ARTIST SPOTLIGHT:
RED SHAYDEZ
Red Shaydez, whose name comes from a combo of red sunglasses and her nickname Shay, melds conscious rap, trap, and gangsta rap to shape innovative lyrical narratives about self-awareness, being self-made, triumphs, and struggles. This multi-faceted Boston-native powerhouse is a hip-hop artist, professional video producer, lyricist, filmmaker, public speaker, and youth mentor. Red’s undeniable talent and electric personality have been widely praised by both local and national media such as MTV, Fox 25 News, Hot 96.9, Boston Magazine, WBUR, Dig Boston, The Boston Globe, Thisis50, and the Boston Herald. Shaydez has been headlining shows and performing at festivals like A3C, Hubweek, BAMS Fest, various Porchfests, and area universities in Boston for over a decade. After being co-signed by the legendary MC Lyte, Red has released multiple EP’s, two studio albums, and was nominated for “Best Female Rapper of the Year” at the 2015 NYC Underground Music Awards and for “Unsigned Artist of the Year” at the 2019 Boston Music Awards. Listen to Red’s 2016 Debut album Magnetic Aura, featuring standouts such as “Little Sabrina” and “Relapse,” her sophomore return Feel the Aura, with masterpieces like “Steppin Out,” “Come Here Lil’ Baby,” and “They Call Me Shaydez,” and fan favorite “Self Care ‘18” from 2019 EP Chillin in the Shade. Impressively, all of Shaydez’s work is entirely self-made, self-funded, and self-servicing. Everything from street team to video direction, from album art to beat selection is hand-picked and Shaydez approved.
In Her Community
Red Shaydez's primary focus is to touch the lives of her listeners and her community. As a self-made artist without big-label backing, she believes it is crucial that she pulls the curtain back on her journey to success for up and coming artists trying to accomplish something similar. To achieve this goal, Red has partnered with various Boston arts and culture institutions to give talks on the music industry. Some of these include Brain Arts Org and the Boston Center for the Arts.

This personal mission lends itself to Red's role as the Artist Development Director at The Hip Hop Transformation. The Hip Hop Transformation is an award-winning youth program offered by the Cambridge Community Center in partnership with The Bridge Sound and Stage, the Mayor’s Summer Youth Employment Program, and the Cambridge Safety Net Collaborative. THHT teaches teens the history of hip hop culture, the role hip hop culture plays in their lives and society, and equips students with the resource and support to produce, write, record, perform, and distribute their own authentic hip hop music.

On Friday, September 4th, Red helped the students at THHT bring a summer showcase to virtual audiences. Digital Error: A Virtual Experience can be viewed here.

In her continued efforts to contribute to the community, Red lended her words to The Boston Globe to discuss The Movement for Black Lives. Read the article here.
3 Years of Fenway Porchfest
Red’s work with the Fenway Alliance started in 2018 when she performed in front of Tapestry as a part of first-ever Fenway Porchfest, a now-annual free music festival celebrating local artists and the Fenway community produced by The Fenway Alliance, the Fenway CDC, and the Fenway Civic Association. In 2019, Red returned to Fenway Porchfest to perform in front of the Harlo. Red’s place in the program’s lineup is crucial to the mission of the Fenway Porchfest team to feature both rappers and spoken word artists. When we made the decision to produce a Porchfest music video, which can be viewed here, in lieu of an in-person festival due to the pandemic, Red was an integral part of the project. “Red was one of the first artists we reached out to," recalls Fenway Alliance Assistant Director Genevieve Day. "When I was describing the project, I learned that Red also had a professional career working in video production. In addition to performing in the “(Love That) Muddy River” video, Red jumped in to produce the video. Red is amazing - a multi-talented and dynamic performer, writer, and poet - as well as accomplished video producer. It was an absolute pleasure to collaborate with Red on this project and we look forward to working with her in the future.”
Keep Up With Red!
Red is making the most of the pandemic with a strong online presence. In addition to listening to her music, you can read an album review here, shop her store here, visit her website, and follow her on Instagram.
