Archive for March 1st, 2011

March 1st, 2011

Bud Caulfield will not seek reelection to Lowell City Council

by DickH

Above: Bud Caulfield’s first day as a Lowell City Councilor. Front row from left: Tarsy Poulios, Dick Howe Sr, Brian Martin. Back row from left: Joe Fitzpatrick, Gerry Durkin, Brendan Fleming, Curtis LeMay, Bud Caulfield, Bob Kennedy.

Congratulations and thank you to Bud Caulfield for his long and dedicated tenure on the Lowell City Council. Caulfield announced today that he would not seek reelection to what would be his thirteenth two-year term on the council.

Bud first won a seat on the council in 1987, a tumultuous year that saw three incumbents defeated and five new comers join the council. Joining Caulfield as new councilors that year were Tarsy Poulios who finished 3rd, Joe Fitzpatrick who finished 4th, Gerry Durkin who finished 7th and Curtis LeMay who finished 8th (Bud was 5th). Incumbents returned to the council were Dick Howe Sr (1st), Brian Martin (2), Bob Kennedy (6) and Brendan Fleming (9). Losing seats were incumbents Kathy Kelley, Ed Kennedy and Gus Coutu. Incumbents Armand LeMay and Dick O’Malley did not seek reelection that year.

While the reasons for such a major change in the city council are always complex, the following excerpts give a sense of what was going on in the city at the time:

In the [past] nine months . . . Lowell has again been transformed, this time from a prosperous renaissance city to a divided community shaken by rumors, recriminations, and resignations — much of them fostered by widely reported federal and Middlesex County investigations probing political corruption and organized crime in the city.
“First boom, then bust? ” by Mark Jurkowitz, Boston Phoenix, February 24, 1987

The campaign, which begins in earnest this weekend, is the first in many years with negative overtones, and the Oct 6 preliminary election may begin a new era in Lowell politics . . . The council campaign comes on the heels of major federal and county investigations, the departure of Joseph Tully as city manager and a general air of tension among elected officials.
The Column, Lowell Sunday Sun, Sept 6, 1987

Bud always ran strong, finishing third in 1989, second in 1991, seventh in 1993 (an election that saw six new councilors and only three incumbents reelected), and second in 1995. It was in that year, that Bud was elected major, the first of two times he held that office.

Lowell’s new mayor, Edward Charles “Bud” Caulfield, 57, proves that despite the legendary rough-and-tumble image of Mill City politics, there is always room for a nice guy. . . For Caulfield, recognized mainly as a “streets and sidewalks” kind of councilor, becoming mayor Tuesday was a crowning achievement that he coveted but did not dare anticipate. “Somebody had better pinch me,” Caulfield, half-joking, said as he accepted the handshakes of well-wishers in the mayor’s reception room at City Hall after the vote.
Lowell Sun, January 7, 1996

After his mayoralty, Bud finished second in 1997, fourth in 1999, third in 2001, fourth in 2003, second in 2007, and second in 2009. There’s no doubt that he would have won a seat on the council in 2011 had he chosen to run.

CategoryCity Council, History, Lowell | Comment3 Comments »

March 1st, 2011

Sun Reports on Arts Advocates’ Testimony in Methuen

by PaulM

Chris Camire of the SUN today reported on Monday’s hearing in Methuen at which arts advocates from the area spoke about the negative effects of proposed cuts in state funding for cultural programs. Read the article here, and get the SUN if you want more. In the article, Lowell is praised by the executive director of the Mass. Cultural Council [my bold below]:

“For every dollar invested in the Massachusetts Cultural Council, [Anita] Walker said $5 goes back into the state’s general fund through tax revenue generated by tourism and in-state spending. She said the agency supports 400 nonprofit agencies, including COOL, that have a combined state budget of $4 million and support 37,000 jobs. Calling Lowell the council’s ‘poster child,’ Walker said her agency helps fund the city’s annual Folk Festival and Southeast Asian Water Festival. It also played a part in bringing Jack Kerouac’s On The Road scroll to Lowell in the summer of 2007, as well as in keeping the Revolving Museum, American Textile History Museum and Brush Art Gallery afloat, she said. Elected officials acknowledged the importance of funding arts and cultural programs during the hearing, but said the $1.5 billion deficit Massachusetts faces means very few state programs are safe from the ax.”

CategoryCulture, Current Events, Greater Lowell, History, Lowell | CommentNo Comments »

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March 1st, 2011

Film and the Arts Series, Lowell

by Tony

In their own words…

The Lowell Film Collaborative (LFC) is a grassroots organization dedicated to growing the burgeoning artistic community of Lowell, Massachusetts, by celebrating the art of moving pictures. Through film and video events, discussions, and film festivals, the LFC nurtures and supports cinematic artists and develops partnerships with local organizations.

This video was originally posted by lowellfilm.

