Envisioning Peace
Local youths draw upon talents to improve MBTA stop
ByPaul McMorrow | July 15, 2004 (reprinted courtesy of the JP Bulletin)
In late May, in the aftermath of a series of violent incidents around the Jackson Square area, State Rep. Jeffrey Sanchez and MBTA General Manager Michael Mulhern toured the Jackson Square T station, seeking ways to turn the mood in the area around by making safety and aesthetic improvements to the station.
At the time, Sanchez described Mulhern’s visit as a way to overcome some of the area’s physical limitations that might be fostering violence, saying, “Given all the issues we’ve had around here lately, we wanted to bring him out now, so that he could see the dynamic, the community position, see how challenged we are here.
Mulhern immediately committed to making several improvements to the station, many of which are in process. The station’s lighting system is being overhauled in order to eliminate dark areas, inside and out, that might invite illicit activities and make commuters feel unsafe. Mulhern wants to make the busway “a beacon, a safe haven.” The MBTA is also overhauling the station’s indoor lighting, installing modern fixtures to give the station a “comfortable, safe feeling,” Mulhern explained. “Right now, it looks like a cave.”
Additionally, the MBTA committed to power-washing the entire station and installing indoor and outdoor anti-pigeon devices to help ensure that the station stays that way, as well as installing emergency call boxes.
Mulhern also said the authority will take it upon itself to repair cracked and broken concrete walkways around the busway and near Centre Street.
And soon, residents and commuters will be seeing dramatic improvements to the station’s aesthetics, which have long been faulted for fostering feelings of alienation and disinvestments among neighborhood residents. Mulhern has acknowledged, “The architecture of the station is a concern,” so beginning next week, a group of local youths will be reclaiming the space with a series of murals.
The MBTA, the Hyde Square Task Force and Sanchez are collaborating on a mural project that they hope will improve the station’s looks and make it feel welcoming, not threatening. Most importantly, the mural, a collaboration between notable local artist Roberto Chao and ten local youths, will allow the community to take pride and ownership in the transformation of the station’s brutalist architecture. While budget constraints and the existence of several ongoing capital improvement projects at the T preclude a radical physical overhaul of the Jackson T stop, Mulhern has expressed hopes that the mural project will have an overwhelmingly positive impact on the station and the neighborhood, saying, “[Sanchez] likes the idea, I like it, and for a little bit of money, we could really make a good human connection.”
City Councilor John Tobin praised the endeavor, noting, “It gives the kids a sense of really contributing to the community. Hopefully it’ll stay there for a long, long time. There are so many great murals throughout the district, and they really brighten things up.”
Currently, Chao (whose recent murals include the Egleston Peace Garden and the signage kiosks along Centre Street) and the students are meeting daily at the Hyde Square Task Force and sketching designs for the mural project. Beginning next week, the team of artists will be transforming the six concrete pillars along the busway into dramatic works of art. Then, for the month of August, they will be in Chao’s JP studio painting the twelve mural boards that will be mounted in the Jackson T station in September. The project will take a temporary break during the upcoming school year, and then resume next summer, covering more and more of Mulhern’s “cave” with community-oriented art.
Chao, whom the Hyde Square Task Force’s Jesus Gerena calls “one of the best in the city,” works with the youths for four hours a day, five days a week. He says that the theme of the busway column portion of the mural project will be one of nature reclaiming the urban landscape. Lush vegetation, rocks and trees will climb the 13-foot height of the columns, crowned by spreading branches and tropical animals. The art will be created in such a way as to take advantage of the station’s prominent sighting: it will make a visual impact from the distance, drawing people in, but it will also be created to the pedestrian scale, and engage passers-by by creating a continuous 360-degree scene on the round columns.
For the local artists working on the project, the endeavor is a summer job— they receive an hourly stipend for their work. But it’s also an opportunity to take a leadership role in reclaiming their home from violence.
Jahlil Farmer, who was introduced to the project by Gerena, sees the project as an opportunity to take ownership over a prominent landmark in the Hyde/Jackson community, and as an opportunity for the Hyde Square Task Force to engage their neighbors and spread their message of youth leadership and youth empowerment.
“It’s pretty interesting, and I wanted to be a part of it,” Farmer said. “The station looks real empty, it needs something different. For us to do the mural, it’s the start of making it look better. Jackson’s right down the street. We’re youth community organizers; we’re leaders in the community. If people don’t know who we are and what we do, they will now. A lot of people complain that Jackson doesn’t look great, so there’s crime. This is something to help us.”