>> IF YOU HAVE DRIVEN DOWN MAIN
STREET IN HOLYOKE, REENLTSDZ, RU MAY HAVE NOTICED NEW DECOR, THE
HEART OF HOLYOKE HAS BEGUN UNVEILING NEW PUBLIC ARTWORK AND
MURALS RATED BY ARTIST THAT IS REFLECT THE PUERTO RICAN AND
LATIN X CULTURE OF THE SURROUNDING NEIGHBORHOODS.
I SPOKE WITH THE SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER OF PLANNING AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT FOR THE CITY OF HOLYOKE, ALONG WITH ARTIST
FRANKIE AND GABRIELLE TO HEAR MORE ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF THE
PROJECT AND HOW THEY HOPE OTHERS WILL BE INSPIRED BY IT.
>> FROM 2017 AND 2018, THERE WAS A LOT OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT TO
FIND OUT WHAT MAKES A NEIGHBORHOOD PUERTO RICAN, AND
THAT BEING ART, CULTURE, CELEBRATION, FESTIVALS, AND
HISTORY REALLY IS MAKING IT A -- MAKING IT A PUERTO RICAN, LATIN
X COMMUNITY. YOU ARE REALLY SHOWING THE HEART
OF THAT. >> AND WHAT IS THE GOAL AND
VISION BEHIND THIS PROJECT? >> THE GOAL IS TO REALLY
HIGHLIGHT THE COMMUNITY THAT HAPPENED HERE IN HOLYOKE FOR
MANY YEARS. ALSO, MAKE MAIN STREET WHAT IT
IS, SORT OF LIKE WHAT HAS BEEN, REALLY, BRING IT MORE AND
HIGHLIGHT THE COMMUNITY, AND THE BUSINESSES THAT ARE HERE, BUT
ALSO, TO CELEBRATE WHAT IS ALREADY HAPPENING IN MAIN
STREET. >> AND SPEAKING OF THE CROWD
FUNDING CAMPAIGN, OF THE PROJECT, YOU RECEIVED OVER
$25,000, WHICH EXCEEDED THE ORIGINAL GOAL OF 20,000.
HOW DID IT FEEL TO SEE THE COMMUNITY REALLY SHOW UP AND
ENDORSE THIS PROJECT? >> IT WAS A GREAT FEELING TO GO
BEYOND. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL THAT IT WAS
MATCHED, SO NOT ONLY DID WE RECEIVE $25,000, BUT WE RECEIVED
AN EXTRA 20,000. >> SO THIS BRINGS THE PROJECT
WAS ABLE TO MOVE FORWARD AND BEGIN UNVEILING THE FEATURED
ARTWORK ON MAIN STREET. HOW ARE THE ARTISTS CHOSEN FOR
THIS PROJECT? >> TO DO WORKSHOPS, WHICH
CONCLUDE VERY ENGAGING, WITH YOU ARE A COMMUNITY TO SELECT THE
ARTIST, SO WE DID THAT VERSION VIRTUALLY IN THE BEST WAY THAT
WE COULD. IT WAS STILL LIMITING.
AND WE HAVE HAD ARTISTS APPLY ON-LINE, AND WE ALSO GIVE THE
OPTION FOR THE DROP-OFF AND ALL THAT, AND FROM THERE, WE HAD OUR
COMMITTEE SELECT THE LOCAL ARTISTS BASED ON THE
APPLICATION. >> FRANK RECEI -- FRANKIE, YOU A
SELF TAUGHT COLORBLIND ARTIST WHO HAS BEEN PART OF SEVERAL
PROJECTS IN SPRINGFIELD, INCLUDING FRESH PAINT AND THE
BLACK LIVES MATTER MURAL. HOW DID YOUR JOURNEY WITH ART
BEGIN, AND WHY HAS IT BEEN IMPORTANT FOR YOU, TO BE SO
INVOLVED IN COMMUNITY ART-MAKING PROJECTS?
>> I STUCK TO IT MORE OR LESS JUST MAKING PICTURES AND THINGS
LIKE THAT, CARTOONS. COMICS.
AND THEN THE GRAFFITI ERA CAME, BREAK DANCING AND, OF COURSE, I
WAS ENTRENCHINGED IN THAT, BUT THAT WAS NOT MY CAREER, MY
CAREER WAS IN DENTISTRY SO I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH ART.
IT WAS IN 2015, THAT I SUFFERED A TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY.
AFTER THAT -- THAT'S WHEN I REALLY, REALLY DEDICATED MYSELF
TO THE ART. >> HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED WITH
THIS HOLYOKE PROJECT? HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT IT AND
WHAT INTERESTED YOU IN IT? >> IT IS FASCINATING BECAUSE IT
GIVES THE OPPORTUNITY TO, ONE, YOU HAVE A VOICE.
BUT YOU ALSO GET TO DECORATE A CITY.
YOU GET TO EXPRESS YOURSELF, VISUALLY, WITH THESE.
AND I WANT -- MY BIG THING IS TO MAKE THE COMMUNITY A PART OF IT
BY HELPING ME PAINT SOME OF THESE THINGS.
