HomeFront: Best of the Arts 2020 and more
By Marie Morris Globe Correspondent,Updated December 18, 2020, 10:32 a.m.
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The year s highlights include Don t Let Me Be Misunderstood, a Nina Simone-inspired mural in the South End.David L. Ryan/Globe Staff
Welcome back to HomeFront, where weâre shoveling snow, counting down to the winter solstice on Monday, and hanging on every word of the news about vaccines â or, as we like to think of them, get-out-of-jail-free cards magically crammed into little glass vials. The year that warped time is finally winding down, and that means looking back at an unprecedented 12 months. Weâve missed out on a lot of communal activities in 2020 (youâre up, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Yearâs), but one thing even a pandemic canât take away is the bonding experience of arguing over arts and entertainment criticsâ year-end lists.
Art world insider meets âpent-up needâ with new Coolidge Corner gallery
By Cate McQuaid Globe Correspondent,Updated December 15, 2020, 6:15 p.m.
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BROOKLINE â Yng-Ru Chen never planned to open an art gallery. COVID-19 changed that.
Last year, Chen moved from New York back to her childhood home in Brookline to send her kids to schools here. She was still running her art advisory company, Praise Shadows, from a Brooklyn studio, working with artists and companies on new models for entrepreneurship.
Then the pandemic hit.
âI realized how much more localized art was going to be,â Chen said.
As the pandemic wore on, Coolidge Corner businesses began to shutter. The GNC vitamin and supplements store on Harvard Street closed. Annaâs Taqueria closed after 25 years in the neighborhood. The Gap recently announced it would shutter in January.