Wallet-friendly ways to appreciate the arts in Mass.
From personalized $1 sketches to a free exhibition, there are accessible options for all budgets in Mass.
Updated: 8:20 PM EST Jan 16, 2024
A DOLLAR. YOU MIGHT HAVE SEEN ME ON THE BUS TRYING TO FIND A VERSE FOR EAST BOSTON NATIVE NICK SHEA’S FIRST LOVE IS MUSIC MAKING. MIKE HANDLE OF THE PHANTOM WITH A DOO — MIKE A LOT OF MY MUSIC I PRODUCE IT MYSELF AND I WRITE MY OWN SONGS AND EVERYTHING. I JUST HAD MY FIRST SHOW IN EUROPE LAST YEAR FOR YOU. I JUST WANT TO KEEP PUTTING ON GOOD SHOWS AND GET IN FRONT OF PEOPLE. HOWEVER, SHEA IS BETTER KNOWN THESE DAYS FOR HIS VISUAL ART. I MEAN, I JUST TRY TO JUST CHAT WITH PEOPLE, SEE WHAT’S UP. I’VE ALWAYS LOVED DRAWING. I WAS ALWAYS MAKING STUFF. SHEA IS A FAMILIAR SIGHT ON THE BOSTON COMMON, SKETCHING ON A NOTEPAD IN ALL KINDS OF WEATHER. THIS PLACARD SAYS IT ALL $1 FOR A POCKET SIZED PORTRAIT. THAT’S DEFINITELY MY SMILE. THE FIRST TIME I EVER DID IT WAS MAYBE LIKE 2017. I JUST KIND OF THOUGHT IT WOULD JUST BE LIKE A FUN THING TO DO TO COME OUT HERE AND DRAW PEOPLE. BUT AFTER THE PANDEMIC, I STARTED DOING IT ALL THE TIME. HOW DID YOU COME TO DECIDE, LIKE, OKAY, A DOLLAR? I FEEL LIKE MOST PEOPLE HAVE A DOLLAR. IT IS ACCESSIBLE. MY FOCUS IS JUST TO DRAW AND TO MAYBE TALK TO PEOPLE AND TRY TO HAVE A NICE CONVERSATION. PEOPLE HAVE TOLD ME THAT IT’S MEANT SOMETHING TO THEM IN SOME WAY. NEWS OF SHEA’S $1 ART HAS SPREAD ACROSS SOCIAL MEDIA. PASSERSBY OFTEN SWARM SHEA FOR A DRAWING. I’VE MET PEOPLE FROM MADAGASCAR, PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE MIDDLE EAST, ALL OVER ASIA. I DON’T REALLY ADVERTISE WHEN I’M HERE. I LIKE THAT. IT’S JUST LIKE PEOPLE ARE JUST WALKING BY. THEY’RE LIKE, OH, LET’S SEE WHAT THIS IS ABOUT. I JUST TRY TO KEEP IT SIMPLE. LIKE IT’S USUALLY A VERY QUICK DRAWING. IS IT A SUPER PERFECT DRAWING? I DON’T KNOW, BUT IF WE CAN CAPTURE THE ESSENCE, THEN I THINK THAT’S THAN WE DID IT. YEAH. OH, I LOVE THAT PLACE. THESE CASUAL ART BUYERS SEEM TO AGREE. OH, WOW. I FIGURED I USED TO GO TO SUFFOLK UNIVERSITY AND I WAS JUST STOPPING BY TO PICK SOMETHING UP AND I WAS LIKE, WAIT, I THINK HE’S THE PERSON THAT ALL THE STUDENTS TALK ABOUT AND THERE WAS NO LINE. SO I SAID, HEY, WHY NOT LET ME JUST CAN’T HURT A DOLLAR TO GET A CUTE LITTLE PICTURE. IT’S DEFINITELY WORTH IT. IN ARLINGTON, A HISTORIC MILL IS STILL CHURNING OUT A CLASSIC NICK. IT’S A 19TH CENTURY PICTURE FRAME FACTORY. IT ORIGINALLY WAS A GRIST MILL. DERMOT WHITAKER IS PRESIDENT OF THE OLD SWAMP MILL PRESERVATION TRUST. THE CURRENT MILL WAS BUILT IN. 1861 AFTER A FIRE AND A FEW YEARS AFTER IT WAS REBUILT. A FAMILY FROM GERMANY BOUGHT IT AND TURNED IT INTO A FRAME FACTORY. THEY WERE MAKING OVAL PICTURE FRAMES TO SELL IN BOSTON AND NEW YORK, AND THEY WERE MAKING THOUSANDS A WEEK. NOW A LIVING HISTORY MUSEUM, THE OLD SWAMP MILL PRODUCES FRAMES FOR SPECIAL ORDERS. DAVID GROFF IS A WOOD TURNER WHO CRAFTS THE FRAMES WITH MACHINES DATING BACK TO THE 1800S, TURNING BASICALLY IN THIS PARTICULAR INSTANCE MEANS HOLDING CHISELS IN YOUR HAND AS THE FRAME REVOLVES ON A FACE PLATE IN FRONT OF YOU, SO IT LOOKS LIKE IT’S REALLY OLD FASHIONED TECHNOLOGY. BUT THE PEOPLE WHO CREATED THESE MACHINES THAT CAN STILL BE USED ALMOST 200 YEARS LATER, THEY WERE REALLY INTELLIGENT. ADMISSION TO THE OLD SWAMP MILL IS FREE, WITH A SUGGESTED DONATION OF $5, SAYS WHITAKER. THE ART EXHIBITS THAT WE HAVE ON THE OCCASIONAL HISTORY EXHIBIT ARE ALL UPSTAIRS, AND THEY’RE FREE OF CHARGE AS WELL, INCLUDING THIS EXHIBIT FEATURING THE EMBROIDERY OF MALDON BASED