Anita Morson-Matra
Urban Planner - Artist / Creative - Place Leader - Organizational Strategist
Had the honor & pleasure of pitching to the Sasaki Foundation on June 1st. Our team is so excited about this opportunity. 🙌🏾Fingers crossed.🙌🏾
A huge THANK YOU to the judges and the Sasaki Foundation team!!!
Excited to share that I have joined the Mayor’s Office of Arts & Culture in City of Boston!!!
“The place in which I fit will not exist until I make it.”
— James Baldwin
Date: Sat. Oct 22 & Sat. Oct 29
Time: 11:00am - 1:30pm
Rose Kennedy Greenway
Boston, MA
A dance movement and healing workshop series at the historic site / former home of Zipporah Potter Atkins, 17th century African-American woman.
These dance classes are FREE and OPEN to ALL AGES and ABILITIES.
News:
Baldwin in the Park
Awarded the Olmsted Now
Parks Equity & Spatial Justice Grant
Great news!!!! Baldwin in the Park has been a
warded the New England Foundation for the Arts 2022 Collective Imagination for Spatial Justice Grant
“CISJ teams are reimagining the role of public artmaking in fostering spatial justice – the right to simply be, thrive, express and connect in public. They are re-imagining public spaces through the lens of James Baldwin’s 1957 statement, "The place in which I fit will not exist until I make it," asking how public art can invite us into more honest storytelling of contested spaces within our communities, and exploring how public art can support residents to reclaim control of land and their homes,” said Kim Szeto, NEFA public art program director.
Excited to Share!!!!
This feature by F. Philip Barash in the American Planning As
sociation’s Arts & Planning Interest Group newsletter, outlines the place based efforts that we will discuss in our upcoming conversation on March 15th.
Recent Conversations:
How Culture and Creativity Build Power in Communities of Color
Tuesday, March 15, 2022
4pm ET
Virtual Event
Amid Boston’s development boom, communities of color are grappling with maintaining and amplifying their identity. Questions of who belongs to places — and to whom places belong — will determine the future of the city. Facing rapid change, community leaders are leveraging culture and creativity as strategies for placekeeping, and for sharing belonging, wellness, and joy.
Panelists:
Councilor Tania Anderson, Boston City Councilor, District 7
Michael Monestime, Business Strategy and Development, Morningside Group
Anita Morson-Matra, Creative Entrepreneur and Founder, Baldwin in the Park & Nubian Nights
Moderator: F. Philip Barash, City Planning and Urban Affairs Program, Boston University
Shared Use: “Which activities in parks and public space are welcome—or not?”
Wednesday, February 16, 2022
5pm ET
Virtual Event
Urban planner and cultural producer Anita Morson-Matra and President of the Emerald Necklace Conservancy Karen Mauney-Brodek will share insights from their work to offer public programs and navigate permits, reviews and approvals in Boston and other municipalities. Then Karen’s colleague Jamie Santuccio will introduce the proposed program Parks as Platform—monthly park events for Olmsted Now—and ask for your feedback and suggestions on which activities people would like to see. Whether you propose, provide or approve public activities, please join us to broaden this discussion—and shape this season’s program!
Current & Past projects reflect my commitment to work at the intersection of urban planning, arts & culture, and community & economic development.
Arts & Culture:
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Baldwin in the Park (Boston)
Baldwin in the Park proposes an outdoor series of multidisciplinary responses to James Baldwin's literary search for "place." In his writings and public talks, Baldwin's characters and concepts cracked open vulnerabilities about complex definitions of self--through religion and geographic origin to ethnicity and sexuality--that urgently need airing in public today. Piloted for Boston, stagings of Baldwin's poetry, fiction, essays and filmed interviews will be programmed in meaningful park & public locations with local leaders across disciplines--from performance to public policy, from queer advocacy to faith communities, from scholars to youth organizers.
The goal: To allow Baldwin's resonant voice to occupy, and claim, public space in Boston and connect audiences across divergent identifications around intersecting themes to find and reclaim "place" for themselves.
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Nubian Nights: The Sights & Sounds of Jazz in Roxbury
Founder and Curator of this beautifully engaging three-week, virtual, multi-media experience. My concept for Nubian Nights was birthed through several interactions with the Jazz Urbane Cafe and the City of Boston. The free 1-hour installation integrated sound and illumination at three of the Roxbury Cultural District’s up-and-coming cultural anchors: Jazz Urbane Café in the Bruce Bolling Building, Black Market, and Nubian Gallery. Covid-19 safety protocols were in place.
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Safe Routes to Schools: Art as a Creative Tool for Advocacy & Behavior Change
Coming Soon
What people are saying ….
“Working with Anita is a deeply rewarding experience. As an urban planner, she brings a genuine respect for community interest, a textured understanding of history and context, and a focus on equity. As a leader, Anita exhibits the rare qualities of compassion and empathy that make her work not merely competent but emotionally resonant. I have learned a great deal from Anita and know that others will as well.”
— Philip Barash, Arts & Cultural Fellow, The Boston Foundation
“Anita is a creative thinker who offers options to amplify your programs’ potential impact through a number of lenses: creative place-keeping, context-specific history, and care for social and mental health. I leave every meeting with Anita inspired and energized to better serve my communities—across geographies, disciplines and missions.”
— Jen Mergel, James & Audrey Foster Executive Director, Esplanade Association
As our city changes, concerns regarding affordability increase. For decades, artists have had to get creative to make living/working here possible. In this feature, I will explore the challenges that artists and creatives face in securing affordable live/work spaces. As new initiatives from civic leaders, nonprofits, and community groups arise, I am excited to capture the voices that add an additional layer of understanding to the challenges that this amazing segment of our population must face.
We invite you to share your thoughts by filling out the below form. Demographic information will not be shared, but will be utilized to inform the author’s argument. Answers to the long-form questions might be selected for inclusion in issue 08 of the Boston Art Review.
***Please note that not all questions require an answer.***
Any questions? Reach out to editorial@bostonartreview.com or anita@anitamorsonmatra.com
Cities & Towns:
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Cities & Towns in 2022
Coming Soon
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Cities & Towns in 2021
Lead urban planning consultant working with elected officials, community leaders, and other key stakeholders in 8 municipalities throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Funded by the Rapid Recovery Plan Program (RRP), the RRP focused on providing viable tools and strategies for revitalization of downtowns and in response to the effects of COVID-19 on local businesses. Services included: collaborative research, urban planning & economic development strategy, and stakeholder engagement.
What people are saying ….
“As a developer of affordable housing and artist/cultural spaces in Boston, I face incredibly complex challenges in trying to integrate creativity, diversity and inclusion into feasible projects. Success depends on working with people who understand these dynamic concepts and how to maximize them. Anita is such a person.”
— Bill Madsen Hardy, Owner, New Atlantic Development
Non-Profit Management, Leadership & Organizational Strategy:
*Section Under Construction*
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2022
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2021
Coming soon
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2020
Coming soon
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2019
Coming soon
What people are saying ….
Coming Soon …
