New display tells story of Holyokers’ ‘Arrivals’Date: 8/27/2015 HOLYOKE – The long dormant railroad station served as a transportation hub in Western Massachusetts for 75 years.
Now, under that original mass transit building designed by H. H. Richardson through which many first came to the area, a new art project tells the story of multiple generations’ entrance and settling in Holyoke.
“Arrivals,” an illuminated display of the city’s history and culture as told by its residents, was unveiled on Aug. 19 in advance of Celebrate Holyoke by Joseph Krupczynski and Caryn Brause of the Center for Design Engagement at a ceremony that drew a crowd ranging from the elderly to toddlers under the Mosher Street Rail Bridge.
Mayor Alex Morse called the “Arrivals” exhibit “an exciting project” and “a testament to the dedication and commitment this administration has to the creative economy tapping into the local talent, working with the higher education institutions and making something materialize in a very important gateway between the downtown area and the Flats.”
He added the city committed $35,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding toward the project, which combined infrastructure and the arts “to foster pride in our city.”
The exhibit spans the length of one side of the underpass, which serves as a major access between the Flats and Downtown sections of the city, and consists of a vintage back and white photo of Holyoke’s Main Street as a background with panels displaying stories recounted by people who arrived in the city between 1890 to the present interviewed by the two.
“The intention of that was that the way Caryn and I see Holyoke is there’s a unity to Holyoke and the big image represents that,” Krupczynski, who, along with Brause, is also a faculty member at the University of Massachusetts’ Department of Architecture and Design, said. “There are also multiple stories … and we wanted to try and capture that in the piece we were creating.”
Brause explained the two gathered the stories through several sessions during which they met with residents at various points throughout the city, including the senior center, City Hall, Sons of Zion and Gateway City Arts.
She said the 18 stories selected “try to capture many of the different themes that we heard while talking to people all around Holyoke.” Those themes, Krupczynski explained, included family, being at home in Holyoke – “that this would be the only place this person would possibly live” – strength of community, community as family, food, language faith, bike riding, and memories of arriving at the train station.
Stories on display are in both English and Spanish.
“I think part of that is because we recognize that Holyoke is a bilingual city; that’s the nature of Holyoke, especially here in the gateway between the Flats and downtown in Holyoke,” Krupczynski said. “This is an art piece in which we wanted the languages to mix because we’re making a place for art and art can do these incredible things in society [and] in culture to bring people together.”
Brause also noted the pieces on the wall are excerpts of much larger stories that can be seen on the project’s website, www.holyoke-arrivals.org. The exhibit also features QR codes, enabling those visiting to read the stories by using their cellphones.
“You’ll see there are longer stories, there are many more stories and that is a project that is really ongoing,” she said. “We’re continuing to collect them, so if you have your own arrival story, whether you were born here or arrived yesterday, we would love you have you share that.”
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