I was born in Holyoke and grew up in Chicopee, located next to Holyoke in Western Massachusetts. Holyoke is on the banks of the Connecticut River. Holyoke built a canal system in 1849 with water-powered paper mills and was known as “The Paper City.” I’ve always loved the row houses, apartments and factory buildings, many of which were built in the late 1800’s using a brick with a fabulous rich red color. The mill workers were predominantly Irish and Holyoke has the second largest St Patrick’s Day parade in the United States. Later immigrants included eastern Europeans and since the fifties, Puerto Ricans and other Latinos, who now make up over 40% of Holyoke’s population. The paper mills began closing around the turn of the century and like many other manufacturing cities lost jobs with no replacements helped fuel tension among the various communities.
Many of the downtown apartment buildings and factories have been torn down, burned down or are empty buildings with condemned signs on them. There are many empty lots surrounded by old abandoned and condemned buildings . Some areas look like a war zone.
The odd thing is that we saw no graffiti. On a previous visit four years earlier, We noticed graffiti and trash all over the sidewalks. Coming from Los Angeles, I was amazed to see a number of empty buildings with no graffiti! After some investigation, I learned about how the immigrant community was forming partnerships to revive the city. I was really impressed by the growing number of community gardens in the vacant fields and the work of local groups like Nuestras Raices, a grass roots organization who involve people of all ages in their projects to promote economic, human and community development.
In 2008 and 2009 I took photographs of old factory buildings, condemned apartment and buildings that won't be there much longer. In summer 2010 I plan on documenting Holyoke as the city re-invents itself as a new community with revitalized neighborhoods, community gardens and a diverse population that is working together for positive change.
I am looking for matching funds from individuals and foundations to continue to continue the project and exhibit the work when finished. I would be glad to hear from anyone interested in funding or working on the project. mary@artsasylum.org