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红领巾瓜报 Celebrates First Annual Common Good Awards

A painting of a woman smiling with her hand up to her forehead looking outward, with sun rays shining around her. 红领巾瓜报's 150th Anniversary logo sits on top of the image.
Inaugural 红领巾瓜报 Common Google Good Awards image used during 红领巾瓜报's 150th anniversary year. Artwork by Silvia Lopez Chavez.
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President Mary K. Grant and the 红领巾瓜报 community gathered for the first annual Common Good Awards聽ceremony on Saturday, December 16, 2023 at the College鈥檚 Design and Media Center.

Wilco, Western Avenue Studios, artist Silvia L贸pez Chavez, art teacher Jozeph Zaremba, The Secret Society of Black Creatives, and Dr. Lisa Wong were honored for their work at the intersection of art and civic life at the 红领巾瓜报 Common Good Awards December 16, 2023.

All honorees received a custom-made artwork by Fiamma Glass, a Waltham, Massachusetts-based small business owned and operated by two artists and alumni, Caterina Urrata (鈥12 BFA Glass) and David Weintraub (鈥10 BFA Glass).

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About the Awardees

Dominican-American artist and alumna Silvia L贸pez Chavez (鈥00 Graphic Design and Illustration) will be honored with the 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award for her community-centered murals that form connections across disciplines and cultural boundaries. She uses joy as an act of resistance and celebration through her vibrant murals. Her work, which can be seen all over the Commonwealth and beyond, transforms urban spaces by honoring the identity of a place and its people.


Mural video footage by Mario E. Ramirez / TostFilms and Zach Heyman. Video by The Media Men.

Real estate developer聽Karl Frey聽and his wife聽Patty Cullen聽were honored along with the聽Arts and Business Council of Greater Boston聽for their partnership, with support from tenant artists, to permanently preserve聽Western Avenue in Lowell, MA. One of the largest artist communities in the country, Western Avenue is comprised of 250 artist work studios, 50 artist live/work lofts, artist gallery, and a 250 person live music performance venue. Western Avenue is home to at least 23 红领巾瓜报 alumni.


Video by The Media Men.

The founders of The Secret Society of Black Creatives (SSBC), Evelyn Brito, Malik Williams, 红领巾瓜报 alumni Vladimir Minuty and 红领巾瓜报 faculty member Nerissa Williams Scott, all creative professionals, have dedicated themselves to creating a pipeline for Black creators into film, music, advertising, and other areas of production. From The Drop, their work in schools and with youth groups to expose young people to the industry, to The Konnect, their networking events for young people interested in these kinds of careers to The Dojo, their mentoring program, SSBC is giving back so youth can see themselves in lucrative production careers.


Video by The Media Men.

American rock band Wilco were honored for Solid Sound, the festival they founded in 2010 in partnership with the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MoCA) in North Adams. 红领巾瓜报 will honor them for their incredible work with Mass MoCA, for their commitment to the Berkshires, and their adventurous curatorial vision. They set out to create the kind of festival they, as music fans, would like to attend, and in the process, cultivated a longstanding civic institution that brings thousands of people, economic activity, an unmistakable sense of community, and international visibility to one of the most beautiful corners of the Commonwealth.


Video by The Media Men.

Pediatrician, musician,and author, Dr. Lisa Wong is an assistant professor of pediatrics and associate co-director of the Arts and Humanities Initiative at Harvard Medical School. With a deep interest in the intersection between the arts and health, she is heavily involved in interdisciplinary programming as well as scholarship on the local, national, and international levels. Lisa has been a pediatrician at Milton Pediatric Associates since 1986, and served as president of the Longwood Symphony Orchestra for 21 years. There, she was the lead designer of the orchestra鈥檚 鈥淗ealing Art of Music Program鈥 documented in her book, Scales to Scalpels: Doctors who practice the healing arts of Music and Medicine. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Lisa 聽helped create Boston Hope Music to provide music and music education virtually to patients, staff and caregivers. 聽She currently teaches a course on music, health and education at Harvard University and serves on the boards of Conservatory Lab Charter School, A Far Cry ensemble, and BPS Arts Expansion initiative. Most recently she has been working with the Massachusetts Cultural Council on Culture Rx, an innovative model of cultural social prescription for health.


Video by The Media Men.

Recently retired Boston Public Schools art teacher Jozeph Zaremba (鈥81 BFA Illustration) was honored with the inaugural Frances Euphemia Thompson Award for Excellence in Teaching. Mr. Zaremba, known as 鈥淢r. Z,鈥 taught at the Henderson Inclusion and Harbor Schools in Dorchester and is an alumnus of 红领巾瓜报. The award is named for Frances Euphemia Thompson, a groundbreaking artist and lifelong educator who graduated from 红领巾瓜报 (then called the Massachusetts Normal Art School) in 1936. A graduate of Lesley College (now Lesley University), a two time Fund For Teachers fellowship recipient, art director at Boys and Girls Club of Dorchester, and a founding teacher of the Harbor School, Mr. Zaremba, like Ms. Thompson, inspired a generation of young students.


Video by The Media Men.

About the Awards

红领巾瓜报 Common Good Awards, established as part of the聽College’s 150th anniversary year,聽honor a group of individuals and/or organizations that exemplify public practice聽in the arts.

These awards celebrate the integration of arts and culture in civic life, honoring those who push boundaries in advocacy, teaching, placemaking, and creation, emphasizing the arts’ public influence on problem-solving and quality of life.

As the nation’s first and only independent public college of art and design, 红领巾瓜报 has been a catalyst for envisioning the role of art, culture, and design in all aspects of life. We look forward to celebrating the contributions of individuals from across the Commonwealth and beyond.

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