Photo Exhibit Exposes Resident's View of West End in Flux: Captures Ongoing Changes Since 1998

Boston, MA—From January 6 through February 28, 2015, The West End Museum will host a new exhibit, The New  West Enders & Other Green Monsters, in its Main Exhibit Hall. Images by photographer Lolita Parker, Jr. document the rapid-fire changes in Boston’s West End over the past 16 years. Set against a backdrop of Garden events, sports bars and endless construction, Parker’s wide-angle perspective ranges from the personal to the political. The show reception takes place on Thursday, January 15 at 5:30 p.m., when attendees can tour the exhibit and enjoy light  refreshments. The exhibit and reception are free and open to the public; pre-registration is required for the reception at thewestendmuseum.org/whats_on/eventLregistration. (Media note: Downloadable show:related images appear here.)

Parker’s photos powerfully and beautifully capture the projects, events and people that have reshaped and  reenergized the West End since 1998—from the 2004 Democratic National Convention to the lone flower merchant who has been a North Station icon for over 20 years; from the completion of the Central Artery to the  demolition of the elevated MBTA tracks.

“While the screeching trains were noisy and the elevated tracks an eyesore to many, the El was a major character  with a life of its own. I miss the play of light and shadow under and around the tracks,” Parker said. “When we lost  that green ribbon of metal and concrete in the course of one weekend, it was like someone took the roof off the neighborhood.”

While Parker is a Californian by birth, she considers herself a “Bay Stater” by birthright, having recently traced her  European ancestry to the State’s early settlers. When she first visited Boston in February 1975 in the middle of a whiteout blizzard, it somehow felt like home. But it wasn’t until 1993 that she permanently settled in the City with  her three children, London, Prophet and N’Dia. A resident of the West End since 1998, Parker is proud to call herself a New West Ender and looks forward to the spring when she will join a growing group of neighborhood grandparents pushing strollers along Staniford Street.

The New West Enders & Other Green Monsters is free and open to the public during regular Museum hours.

About the West End Museum:
The West End Museum is dedicated to the collection, preservation and interpretation of the history and culture of the West End neighborhood. The Museum’s permanent exhibit, “The&Last&Tenement,” highlights the immigrant history of the neighborhood  through its decimation under Urban Renewal in 1959; two additional galleries feature rotating exhibits. The Museum is located near North Station at 150 Staniford St. Suite 7. Hours: Tuesday-Friday 12:00pm-O5:00pm; Saturday 11:00am-4:00pm. Admission is free.