ARTIST ANNA TYE. THE WORK IS REALLY EXTRAORDINARY. THEY’RE SORT OF IMPRESSIONIST, NATICK TY HAS BEEN EMBROIDERING WITH SILK AND COTTON FOR MORE THAN 40 YEARS SINCE HER CHILDHOOD IN VIETNAM. AFTER BEING INJURED BY A LANDMINE DURING THE VIETNAM WAR, SHE LEARNED TO EMBROIDER FROM NUNS AT A CATHOLIC SCHOOL FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES. TYE PERFECTED HER TALENT IN THE YEARS THAT FOLLOWED. AS A REFUGEE IN INDONESIA AND THROUGHOUT HER IMMIGRATION PROCESS TO THE U.S. THE EMBROIDERY IS SOMETHING THAT I COULD MANAGE WITH MY INJURY AS A HOBBY, AS WELL AS SUPPORT ME FINANCIALLY. AFTER I CAME TO THE UNITED STATES IN 1999, I USED EMBROIDERY TO MEMORIALIZE PERSONAL AND FAMILY EVENTS SO THEY WOULDN’T GET LOST THROUGH TIME AND WOULD STAY WITH ME FOREVER. TY SAYS. IT TAKES ANYWHERE FROM A COUPLE OF WEEKS TO SIX MONTHS TO COMPLETE A WORK. SOME PIECES ARE DREAMSCAPES, OTHERS ARE BASED ON VIETNAMESE LANDSCAPES. ONE OF THE WORKS IS INSPIRED BY FLOATING MARKETS ALONG THE RIVER OR OTHER SOURCES OF INSPIRATION INCLUDE THE BOSTON COMMON AND FLOWERS UPON FLOWERS. TY SAYS SHE HOPES TO TEACH ASPIRING ARTISTS TO EMBRACE THIS LAYERED AND INTRICATE ART FORM. GOOD THINKING. I LOVE NATURAL BEAUTY, AND I LIKE TO USE MY EXPERIENCE AS AN EMBROIDERY ARTIST TO BRING THAT NATURAL BEAUTY ONTO THE CANVAS SO PEOPLE CAN SEE THAT BEAUTY THROUGH MY EYES. ANNA TY’S EXHIBIT, CALLED EMBROIDERING DREAMS IS ON VIEW UNTIL MARCH, AND DERMOT WHITAKER OF THE MILLS TRUST TELLS US THAT BACK IN 1969, A WOMAN NAMED PATRICIA FITZMAURICE HELPED SAVE THE MILL FROM BEING SOLD TO A TRUCKING COMPANY. SHE KEPT THE FRAME, MAKING MACHINERY IN PROPER CONDITION AND CREATED SOME BUZZ BY TURNING THE FRAMES INTO ELITE GIFTS. FOR EXAMPLE, ONE FRAME WAS GIFTED TO THE VATICAN FROM THE CITY OF CAMBRIDG
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Wallet-friendly ways to appreciate the arts in Mass.
From personalized $1 sketches to a free exhibition, there are accessible options for all budgets in Mass.
Updated: 8:20 PM EST Jan 16, 2024
Get a one-dollar sketch portrait by a musician who draws crowds to the Boston Common. News of Shea’s one-dollar art has spread across social media. Passerby often swarm the artist for a drawing, with long lines forming on the days Shea sets up shop in the Common.The Old Schwamb Mill is the oldest continuously operating mill site in the United States. Now a living history museum, the mill produces frames for special orders, using machines dating back to the 1800s. Admission to the Old Schwamb Mill is free, with a suggested donation of five dollars. One of the exhibits at the mill features extraordinary embroidery by Anna Thai. Thai has been embroidering with silk and cotton for more than 40 years, since her childhood in Vietnam.
Get a one-dollar sketch portrait by a musician who draws crowds to the Boston Common. News of Shea’s one-dollar art has spread across social media. Passerby often swarm the artist for a drawing, with long lines forming on the days Shea sets up shop in the Common.
The Old Schwamb Mill is the oldest continuously operating mill site in the United States. Now a living history museum, the mill produces frames for special orders, using machines dating back to the 1800s. Admission to the Old Schwamb Mill is free, with a suggested donation of five dollars.
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One of the exhibits at the mill features extraordinary embroidery by Anna Thai. Thai has been embroidering with silk and cotton for more than 40 years, since her childhood in Vietnam.