"Stories from the Garden" was a collaborative event series that transpired from July through October 2019. The first of its kind, the series brought the East Boston community together at the Joe Ciampa Community Garden to tell stories about their neighborhood and the people that make it thrive. The project opened up space for an oral history about the neighborhood through a youth songwriting workshop, a writing workshop, a block party, and the creation of a community mural. In a time when East Boston is undergoing forces of change, Stories from the Garden archived a distinct element of the neighborhood: the natural and botanical features of East Boston which allow both flora and communities to bloom.

The events of "Stories from the Garden" produced a video, a photo album, and a community concept album, the latter of which will be available on all streaming platforms on Friday, January 10th.

The concept album “Stories from the Garden” features performances from Boston-based creatives such as Boston Music Award nominee Dzidzor, Anaís Azul, Hassan Ghanny, Melanie Canales, and Danni Green. These recordings were all from live performances at the Community Block Party event hosted adjacent the Joe Ciampa Community Garden on September 21st, 2019. Performers featured on the album range from community members both veteran and new in addition to artists based in the Greater Boston area. In a subversion of the tension faced by East Bostonians of outsiders seeing their neighborhood as a proving ground for gentrification, the Block Party instead brought a variety of artists and art lovers into East Boston to appreciate the neighborhood for what it is and help beautify it on the community’s terms.

The album also includes sound design by Boston-based artist Cameron Seymour-Hawkins, as well as interviews of workshop participants, gardeners, and event producer Anaís Azul sharing their relationship to nature and the importance of green spaces in cities.

This project was made possible by the Public Space Invitational, a program from the City of Boston's Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics in partnership with The Trustees. The Public Space Invitational funded similar initiatives at public gardens managed by The Trustees during calendar year 2019.