Mayor McGee statement on fireworks, window art shows from GALA, MBTA updates, & more | June 16, 2020

New window shows for Galleries at LynnArts

GALA (Galleries at LynnArts) has installed two window shows that can be viewed from the sidewalk at 25 Exchange St, Lynn, MA 01901.

“Facts of Life” is an installation by Stefanie Timmermann.  The middle window is filled with flowers and plants. “For me, photographing flowers is often an invitation to delve into abstraction, curves and lines. It’s very meditative, and I can get absorbed into photographing a small plant for an hour or more. Photography in general kept me sane and functioning in the first several weeks of COVID-19 related lockdown, because it is an escape into a world I have some control over. I leave the fear behind when I put a camera in front of my eye. I have searched out flowers much more than usual, because they are uncomplicated and freely give their beauty and serenity.”

The left window is “Signage & Symbols”.  Timmermann states “I do think we will get back to normal at some point. Maybe it will take a vaccine, maybe some precautions will remain. But the new normal we are living right now should be remembered when we can return to freedoms that we took for granted before. So in a way, these photos are documentary in nature. Maybe one day I’ll show them to kids during storytelling hour in the library: look, this is what life was like during the pandemic…”

The final window explores the isolation and upheaval. “The pandemic has not only led to a lot of isolation, it has also led to a deepening of the disparities between poor and rich, people of color and white ones. We live in a time of immense social and political upheaval. I wanted to document this, too, and I had the chance to photograph both an alt-right demonstration (demanding to re-open the economy), and a rally for Black Lives Matter in my hometown of Swampscott. Unlike a news reporter, though, I can take sides openly, and my heart will always be with peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters and everyone fighting for equality, inclusion and social justice.”

The Main Gallery windows will focus on an ever changing show called “Say It/Hear It” where artists have created scrolls that will hang on a rotating basis.  2020 has offered many challenges to us as individuals and as artists.  GALA wants artists to show their art and how they are processing their feelings. They give a visual voice to what they, their family, our nation, and our planet is feeling. The first works hanging in the windows are cyanotypes by Sally Jacobson. Cyanotypes are an alternative photographic process most people would understand as blueprints. It is a cameraless process that allows the artist a lot of leeway for experimentation without much equipment. Sally uses cyanotype to document what she calls “the delicate and the fierce”. Jacobson’s work is her testament to the strength and fragility of the world. As new scrolls come in they will be hung in the windows and previous ones will recede behind them or be moved to the gallery walls in anticipation of re-opening.

Anyone interested in getting involved as a sponsor, artist, member of the press, or volunteer should contact galleriesatlynnarts@gmail.com

For more information and submissions, please visit www.galleriesatlynnarts.org

Share your P-EBT benefits

Every household with students in Lynn Public Schools will receive P-EBT benefits, amounting to $5.70 per student for every day school is closed.

More information about P-EBT is available at: https://www.map-ebt.org/

If you don’t need P-EBT to feed your family, consider using your benefit to:

• Purchase food for a local food distribution effort or
• Purchase your own groceries and donate the equivalent amount to food distribution efforts in Lynn!

Some Food Distribution Efforts to Support

1) Yamila Ruiz – Yamila is a dedicated community member who is delivering groceries and prepared meals to families in Lynn.

Yamila is looking for non-perishable items, including: Rice, Salt, Beans, Tomato Sauce, Shelf Stable Milk, Cereal, Cooking Oil, Pasta, Maseca (Corn Flour), Canned Vegetables, Granola Bars, Crackers, Juice, Sugar

DONATE AT:

CashApp: $YamilaKai
Venmo: @nicholas-Coppola-2
Zelle: 617-851-7796
You can also order or drop of groceries to: 50 Trevett Ave, Lynn

2) Lynn Rapid Response Network (LRRN) – LRRN has been supporting over 100 local families to purchase groceries from locally owned grocery stores.

DONATE AT: lynnrapidresponsenetwork.org/donate-2

3) Essex County Community Organization (ECCO) – ECCO has been providing funds for POC and undocumented families to get the food and resources they need.

DONATE AT: https://www.eccoaction.org/donate to the “No One Stands Alone Fund”

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From Mayor McGee’s office: The Lynn Public Health Department has confirmed that as of today, the number of active, confirmed positive COVID-19 cases is 1,041 with 2 new cases today. 2,442 Lynn residents have recovered and 95 have died. The total number of confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in Lynn since March 21, 2020, including those who have died and recovered, is 3,578. Please visit the new City of Lynn COVID-19 Data Dashboard which is updated daily.

We will continue to provide regular updates on COVID-19 through the City website (www.lynnma.gov), social media, and the Smart 911 emergency notification system (sign up at www.smart911.com).

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