FENWAY ALLIANCE MEMBER SPOTLIGHT:
SIMMONS UNIVERSITY
A New Vision for Undergrad
After an almost decade-long partnership making Nursing@Simmons remotely available, Simmons’ partnership with tech start-up 2U has expanded to include several online graduate degree programs and hundreds of intentionally redesigned undergraduate courses for online starting this fall. This new online undergraduate experience will be thoughtfully redesigned to provide students a high-quality digital education no matter whether they are at home or on campus this fall. With the coronavirus pandemic expected to impact the delivery of higher education through at least the rest of this year, Simmons doubled down on its efforts to create a continuity plan that prioritizes student needs. The result is an act of institutional resilience and ingenuity that will meaningfully impact both the Simmons community and learners around the world—right when they need it most. Simmons’ relationship with 2U has historically prioritized student needs. Last year, this partnership launched the first master's degree in the U.S. to offer income-based tuition payments without interest. The deferred tuition plan for Nursing@Simmons offers U.S.-based students a simple way to lower the upfront cost of the program. Eligible students may defer up to 50% of total tuition until after graduation. After graduation, income-based payments will not rise above 10% of yearly income. The plan has zero interest charges. Students only pay what they defer.
Understanding the Digital Divide in the Age of COVID-19 with Professor Colin Rhinesmith
Professor Colin Rhinesmith’s research on broadband access, wireless hotspot lending, and digital equity has new relevance and importance in light of the pandemic. All of this research is done through the Simmons Community Informatics Lab, with project manager Susan Kennedy ’20MS and SLIS student Jo Dutilloy '21MS. Rhinesmith compiled years of research on wireless hotspot lending programs in rural public libraries and the broadband speeds and quality of service in public libraries across the United States, he highlights the importance of "digital equity ecosystems." Read more about Professor Rhinesmith's research here.
MBTA: Green Line Transformation Milestone 
The Fenway Alliance and FA members Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Simmons University, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum joined Governor Baker and MBTA staff members including the team responsible for the Green Line for a brief ceremony on the grounds of the MFA. The Ceremony marks the official completion of the 28-day Green Line E Branch Track and Upgrades Project. Crews exceeded the planned replacement of 7,000 feet of track, and in less than one month, replaced a total of 9,500 feet of track, and upgraded the following intersections and pedestrian crossings: Forsyth Street, Parker Street, Ruggles Street, Fire Department crossing, Evans Way, Longwood Avenue, and South Huntington Avenue. By providing crews with full access to the tracks during the 28-day branch closure, the MBTA accomplished work in one month that otherwise would’ve taken more than a year of traditional weeknight and weekend work. As a result of this project, E Branch riders, pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers will be safer and more comfortable when they cross the tracks. The new track will improve operations and reliability and allow us to lift speed restrictions on outdated sections to save a minute of travel time for riders.
FENWAY ALLIANCE CORPORATE PARTNER SPOTLIGHT:
DIMELLA SHAFFER
DiMella Shaffer is an architecture, interior design, and planning firm focused on building community through design. Their team of creative designers, programmers, planners, and managers is driven by excellence to provide outstanding design solutions, excellent service, and an exceptional place to work. The DiMella portfolio consists a wide array of projects, including train stations, academic buildings, laboratories, and to mission driven housing. Each project aims to achieve the goal of enriching the community.
The First LGBTQ-Friendly Senior Housing in New England
DiMella Shaffer will be designing the first LGBTQ-Friendly Senior Housing in New England in partnership with LGBTQ Senior Housing and Pennrose LLC. The former William Barton Rogers School in Hyde Park will be transformed into 754 mixed-income rental units for seniors. Complimenting the residential community will be a gallery space, an art studio, a sunroom, community gardens, and outdoor recreational amenities. As a historic landmark, the building will be restored and renovated per Massachusetts Historical Commission’s guidelines.
The Grove, Balsam + Spruce @ UMass Dartmouth
Universities across the country have seen challenges with student housing demands in recent years. At the University of Massachusetts’ Dartmouth campus, the administration has worked creatively with the University of Massachusetts Building Authority to facilitate a public-private partnership opportunity for a developer to partner with their entities. After a competitive procurement process, the Greystar, DiMella Shaffer and Suffolk Construction teams were selected in November of 2017 to deliver 1,210 beds and an 800-seat dining hall. The project has been delivered on-budget and on-time for the students coming back to campus this Fall. Take a virtual tour of The Grove here.