CategoryCulture, Greater Lowell, Lowell | CommentNo Comments »

March 1st, 2011

Loading Dock Gallery exhibit opening tomorrow

by DickH

Painting by Ashlee Welz Smith

Beginning tomorrow and running through March 27, the Loading Dock Gallery at Western Avenue Studios, 122 Western Avenue in Lowell, will present a show of paintings and photographs by two local artists, Ashlee Welz Smith (painting shown above) and Laura Doran (photo shown below). There will be a reception for the artists Friday, March 4, from 6 to 9 pm. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 11 am to 4:30 pm. The following release has more information about the artists and the show:

A photograph or painting may hang on a wall and be bounded by a frame, and to a casual glance it may seem static. But it can take the observer to surprising places. Shifting Boundaries, a show of paintings by Ashlee Welz Smith and photographs by Laura Doran opening at the Loading Dock Gallery in Lowell on March 2, challenges us to push the boundaries of our experience of the world.

“For me,” Welz Smith said, “it’s a show about constant change. I’m observing and exploring how atmospheric shifts affect light, color, and mood, as well as playing with the idea of lines as visual blockades.” She added that her paintings in the show have “become a visual reminder of the constant redefinition of who I am as a person, artist, wife, mother, and friend.”

Doran added, “With each stage of life there are new ‘rules’ and boundaries that can stifle your creativity and spirit if you let them. Creating these photographs and working with Ashlee for this show has allowed me to break through yet another boundary and continue on my journey.”

While Doran often gets inspiration from the changing moods of the ocean, Welz Smith has “always been intrigued by objects that pierce through a vast expanse of sky. Focusing on the intersection of material objects in an otherwise intangible space allows me to toe the line between abstraction and reality, playing with color, line, composition, and feeling.”

Welz Smith, of Lowell, received a BS in Fine Art from Skidmore College and studied painting and photography in Paris. She realized art was a necessity in high school: “In the art classroom I felt the most fulfilled and exhilarated, and yet completely terrified.” Her medium of choice is oil paint.

Doran, of Chelmsford, has been working with digital photography for the past four years. She has studied at Maine Media Workshops, the New Hampshire Institute of Art, and the DeCordova Museum. Both have studios at Western Avenue. Doran said, “The artists at Western Avenue are the most talented and sharing people I have ever met. The creativity that happens there on a daily basis is awe-inspiring. Being part of that community pushes me to learn and grow.”

Photo by Laura Doran

CategoryCulture, Lowell | CommentNo Comments »

March 1st, 2011

Author Jane Brox at Spalding House, March 10

by PaulM

Jane Brox will read from her new book “Brilliant: The Evolution of Artificial Light” on Thursday, March 10, at 7 pm, at the Spalding House on 383 Pawtucket Street. This is a Lowell Parks & Conservation Trust event. If you plan to attend, please respond by calling 978-934-0030. “Brilliant” was named by TIME as one of the best books of 2010. An added attraction of the program is the extraordinary collection of lamps and lighting systems in the Spalding House, which dates from the 18th century, a rare example of housing of that era in Lowell, formerly East Chelmsford. Admission is free, but space is limited. Jane will sign books also.

CategoryCulture, Education, History, Lowell | CommentNo Comments »

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March 1st, 2011

Colonial Communication: Committees of Correspondence

by Marie

The power of communication as a tool of democracy is clear as MassMoments tells us today that in response to a rash of changes foisted on the colonies by the those representing the Crown, a network was formed to express a litany of grievences and keep colonial communities linked and informed. The Boston “Committee of Correspondence” created a message urging other communities to form their own committees and express their sentiments about the British power grab. This so-called Boston Pamphlet was heard and it stirred action in the various Massachusetts towns. At a meeting in the town of Bedford on March 1, 1773 – seven men were elected to form a response and they found among other grievances that  “the Crown Taking the Payment of our Governors out of our hands is a very Great Grievance…” The neighboring  town of Lexington had already formed a committee a few months prior. Dozens of towns joined the action creating what one historian called “the beginnings of a revolutionary infrastructure.”

On This Day...

      …in 1773, the town of Bedford held its annual meeting. Along with the routine matters to be addressed, there was one unusual item of business. The Town Meeting was asked to decide if it agreed with Boston’s “sentiments related to the state of the Colonists as to their Rights and Liberties.” A pamphlet detailing these sentiments—a mixture of outrage, exaggeration, and alarm—had been sent to selectmen in every Massachusetts town. Britain was tightening its control on its American colonies, and the colonists believed that their rights as English citizens were threatened. The response to the Boston Pamphlet made it clear that, in Bedford and many other Massachusetts towns, people were prepared to resist British authority.
 
Read the full MassMoments article here.  Comments about committees of correspondence, pamphlets and the like as compared to our 21st century social networking?

 

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