Leap Year Lights Festival
Riverfront Park is located on the Nashua River in downtown Fitchburg. Throughout the 1900s, paper manufacturers dumped dyes and other industrial byproducts into the river, and the river was named one of the 10 most polluted in the nation in 1960.[1] Residents fought for new and improved water treatment plants and today the river is…
Read MoreSalsa on the Riverfront
The program was made possible through leadership development training led by NewVue Communities, a regional nonprofit dedicated to resident leadership. NewVue Communities hosts a Leadership Cohort through their community organizing department. Cohort participants receive technical assistance and develop skills needed to write and receive grants along with seed funding to support their own programs. Through…
Read MoreLynn Lights
Lynn is a formerly industrial city on the Atlantic coast just north of Boston, and in the early 2000s it was suffering from economic and built environment challenges. Local leaders were working to address those issues and were interested in community feedback. As part of this work, the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency (MassDevelopment) held a…
Read MoreBeyond Walls Mural Festival
Located just north of Boston on the Atlantic Ocean, Lynn, was once a thriving manufacturing center. It was dubbed the “shoe-making capital of the world” in 1885, but as production began to decline and eventually moved elsewhere, Lynn, like many cities, was left with large industrial buildings and the need for new economic opportunities. The…
Read MoreActivate Mill Street
In 2019, through an open call process, Activate Mill Street organizers selected ten local artists who installed vibrant art in the alley off of a main commercial corridor. The alley also was reused to allow for on-site events such as from yoga classes, breakdance competitions, and a concert series. It’s not uncommon to walk by…
Read More