  BCC Treasurer

Towerfest 2012

The D.W. Fields Park Association is holding its annual Towerfest tomorrow Saturday October 6th from 11:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m. Admission is free and there will be face painting, crafts, music, birds of prey and reptile shows.

Katrina Degraca, a Brockton mother of  six, brings her children every year and said, "Last year there was face painting, pony rides and the tower tours. The Brockton Symphony Orchestra played children songs and its all free!" 

Finally!!! A Statue for Brockton's Own: Rocky Marciano

Rocky Marciano, the only undefeated World Heavyweight Champion and one of Brockton’s most famous residents, has had a statue erected in his honor on September 23rd at Brockton High School’s Rocky Marciano field. The World Boxing Council helped to erect the colossal 22 foot statue, the tallest statue of any athlete.

The statue has been in the works for years and was once mired in controversy over its prospective placement. In 2008, Elaine Allegrini wrote an article for The Enterprise about the debate over whether the statue should be placed at City Hall, the post office named after Rocky, or at its eventual home, Brockton High’s Rocky Marciano Statdium.

Rocky Marciano’s surviving family were supporters of the statue’s eventual placement and it’s unveiling on the 23^rd drew a huge crown of proud Brocktonians and members of the boxing community, including Don King.

Brockton’s own Tyisha Fernandes reported on the statue’s unveiling for Fox 25 news, showing Brockton’s vibrant community celebrating a long overdue statue for our hometown hero.