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Internationally renowned photographer Barry Schneier captures Boston's unique and impacting folk music scene in his new book The Song is Still Being Written, released in September 2024. The book is a collection of photos and narratives capturing stories of singer-songwriters, past, present, and future who have made the Boston/Cambridge area their home for artistic development and specifically from those who have graced one of the most heralded performance spaces in folk history, Harvard Square's Passim (originally Club 47). The program includes a performance by Kemp Harris, one of the artists profiled in the book. Schneier will be in conversation with James Sullivan, arts and culture correspondent for the Boston Globe. Barry Schneier is an internationally recognized photographer who has been immersed in the music scene since the mid-1970s. His work has been exhibited in multiple shows and is in the permanent collection of the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music, the Folk Americana-Roots Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

As part of our Black History Month celebration, the Peace Commission invites you to Step Into the World of Gospel Music through a special concert featuring the Millennium Gospel Choir, presented in partnership with the Cambridge Public Library. Gospel music is a foundational part of Black American history and culture. Emerging from the lived experiences of Black communities, gospel has long been a source of expression, resilience, storytelling, and collective joy. It has shaped American music far beyond church walls, influencing soul, jazz, R&B, hip-hop, and the popular music we know today. This concert is offered as a cultural and historical experience, highlighting gospel's role in the Black freedom struggle, community building, and artistic innovation. Through powerful vocals and rich musical traditions, the performance invites reflection on how music has carried hope, resistance, and connection across generations. Whether you are familiar with gospel or experiencing it for the first time, all are welcome to join us in honoring this enduring art form and its place in Black history.

Cambridge’s Percent-for-Art ordinance, established in 1979, has led to the city housing the largest municipal collection of contemporary public art in the region, along with the responsibility of maintaining it. The 2024 exhibition Rust Happen(s): Caring for the Public Art Collection showcased the challenges of preserving outdoor artworks, from rust and graffiti to storm damage, and highlighted the meticulous work of Cambridge Arts’ conservation team. Through stories of restored sculptures and murals, the exhibit underscored the science behind art conservation and encouraged community engagement in protecting public art.

The City of Cambridge Department of Veterans Services will host a Veterans Day Observance event on Saturday, November 11, from 11 a.m.-12 p.m., at Cambridge Common. A Veterans Appreciation Week will be held November 13-17, at the Veterans' Life and Recreation Center, 51 Inman Street, 2nd floor, Cambridge. events will provide an opportunity for veterans and their loved ones to gather and participate in health, wellness, and other fun and interactive activities. Free food and refreshments will also be available each day from 12-4 p.m.

Cambridge Police Department (CPD) launched a co-response program that places a clinician in a cruiser with a police officer to respond to mental health calls. Beginning in August 2024, Officer Qaiss Farazi, aka “Q”, and Co-Response Clinician Bonnie Magee, an employee from North Suffolk Community Services, began responding to mental health calls across the city. The two main goals of co-response are to reduce arrests related to mental health calls and to reduce unnecessary trips to the ER for mental health calls that can potentially be resolved on scene.

The City of Cambridge 911 Clinician is a unique public safety position, as they work directly inside the Emergency Communications Center (ECC) alongside Emergency Telecommunications Dispatchers (ETD). The 911 Clinician may be utilized by dispatchers during emergencies for purposes of crisis intervention/de-escalation or to support callers through vulnerable moments before first responders arrive on-scene when appropriate. A large part of the 911 Clinician’s role is also following up with and providing community members connections to mental health and corresponding services by making referrals, providing resources, facilitating screenings, offering support and advocacy, and short-term case management.

The Cambridge Public Art Commission helps guide the implementation of the Public Art Ordinance and the Art Gifts and Donation Policy, and advises on the overall direction of the City of Cambridge’s Public Art Program. The Commission brings its collective expertise to bear on discussions regarding the various program areas of the public art program, such as acquisition and deaccession, project planning, maintenance, conservation, educational programming, and the exhibitions in Gallery 344. The Commission reviews every percent-for-art project from artists’ proposals to final design. PAC approval is required before a project can go into fabrication.

Harvard Book Store and the Cambridge Public Library welcome Harvey C. Mansfield—William R. Kenan, Jr., Research Professor of Government at Harvard University and recipient of the National Humanities Medal—for a discussion of his new book, The Rise and Fall of Rational Control: The History of Modern Political Philosophy. Registration is required.

Harvard Book Store, the Harvard University Division of Science, the Harvard Library, Long Now Boston, and the Cambridge Public Library welcome Lisa S. Gardiner—science writer, geoscientist, educator, and author of Tales from an Uncertain World: What Other Assorted Disasters Can Teach Us about Climate Change—for a discussion of her book Reefs of Time: What Fossils Reveal about Coral Survival. Registration is required.

Join Ora Grodsky, the author of Justice, Love, and Organizational Healing: A Guide to Transformational Consulting in a discussion about her new book. Ora Grodsky is a mission-driven organizational development consultant with over 25 years of experience. She is a holistic practitioner who combines training in acupuncture, non-profit management expertise, extensive study of organizational development, and commitment to compassion and justice. Ora will be in conversation about the book and organizational healing with dear colleagues and friends—consultants and facilitators also dedicated to justice and liberation: Joyce Shabazz Melinda Barbosa Daniel Michaud Weinstock Jeremy Philips