Around Town

Watertown Student Selected as Member of National Society of High School Scholars

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The National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS) announced Stefano A. Barresi from Watertown, MA, has been selected to become a member of the esteemed organization. The Society recognizes top scholars who have demonstrated outstanding leadership, scholarship, and community commitment. The announcement was made by NSHSS Co-founder and President James W. Lewis. “On behalf of NSHSS and our co-founder Claes Nobel, a member of the family that established the Nobel Prizes, I am honored to recognize the hard work, passion, and commitment that Stefano has demonstrated to achieve this exceptional level of academic excellence,” said Lewis. “Stefano is now a member of a unique community of scholars – a community that represents our very best hope for the future.”

Entertainment

Exhibit Features Art Made with Fabric, Wire, Paper & More

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The next exhibit at Storefront Art Projects will be Ordinary Magic, featuring works by Audrey Goldstein and Danielle Krcmar. See more information provided by the gallery below. Time accrues, moment to moment, to become eons. The precision of every stitch accumulates in the work of these two artists to become magic most ordinary. Here thread is both delicate and airborne, soft and rock-like. Danielle Krcmar’s iterative process of using fiber to imitate boulders, stones and moss is like drawing, where lines of coarse yarn and little stitches grow into a playfully convincing landscape. Audrey Goldstein’s floating dimensional fiber, paper, fabric and wire drawings investigate form and emptiness, where hollows highlight the contrast to our common experience of being solid and fixed. 

DATES: June 7 – July 12

RECEPTION: Saturday, June 7, 1-4 p.m.

HOURS: Thursdays and Saturdays, 1-4 p.m.

Around Town

Watertown Arts Market Returns to Arsenal Park, Seeks Volunteers

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The following announcement was provided by the Watertown Arts Market:

The 2025 Watertown Arts Market will be held on August 9 from 12-5 p.m., and this year we’ll be back at the new and improved Arsenal Park! 

We love Arsenal Park for all the greenery and shade, but it has a much bigger footprint than Filippello, so we’ll definitely need a full team of volunteers to help us keep things running. We hope that you’ll join us, and spread the word to other interested people. 

In addition to donating your time to help create an awesome community event supporting the arts in Watertown, students can receive service hours toward the school requirements, and local businesses can qualify as event sponsors. Please feel free to reply to me with any questions about qualifying for either of these two options. We especially need assistance with setting up (9:30-11:30 a.m.) and breaking down (4:30-6:30 p.m.), so all willing hands are welcome during these time periods. Families who want to get involved can sign up for a 1 hour water wagon shift to help keep our artisans hydrated through the event. 

If you’re available to volunteer again this year, you can sign up here:

2025 WAM VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP

Around Town

Watertown Celebrates Arshile Gorky’s Legacy with “Passage” Mural Reception

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The artist Brandon Gaia Marshall at work on the mural “Passage” in May 2025. Photo courtesy of the City of Watertown. The following announcement was provided by the City of Watertown:

Watertown is proud to announce a special reception for “Passage,” a new mural honoring the profound legacy of renowned artist Arshile Gorky. The reception, co-hosted by Mount Auburn Cemetery, will take place on June 10, 2025, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Grove Street underpass on the Watertown-Cambridge Greenway. 100 Years of Arshile Gorky

The year 2025 marks a century since Arshile Gorky, born Vosdanig Adoian, departed Watertown for New York City.

Government

State Rep. Steve Owens to Hold 3 June Office Hours

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State Rep. Steve Owens. State Rep. Steve Owens will meet with residents in two office hours events in Watertown and a third in Cambridge this month. See details from State Rep. Owens’ office. Please come visit me at my June office hours:

Monday, June 9 from 9:00am – 10:30am at Kendall Kitchen at the Quad (10 Wilson Rd, Cambridge, MA 02138)

Monday, June 16 from 3:00pm – 4:00pm at the Watertown Senior Center (31 Marshall St, Watertown, MA 02472)

Friday, June 27 from 8:30am – 10:00am at Uncommon Grounds (575 Mount Auburn St, Watertown, MA 02472)

As a reminder, I have changed offices and phone numbers for the new legislative session. My office at the Statehouse is now in suite 167. The new office phone number is (617) 722-2230. Please give us a call or drop us a note if you plan to stop by!

Around Town

Historical Society of Watertown Offering Historic American Legion Artifacts to the Public

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The following announcement was provided by the Historical Society of Watertown:

Three or more decades ago, when American Legion Post 99 closed, the Historical Society of Watertown acquired a quantity of their documents and artifacts. It is a sad fact that small museums, such as ours, have limited space for proper storage and now that we are slowly cataloging our accumulated collection, it has become clear that while it is appropriate that we keep some of these items, we lack the room to house them all. The next step in cases like this is to offer the items to another appropriate party or organization. Last month, we donated a photo from 1930 to the Shutt Detachment, Marine Corp League, depicting the dedication of the WWI memorial stone out in front of their building at 215 Mt. Auburn St., which was occupied by the American Legion Post 99 at that time.

Around Town

Free Open House at Browne House, Watertown’s Oldest Home

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Browne House (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)

The following announcement was provided by Historic New England:

On Saturday, June 7, Historic New England sites across the region are free and open to the public. Visitors can enjoy a fun day of fantastic storytelling from architecture and fine art to New Englanders of the past. Browne House is recognized as the first fully documented restoration in America and the oldest house in Watertown. There is one large room on the first floor, which incorporated living, cooking, and sleeping space. The second floor features rare architectural features and an attic completes the tour.

Letters

LETTER: Disability Commission Doing ADA Study in Watertown

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Dear Editor,

Last Wednesday, the Disability Commission heard the results from the ADA study which was funded by a grant. The Commission engaged KMA, LLC in Newton to conduct the study and recommendations. 105 residents responded to the survey which is exceptional for a municipality and this study type. City properties comply with a lot in the ADA. However, there are areas needing improvement, such as fixing elevators, resurfacing parking lot and having signage. The Phillips School and Senior Center needed addressing. The non-school polling places were part of the study and there’s room for improvement there. School use in elections will be studied later. The good news is that many improvements can happen programmatically by adding “request for accommodations can be made” to agendas and applications, for example. Advertising accommodation aides would also be helpful An audit of city aides will be performed. It would be beneficial to know what locations have a Meeting Owl for hybrid meetings.