Please join the City of Boston for a ribbon cutting and community celebration for the completion of the Mattahunt Woods Urban Wild Restoration project. This will be a family-friendly event with activities for children and resources from various City of Boston Departments. This event is free and open to the public.

WHEN: Friday, October 24 from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.

WHERE: Colorado Street entrance; 210 Colorado Street, Boston, MA 02126

Mattahunt Woods consists of over eight acres of secluded forested wetlands in Mattapan. The site provides important wildlife habitat and native vegetation, and mitigates the impacts of stormwater runoff, but had become degraded over time. The City launched a capital improvement project in early 2023 to study the site, engage the Mattapan community to inform the project, and design a new trail system and other site improvements. Project goals and outcomes include removing hazardous trees and invasive species and increasing native vegetation; preserving and enhancing on-site wetlands; creating a trail system throughout the property improving site access and wayfinding/signage; and enhancing the connection of the property to the nearby Mattahunt Elementary School. Site restoration and trail construction began in Summer 2024 in partnership between the City of Boston's Environment Department, Parks and Recreation Department, Office of Green Infrastructure, and PowerCorps Boston. 

To learn more, visit the project website or check out this video about the project!

• Come along as the Boston Park Rangers introduce you with one of our equine partners. Spend 30-minutes exploring how we feed,  groom, and tack up our mounts as they get ready for patrol in Boston's parks. 
• For more information on this event and future events hosted by the Park Rangers visit the Boston Park Rangers homepage.
• For any inquiries specific to environmental education please email Nathan Smith.

Join artist Audrey Watkins at the intersection of River Street and Babson Street from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. on October 18, for Our Names, an interactive art project that asks, "Whose name would you put on a building?" Stop by to submit a name, pick up a card, and learn more about some of the figures currently named on the exterior of the Boston Public Library. Our Names by artist Audrey Watkins explores the practice of naming the Boston Public Library McKim Meade and White Building. When Charles Follen McKim designed the facades for the Boston Public Library in 1888, he included the names of 537 “writers and thinkers” that would be displayed to passersby for the next century. Of those 537 names, only 21 are not white European males. The goal of this project is twofold: to formally present the histories of those 21 names to the public through a research booklet, and to spark conversations on the names that today's Bostonians want to see on the library’s facade.

Through a series of activations during Mattapan Open Streets, a list of publicly gathered names derived from the prompt, “Whose name would you put on a building?” These activations will be a form of tabling, where a small portable gallery will show the content of the research booklet as well as the prompt, for passersby to engage in reflection on nearby monuments and imagine what a monument could be in 2025. 

Written and oral responses will be recorded, and translations of the prompt and the booklet will be provided. The artist will collect public response, including any further conversations sparked by the prompt. With consent, these responses will be gathered into an index for the booklet. This index and the booklet will be published together on an Internet Archive, as a lasting “re-monument” to McKim’s original design, that can easily be linked to existing articles on the building and the building’s facade.

Learn more about her project here.

Join us for Hidden Histories' In Conversation: Kameelah Janan Rasheed with Curator-in-Residence Dr. Leonie Bradbury. Rasheed’s latest project in Boston is a series of public poems displayed on billboards and public advertising locations across the city. Come listen and be in conversation with this incredible artist and hear about her practice of text-based art, animations and the moving image.

Celebrate the unveiling of P.L.A.Y. (Play Learn Athletic Youth)—a new public art project at Dewitt Playground in Madison Park, designed by artist Marlon Forrester in collaboration with Studio Luz and BR+A+CE. The project reimagines the basketball court as both a neighborhood gathering space and a living canvas. Alongside the ribbon cutting, experience Out of Bounds, a live art showcase curated by Marlon Forrester, with activations that bring artists, coaches, and neighbors together.

Come for the ribbon cutting, stay for the joy.

RSVP for the event

What’s Going Down

• Ribbon cutting and unveiling of P.L.A.Y. with Marlon Forrester, Studio Luz, BR+A+CE, City partners, and Madison Park/BPS community
• Out of Bounds court activations led by teaching artists and coaches
• Live DJ and performances that move us to reflect
• Hands-on art stations for kids and grown-ups, beginners welcome
• Community tables with resources, programs, and ways to get involved
• Local food vendors on site

Play by Play

11 a.m. - Opening remarks

12 p.m. - Ribbon cutting and group photo

12:30 p.m. - Showcase and live performances

1 p.m. - Afrofuturism / The Court as Canvas: Sport, Design, and the Architecture of Black Imagination curated by Nucarta

2 p.m.  - Tunes by your favorite DJs

3 p.m.  - Youth basketball activation

5 p.m. - Closing word

Meet Us Here

Dewitt Playground at Madison Park, Roxbury

Enter near Dewitt Drive and Malcolm X Boulevard. Follow the wayfinding and the sound of good music.

Need the T?

• Transit: Roxbury Crossing (Orange Line), Bus 15, 22, 23, 28, 44, 45
• Bikes: Bluebike stations nearby + racks (bring a lock)
• Parking: Limited neighborhood street parking — transit or rideshare encouraged

Accessibility

The site has paved paths, curb cuts, and seating. ASL available by request — email (arts@boston.gov) by September 22. A low-sensory area will be located near the info table.

Gratitude

Presented by the City of Boston Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture, Nucarta, Studio Luz, BR+A+CE, and artist Marlon Forrester. With production support by SIDE Presents. Thank you to Madison Park/BPS, neighbors, volunteers, and partners who make this day possible.

Photos on this page by Jane Messinger.

• Come along as the Boston Park Rangers introduce you with one of our equine partners. Spend 30-minutes exploring how we feed,  groom, and tack up our mounts as they get ready for patrol in Boston's parks. 
• For more information on this event and future events hosted by the Park Rangers visit the Boston Park Rangers homepage.
• For any inquiries specific to environmental education please email Nathan Smith.

Join the Friends of Dell Rock and the Urban Wilds Program on Saturday October 4, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. (Rain date scheduled for: Sunday October 5), and help us expand the pollinator meadow at the Dell Rock Urban Wild!

At this event, we will be installing native plugs to expand a small existing meadow along Harvard Ave. Plantings will include a variety of grasses and flowering species that will provide beauty and a food source for pollinators through multiple seasons. We will also be installing additional native plants in other areas on the site to provide beauty and wildlife habitat. Urban Wilds staff will also work with volunteers to care for other native plants on site. We will meet at the bench near Dell Ave. Look forward to seeing you there!

Planting tools and gloves will be supplied, but if you have a favorite planting tool or pair of gloves, feel free to bring them!