Classes for Seniors

The Harriet Tubman House offers a wide variety of classes for seniors age 65 years and older that create group opportunities, ultimately offering older adults an awareness and mindfulness, while stimulating intellectual curiosity and developing knowledge, skills and competencies that can increase personal control, self mastery and motivation. Engagement in this domain increases cognition, building neural circuits in the brain that benefit and contribute to one’s health and overall well-being.

Seniors perform at Grandparents Day in front of the Children's Art Centre

Check out our Spring Session...

Platinum Singers
12 Wednesdays 2:00 – 3:30 pm
Learn to sing and share music with other seniors—

In this class, guided by instructor Elizabeth Anker, we learn to use our speaking and singing voices in a healthy way, boost our air power, volume and expressivity. We sing together and harmonize; we even learn to write some of our own stories into songs!

Past performances have included The State House, Mayor’s Tree Lighting, and USES events with children.

Bookmaking
8 Tuesdays 1:00 – 2:30 PM
Do you have a story to write? Have you always wanted to make your own scrapbook from scratch?

In this class we will create several finished books that participants can take home and use for writing or journaling, scrap booking, drawing, collage, gifts and more!  We will practice pamphlet stitch, Coptic bound, caterpillar stitch, origami folded books and experimental styles. Sign up for the beginning bookbinding class and learn to make your own blank books.

TO REGISTER: CALL HEIDY AT 617-375-8114
suggested contribution $15; no one turned away due to lack of funds

Compositions Press Release

UNITED SOUTH END SETTLEMENTS ANNOUNCES
Compositions: Art Inspired by Music
Exhibition: February 2, 2012 – April 5, 2012
Closing Reception: April 5, 2012, 6 – 8 pm

[Boston, MA] The walls of United South End Settlements’ (USES) Harriet Tubman House dance with the whimsical rhyme and repetition of artwork hung in harmony. Compositions: Art Inspired by Music, an exhibition featuring work from local Boston artists, is currently on display through April 5, 2012. A closing reception will be hosted on Thursday April 5, 2012, from 6 – 8 pm at 566 Columbus Avenue in Boston’s South End. Free, light refreshments will be available as well as musical performances by students from the Boston Conservatory.

USES, a nonprofit organization, is located in the South End neighborhood of Boston and works to build strong community by improving the education, health, safety, and economic security of low-income individuals and families in Boston’s historic South End/Lower Roxbury, serving as a national model of neighborhood engagement that builds successful lives and strong community.

“This artwork is really meant to move you,” says Chelsea Revelle, Director of Arts & Culture at USES. “These pieces really epitomize the raw energy, emotion, and imagination that music brings to our lives.”

Among the artwork displayed, the most striking might be a large string installation by Jessica Ginsberg. Mimicking cords of a cello or a scale that balances musical notes, your eyes will easily traverse the architecture, enticing your body to follow suit as you move to view the piece from multiple perspectives. Other artists, like Carolyn Newberger, capture the influence of music not only through watercolors, but also as in musical performances with the Principal Tuba of the Boston Symphony in the Cupcake Philharmonic Orchestra, a sextet under the aegis of the community outreach program of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

The Compositions art exhibit will run through Thursday, April 5th. The exhibit, which is free and open to the public, is available for viewing Mondays through Fridays, 8 am – 8 pm. The exhibit is showcased at the Harriet Tubman Gallery, located at 566 Columbus Avenue in Boston’s South End. The building is wheelchair accessible. Street parking is limited, and viewers are encouraged to take public transportation, via the Massachusetts Avenue Orange Line stop or the #1 and #43 buses.

For more information please visit United South End Settlements’ website at www.uses.org or contact Chelsea Revelle, Director of Arts & Culture at 617-375-8159.

Featured Artist: Mark Daley

VIII B-6, Acrylic on Plywood Panel

Mark Daley has been working in the South End and Lower Roxbury for the last 3 1/2 years for the Boston Housing Authority as a construction representative overseeing various construction projects. He is currently working on three projects at the Cathedral Development on Washington St. His work entitled, VIII B-6 was exhibited in this years Community Colors exhibition at the Harriet Tubman Gallery. Mark's two daughters have been enrolled at the USES' Children's Art Centre Summer Arts Program where they had the opportunity to collaborate on a group painting emulating South End artist, JoAnn Rothschild. The 3' X 9' canvas was also displayed during the Community Colors exhibition.

Ornamental: Handmade for Less

THANK YOU! USES hosted its first ever craft fair on December 3, 2011! Ornamental: Handmade for Less highlighted local artists and vendors who sold handmade gifts priced under $50. There were also ornament-making workshops, a Mudeye Puppet Company performance, and entertainment by Royer's One Man Band. Thank you to everyone for making this a wonderful success.

About the Event: Ornamental is a craft event for local artists, residents, businesses and USES programs to come together and sell handmade gifts for the South End/Lower Roxbury community. All items will be priced under $50. Ornament making workshops, storytellers and entertainment will be available for families. This show is open to the public and admission is free.

Vendors: This years vendors include many handmade unique items such as knitted apparel, hand painted and etched glassware, baked goods, denim accessories, greeting cards, fine art, decorative dishes, and jewelry amongst others. Participants from United South End Settlements will also be showcasing handmade items such as ornaments, craft supplies, clay figurines and recycled crafts. All proceeds benefit USES programs.

It's still not to late to purchase a unique handmade gift this holiday season. Visit the Ornamental vendors online:


The Cherubims: Hand Knitted Children's Apparel
My Best Self Art: Mixed Media Collage Art
Ashley T. Jones: Distinctive Handmade Jewelry
Coco Baby: Baby Boutique
Flora Fauna: Decorative Dishes
Pet Peeves: Stuffed Forms from Recycled Fabrics
A Good Piece of Glass: Etching on Glass

Community Colors: A Collaborative Art Exhibit

The Community Colors exhibition at the Harriet Tubman Gallery featured an array of 2D works in a variety of mediums, that highlighted local artists of all ages who live, work and/or participate in the South End/Lower Roxbury community. The exhibition, was on view from October 13, 2011 – December 9, 2011.


“I’m really excited to bring the community together,” says Chelsea Revelle, Director of Arts & Culture at USES. “This is such a great opportunity for participants of all ages in our programs to display work alongside USES’ colleagues and established local artists.” Revelle has worked with the USES’ Children’s Art Centre for the past 2.5 years before taking on additional adult and senior art programming and coordinating cultural events. The Children’s Art Centre is a historical building just off of Rutland Street in the South End, where many of the artists in the surrounding community first discovered and developed their life-long appreciation for the arts. The late Allan Crite, whose prints and paintings of the South End neighborhood remain on display at the Museum of Fine Arts, began his career as a student at the Children’s Art Centre.

Revolving works have been on display in the past at the Harriet Tubman Gallery including political posters from the Red Sun Press, collages by Ekua Holmes and the Streets exhibit honoring Mel King.

Featured Artist: Susan Thompson



Figure Study in Blue  27"x 34"  mono-print on fabric



Susan Thompson is a textile artist and art teacher who works primarily in the Greater Boston area and has served as the Community Liaison between the MFA and USES’ After School Program. Susan is influenced by African American History and the visual arts, and expresses; “ I am committed to using my expertise, talents and skills to share, enrich, uplift and educate within my community and the world. I best serve humanity through my creative abilities as an artist.”

Visit the artist's website at http://susanthompson.net/