Somerville Museum. New Exhibit; George Dilbory, the Greek immigrant from Alatsata in Asia MInor/Somerville resident who became the first Greek-American to be awarded the U.S. Medal of Honor.

As the only membership supported, community-based cultural institution of its kind in Somerville, the Somerville Museum is the City of Somerville's mirror, playing a central role in preserving the past, reflecting the present, and helping to shape the future of this diverse urban community of 76,000. Through its innovative programming, the Museum seeks to engage our audience in an on-going dialogue with local artists, scholars, and educators with the larger aim of fostering cultural education and understanding.

The Somerville Museum presents exhibitions featuring local visual arts, history and culture in the context of neighborhoods and community, as well as musical and dramatic performance series; develops hands-on history learning projects in collaboration with the Somerville Public School Department; and is available as a meeting place for local historical and cultural organizations.

The construction of the Museum’s brick Federal Revival style building was begun in the 1920's to house the growing collections of the Somerville Historical Society. In the 1980's, sensing a wonderful opportunity for cultural revitalization, a handful of committed individuals raised the funds to restore and fully renovate the building. The result was the opening in 1988 of the Somerville Museum. The Museum is located on the corner of Central Street, the geographic midline of city maps, in the literal heart of Somerville's residential neighborhoods

Art, Poetry, Prose and a Saint

The Somerville Museum begins its Spring 2009 season on March 5, with the continuing exhibition “Fearless Methods-Common Bonds”, running through March 29. This show of paintings, collages, encaustic, and mixed media includes recent work by Tim Barner, David Bouchard, Jim Jackson, Yvonne Parma, and Adele Travisano.

On Friday, March 27, at 7PM the Museum will host a screening of “A Saint in My Garden,” a film by Tony Hale about the series of paintings on the life and legend of St. Francis of Assisi, as painted by his mother, Adele Travisano. Tony Hale has also edited films about the fishing industry in Panama (“Fishing the Gulf”) and protecting the Darien region of Panama (“Voices of the Darien”). Hale’s film will be followed by a screening of 3 short films by Jim Jackson: “Infinity’s Dance,” “Below the Ozone,” and “Torso”. Jim Jackson is a Cambridge painter and film-maker who has specialized in animated films incorporating elements of his painting. Recent exhibitions have included a solo show at the Zeitgeist Gallery, Cambridge; group shows at Montserrat College of Art, Beverly; and the Nave Gallery, Somerville.

On Sunday, March 29, at 3 PM, the Museum will present an afternoon of readings by Ben Brooks and Julia Lisella. Ben Brooks, a longtime Somerville resident, is an Emerson College Writer-in-Residence, author of the novel The Icebox, and numerous short stories. His stories have won an O. Henry Prize and a Nelson Algren Award. He will be reading a recently published short story. Julia Lisella, Regis College professor and published poet, will read from her poems about St. Francis, written in collaboration with painter Adele Travisano. Lisella’s poetry collections include Terrain (WordTech Editions 2007) and Love Song Hiroshima (Finishing Line Press, 2004). She has a St. Francis poem forthcoming in Salamander this spring.

The Somerville Museum is located at One Westwood Road, at the coroner of Westwood Road and Central Street in Somerville.
Tel 617-666-9810
Museum Hours: Thurs 2-7, Fri -5, Sat 12-5