300 Third Avenue – Fulfilling the Need for Laboratory Space Along the 128 Corridor
In partnership with Lincoln Property Company and Callahan Construction Management, the DiMella Shaffer team recently broke ground on 300 Third Ave., a Class A life sciences center in Waltham. It will feature four stories of laboratory space with a penthouse for housing robust mechanical systems. The building will have 35,000 square feet of rentable space per floor, with 400+ onsite parking spaces across four levels. Progress on the project, expected to be complete in 2021, can be viewed here.
UPDATES FROM MEMBER INSTITUTIONS + COMMUNITY PARTNERS
Fenway Cares
Fenway Cares organized another rainy but successful free food box distribution in the Fenway neighborhood on September 2nd. Many thanks to our Fenway Cares partners who all came together quickly to develop a free food delivery and distribution network for our Fenway residents in need back in March: Fenway Community Development Corporation, Fenway Community Center, Operation P.E.A.C.E., Fenway Civic Association, Audubon Circle Neighborhood Association, Kristin Mobilia, and volunteers. It takes a village y’all! Food boxes were put together and delivered by Fair Foods and this ongoing effort is funded by the Mission Hill Fenway Neighborhood Trust.
Operation PEACE + FENSFund
Operation PEACE, in partnership with FENSFund, is coordinating community submissions of video and art around the theme of hope and joy. The interviews and art will be edited together and projected onto the brick wall next to the SDA Temple parking lot in mid October. On Wednesday, Sept 2, Operation PEACE conducted a community filming day on the corner of Jersey and Peterborough Streets. The filming day gave Fenway community members a chance to respond to the project’s central question: “What is bringing you hope or joy?” Operation PEACE is seeking community art submissions in response to the same question through the end of September.
Samuels and Associates
The Fenway Fridays are back for the third year in a row with a creative, socially distant twist. This year’s Fenway Fridays will celebrate what makes this neighborhood special with Picnic in the Fenway. Instead of a singular culinary experience, each Friday from August 28th through October 9th, a different neighborhood restaurant will carefully curate and sell a limited number of Fenway Picnic Boxes. Order your box, pick it up, and enjoy your meal in one of the Fenway’s numerous parks and greenspaces for the ultimate picnic experience. Each week, a golden ticket will be hidden in one picnic basket that can be redeemed for a freebie from a local shop! Upcoming boxes will feature food from Nathálie, Time Out Market, Citizen Public House, and Tasty Burger.
Boston Design Week
The Fenway Alliance will be hosting a Zoom session for this special fall season of Boston Design Week. Fenway Alliance Executive Director Kelly Brilliant will be leading a session on Designing Virtual Vibrancy: Keeping Arts Alive in a Pandemic. Be inspired by the diversity of ingenious virtual programming institutions in the Fenway Cultural District developed during COVID-19.
RESOURCES + HOW YOU CAN HELP
The Boston Resiliency Fund Boston's fundraising and philanthropic fund to provide essential services to Boston residents and to assist first responders and critical care providers.
The Boston Artist Relief Fund. The fund will award grants of $500 and $1,000 to individual artists who live in Boston whose creative practices & incomes are being adversely impacted.
The Boston Music Makers Relief Fund provides financial relief to Boston area music makers experiencing lost income as the result of performance cancellations related to COVID-19. Small grants of up to $200 will be paid rapidly on a first come, first served basis.
Dorchester Art Project, run by Brain Arts Org, helps facilitate creative independence in systematically undervalued communities by providing affordable studio space to Dorchester- area artists.
Black and Pink Boston is a prison abolition group lead by and fighting alongside incarcerated queer and HIV+ people in Massachusetts.
Families for Justice as Healing leads advocacy to decarcerate women and girls in Massachusetts by organizing in the most incarcerated communities in the Commonwealth to transform the way communities respond to harm and develop alternatives to police, courts, and incarceration. 
Mass Action Against Police Brutality is a campaign to prosecute the police and jail those who are guilty, open all past cases of police brutality, and end the harassment of victims and witnesses.
Visit the United States Postal Service Store to purchase stamps, collectables, and gifts to help financially support the postal service's efforts to meet various crucial needs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network (NQTTCN) is a healing justice organization committed to transforming mental health for queer and trans people of color (QTPoC). NQTTCN works to integrate healing justice into movements for social justice and the field of mental health to achieve its overall goal of increasing access to healing justice resources for QTPoC.
www.fenwayculture.org
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