Fall 2024 I worked with muralist Mithsuca Berry to envision and create art that would create a more inviting environment at the Woolson Street Community Garden in Mattapan. This initiative was expertly led by Robyn Gibson, who also curated the ten year anniversary of the garden, which was a true celebration of community and life, and featured music, dance, poetry and spoken word, food, an herbal apothecary, and massage! No stone was unturned and it was an honor to be part of it. I’ve been wanting to work more with color for a long time and have had a hard time getting into it, but in this project Mithsuca was an amazing guide for me in working with color. It was a first for me to create such colorful pieces and it was really hard but I truly love these bunnies. They are made with repurposed 4”x4” lumber that was onsite.

Mithsooka’s mural says “Let us Create a Home Together.” My grandfather was raised right off of Blue Hill Ave in Dorchester until age 13, very close to Mattapan, once very Jewish neighborhoods which shifted due to racist factors such as predatory real estate practices and redlining. Mattapan today has one of the biggest Caribbean and Haitian communities In MA. In the height of violent rhetoric towards Haitian Americans, and with the state of Israel currently perpetuating unimaginable violence towards their neighbors in the Middle East it means a lot to me that in our little pocket of diaspora we are considering how we can create home together, heal what has been broken, and do this work under the leadership of the folx who have been historically marginalized in the setting of a community garden.

This was also a collaboration with cedar, who has shown up for me in magical ways for this project and consistently for the last seven years. The butterflies are made from cedar fencing cut offs that I found on my street right when I needed them, and the bunny thrones are made from cedar that I salvaged in the Franklin Park Zoo service yard several years ago and have been waiting for the perfect occasion to use it. Cedar trees have been used for many practical and spiritual purposes for thousands of years around the world.