from the director

Welcome to the first edition of news @ the Nawn. We are so glad that you signed up, and can not wait to update you with all of the fun happenings @ the Nawn and around town.

As the director of the program, I want to offer an introduction by way of answer to the question: "Why this newsletter? Why this format?" Despite growing up in Titletown, as Boston is sometimes known, I have never been much of a pro sports fan. There were different reasons for this, but the biggest reason was that I just never had the time. There is just so much more variety in local events: amateur leagues, neighborhood plays, and dance parties that would love to attract just a fraction of that audience.

If you are subscribing to this newsletter, I suspect that you feel the same way. We want to use this space to highlight the latest live and in person events in your neighborhood as the best destination for your local arts and cultural needs. We want this to be place you turn to when it is time to shut off the TV, get outside and see the real thing. Get the gang together. Bring the family. Plan a date night. Every dispatch brings new chances to create new memories together.

For those of us not ready to get off of the couch, we also want to use this opportunity to highlight the latest and best works from local artists. We are all lovers of painting, poetry and music, but there has always been one big challenge facing art lovers like us who want the best experiences, and the emerging creators, who want to give it to us; it is not one of quality, but of exposure. We want to bring this amazing content to you with a section dedicated to promoting the literature, lyricism and visual arts that the team @ the Nawn thinks that you will appreciate. Stream it at your convenience, consider giving these talented artists your digital vote of approval; we hope that it brightens your day, and exposes you to more of the incredible talent right under our noses.

All of that is a long way to say, welcome, we assembled all of the best we could find for people just like you. I love the arts, and I love this city. This newsletter is just one more space we have created for you to be you @ the Nawn.

The world is waiting for you. J. Smalls, director

arts spotlight

Sam Cooke: classic soul

A Change Is Gonna' Come

Sam Cooke is my favorite musician of all time, full stop. He performed many songs that we consider classics today, but his version of A Change Is Gonna' Come felt appropriate for the first edition of the Nawn news letter.

I can rightfully claim that I have listened to the full discographies of hundreds of artists: every recording they released from launching their career to retirement; so I have a bit of perspective when I say that no artist even comes close to the consistent quality of Sam Cooke. You can hear his gospel quartet origins in every song, making his music both classic and timeless, speaking to modern life with the voice of our past. One thing I especially like about gospel singers is that, regardless of whether we as listeners have faith, we know that the singers do, and are pouring every ounce of their being into their sound.

That is Sam Cooke. I hope that you will give him a listen.

IJ Chan / Sketchmonchan

In her own words, "IJ Chan (陳加恩) / SKETCHMONCHAN is a dancer, educator, graphic designer, visual artist and clothing designer from Boston, MA. She has dedicated her life to training and performing intensively in multiple dance genres. She is a proud Chinese-American with roots in Hong Kong and Southern China and is interested in intersecting and exploring the Asian-American narrative in her own art. Since 2022, she has designed graphic stickers, t-shirts and sweatshirts based on the Chinese Zodiac animal of that year. She is also committed to bringing quality performing arts education to minority youth populations in Boston."

In my words, you can catch art @ the Nawn rocking her logo design on a screen near you, and my corporeal body rocking her collection of Chinese zodiac designs on these streets. Year of the rat, rep your set.

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

I can still hear the voice of my teacher, narrating the Road Not Taken as I sat in 10th grade English class. At the time, classic literature seemed a far cry from anything of concern to teenagers, roaming the halls of Boston Public Schools in the 90s, but I have learned to appreciate it more with time and age.

For one, every song lyric we enjoy starts out as black ink on paper. You could realistically take a poem like this, get a dope beat and a friend to sing the hooks, and top the charts. ( note to self: learn to rap ). Minus the old white men, that is what a lot of early hip hop actually was: developed word play, lyrical rhythm and references to other writers and a relatable lived experienced.

Robert Frost was doing exactly that with the medium of his time. Among others, he is often held up as the quintessential New Englander, spending most of his life in and around Boston, and primarily writing about the rustic country experience. The spirit of this piece felt right as the Nawn reaches an inflection point in its history. Now I just need to book some studio time to record the hottest album of the year.