>> NOW, YOUR PIECE OF THIS PROJECT IS TITLE IS TRANSITION
OF THE ANCESTORS. EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT THIS ARTWORK
IS AND WHAT INSPIRED IT. >> IT WAS PUERTO RICO THEMED,
BUT I DIDN'T WANT -- I WANTED IT TO BE MORE HISTORICAL TIME LINE
THAN YOUR BASIC START. SO, I WENT TO WORK, DID
RESEARCH, LIKE 50 HOURS OF RESEARCH IN
HOW THE PROJECT IS GOING TO GO.
I STARTED WITH THE FREE COLUMBUS ERA, WITH THE INDIANS, AND THE
NATIVES. AND AS TIME GOES ON, I
TRANSITIONED TO NEW YORK, AND SHE'S ONE OF THE FEW THAT HAVE
WON A GRAMMY, AN EMMY, AN OSCAR, A TONY AWARD, SO SHE REALLY PUT
IT OUT THERE FOR US. UNDERNEATH HER, I PUT -- I
ALWAYS FORGET HER NAME, BUT SHE WAS A PRODUCER IN PUERTO RICO
AND A VERY FAMOUS TELEVISION FIGURE.
AS WE GO ALONG, I ADDED THE BASEBALL PIONEER FOR OUR RACE.
HE WAS AN ALL-STAR. AFTER THAT, I PUT HECTOR.
HE WAS A PIONEER FOR THE SALSA AND AFTER HIM, I PUT A PERSON
WHO IN THE 1920s, HE GRADUATED FROM HARVARD, BUT HE WAS ALSO A
PIONEER AND A REVOLUTIONARY, A LAWYER FOR OUR CULTURE IN THE
UNITED STATES. HE SPOKE SIX LANGUAGES.
I HAD TO ADD HIM TO SHOW A LITTLE COMBINATION OF WE ARE NOT
ALL JUST MUSIC. WE ARE A BIT OF EVERYTHING.
>> AND YOU ARE ALSO A SELF-TAUGHT ARTIST, AND
MULTI-MEDIA ART ACTIVIST WITH A SCIENCE BACKGROUND.
IN YOUR BIO-IT STATES WITH AN AFRO QUEER DISABILITY JUSTICE
LENS, YOU ASK WHOSE STORIES AREN'T BEING TOLD.
WHY DO YOU APPROACH YOUR ARTWORK THROUGH THAT LENS AND HOW HAS
THIS INFLUENCED YOUR PIECE FOR THIS PROJECT TITLED, "I SHAPE
SHIFTER." >> I CHOSE THAT BECAUSE OF MY
OWN IDENTITY, FIRST OF ALL. IT BEGINS WITH SORT OF BOTH
MYSELF AND WHEN I SAY I, IT'S THIS PERSON, BUT ALSO, MY
ANCESTORS, WHICH IS PART, YOU KNOW, IN THAT PERSPECTIVE, IS
PART OF WHAT DREW ME TO THIS PROJECT.
YOU KNOW. HONORING THE ANCESTORS, AND JUST
VERY IMPORTANT TO ME TO BRING THOSE VOICES FORWARD, RIGHT, AND
TO DO SO INTENTIONALLY AND CONSISTENTLY, JUST LIKE ALL THE
TIME, NOT LIKE YEARS THE DAY OR THE MONTH OR WHATEVER BUT THIS
IS ALL THE TIME. SO TO HAVE A PUBLIC ART PROJECT
WHERE YOU GET TO SEE, YOU KNOW, ALL THESE BEAUTIFUL FACES AND
ARTWORK AND, YOU KNOW, AND ARTWORK AND VOICES THAT ARE
WOVEN THROUGHOUT THE PIECES, ON A REGULAR BASIS, THAT'S JUST
POWER RIGHT THERE. >> AND IN ADDITION, TO YOURS AND
FRANKIE'S ARTWORK, WHAT OTHER PIECES OF ART CAN WE EXPECT TO
SEE ALONG MAIN STREET? >> SO FRANKIE'S WORK WAS WHAT WE
PUT A FACE TO THE INSTALLATION, WE ARE WORKING TO LIGHT UP AND
INSTALL ARTWORK ON FOUR VINTAGE TOWERS THAT ARE LIKE THE GATEWAY
TO, TO MAIN STREET. AND OUR GOAL IS TO MAKE IT A
STATEWIDE RECOGNIZED CULTURAL DISTRICT THERE.
SPECIFICALLY, PUERTO RICAN CULTURAL DISTRICT.
WE HAVE ABOUT 95% OF OUR LATINOS, OR LATIN X, SORRY,
RESIDENTS IN HOLYOKE, AND WE ALSO WANT TO HIGHLIGHT THE OTHER
LATIN X, IN OUR CITY. SO THIS IS A VERY EXCITING
PROJECT. DEFINITELY, WE CAN SEE IT FOR
YEARS TO COME, AND IT WILL CHANGE DIFFERENT WAYS, AND IT
CAN BE FROM ARTWORK TO EVENTS TO THIS, SO WE ARE REALLY EXCITED
AND OPEN TO SEEING HOW IT LOOKS. WE HAVE A PLAN OF WHERE TO
INSTALL WHAT, BUT IT IS, DEFINITELY, A CHANGE AND
ADJUSTING TO THE NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY.