Artists and creatives should respond to this survey!

The Metropolitan Area Planning Council, in partnership with the Town of Franklin, City of Beverly, City of Boston, and Town of Arlington, is collecting data from artists and creative workers to help municipalities respond to impacts of COVID-19 on artists, arts organizations, creative activity, and civic life. 

Please take five to ten minutes to fill out our survey to help the arts thrive in our region! We’ll use the results to assess the effect of COVID on artists and creative organizations and to create strategies for local governments to help.  

To learn more about the project visit  https://www.mapc.org/resource-library/arts-indicators/

Action =>  Artists and creatives can respond to the survey    https://mapc.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1QRuz8Ww3Jwu1A9

Artists and creatives should respond to this survey!

numb - a short film // liv mcneil

"This is just a generalization of the feeling of isolation, not my personal feelings, I for sure haven't been enjoying quarantine, but some have it worse. We have all been going through stuff right now, especially with Black Lives Matter, my struggles are in no way comparable to some things people are going though right now. this is my own experience, some are a whole lot worse than mine. I'm just showing what I know.

This is a mini film, Numb by me. I did this for a school project but I'm really happy with how it came out, so I'm posting it here. This took me a combined 3 weeks or so. hope you enjoy! please feel free to share as much as you like, just please credit me and M83, the band who made the music.

This is a COVID-19 youth mental health resource hub if you've been negatively affected by isolation. https://jack.org/covid"

song: my tears are becoming a sea - M83
directed by, edited by, written by and starring me

YouTube link =  https://youtu.be/iSkbd6hRkXo



Franklin radar picked up via Twitter
https://twitter.com/bill_klements/status/1287375353384783872?s=09

“I think it was ingenious”

The Boston Globe highlights an MBTA worker who created a new machine to help with the snow problem.

"They say necessity is the mother of invention. But Michael Haywood was driven by plain embarrassment. 

The nightmarish winter of 2015 was at its worst, a barrage of powerful storms that brought the MBTA to its knees. In desperation, state officials called in prisoners and the National Guard to help the transit system dig out, one shovelful at a time. 

For Haywood, an MBTA machinist who fixes snow-clearing equipment, it was a personal affront. There had to be a better way, he thought. 

So he thought of one: mounting a John Deere vehicle often used to scoop dirt — it’s called a skid-steer loader — onto railcar wheels in order to clear the snow-packed tracks. It sounded farfetched, and some of his colleagues were skeptical."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/02/17/buffeted-snow-mbta-workers-found-new-way-forward/DaSKxHtOnugRhfjicM6m4K/story.html

This piece of new snow removal equipment was inspired by an idea from the MBTA’s Machinist Mike Haywood. (JONATHAN WIGGS/GLOBE STAFF)

Picking up on the idea of play, Maya Beiser really plays her cello!



what are you going to play today?


Note: email subscribers will need to click through to Franklin Matters to view the video

Creative thinking

This video clip from TEDx shows Charles Lamb sharing some interesting research that he is doing on the brain. By analyzing the brain activity when performing music, he is attempting to answer some significant questions on creativity.

Watch here:





For me, the initial take away was this quote:

But we have this combination of an area that's thought to be involved in self-monitoring, turning off, and this area that's thought to be autobiographical, or self-expressive, turning on.

In order to be creative, the brain needs to shut some aspects off and turn others on. There is a reason for having brain storming sessions. They may not have worked so well due to how they were set up but maybe with this new research they can find the way to set a good stage for being creative.

1. Put aside your bias for a moment. 
2. Put on your wide open 'thinking' cap.
3. Participate in the budget priority survey here

Franklin, MA