About ACM
Our mission is to provide a welcoming, accessible, and inclusive space to create, enjoy, and engage with a diversity of arts and culture experiences. ACM encompasses 10,000 square feet of space on two floors at 162 Mystic Avenue. Our building includes artist studios, two spacious classrooms, and a beautiful open gallery and event space on the main level. Through this collaborative community space, we aim to celebrate Medford as a destination and generator for arts and culture.
The History Behind ACM
Medford has a large and dynamic arts community. And yet, before now our arts community did not have a physical home, along with a significant lack of space in the city for holding smaller-scale arts-related events and displaying the work of our artists; instead, organizations and individuals relied on temporary and borrowed spaces, which drastically constrained what can be done to reach diverse audiences year-round.
Thus, visionary individuals in Medford have been trying for decades to develop such a space in Medford, back as far as the Swann School around 25 years ago. Some years ago the Hegner Center, an unused building near Medford Square, came to the attention of Louise Musto-Choate and Laurel Siegel, who assembled a committee of arts organization representatives to pursue the goal of opening an arts center there. Although that location didn’t pan out, Laurel continued to work with City officials and many others when Theory Wellness began communicating with them about a space on Mystic Avenue. Due in part to Laurel’s efforts and skills, ACM opened our doors to the community in January 2024.
In addition to serving as president of ACM, Laurel also was a director of CACHE in Medford, serving as their president and chair of CACHE’s Circle the Square summer street festival series from 2012 to 2022. She also serves on the boards of directors of the Medford Chamber of Commerce and ArtsAlive Medford Foundation, Inc., a private foundation funding arts and culture programs in Medford, and she was a member of the Medford Arts Council from 2014 to 2017. Laurel worked as a lawyer for many years and was the owner of Law Offices of Laurel H. Siegel, LLC. She now manages Medford’s Community Development Block Grant program.
Louise Musto-Choate, who passed away in 2020, was extensively involved in the Medford Arts Community for two decades, serving as ACM’s treasurer for several years. She was a multitalented artist, served on the Board of Directors of CACHE in Medford from 2012-2020, and is deeply missed by the many members of the community who knew and loved her.
Partnership
ACM is possible with the support and partnership of Theory Wellness, a licensed cannabis brand, which occupies a retail dispensary in a separate space at the rear of the site.
Land Acknowledgment
Arts Collaborative Medford resides on the ancestral and unceded lands of the Pawtucket, Naumkeag, and Massachusett people, past and present, which were appropriated by this Commonwealth, We name, recognize, and offer respect to the Pawtucket, Naumkeag, and Massachusett people as the original and traditional stewards of this land, whose history has been largely erased for the past four hundred years, and we acknowledge the enduring relationship that still exists between their descendants and their traditional territories.
ACM Team
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Regina Parkinson is a professional arts administrator. Prior to joining ACM she was the Curation and Exhibitions Manager at Artists for Humanity in Boston for two years. Her work there included curating exhibitions featuring teen artists, alumni artists, and nonprofit partners to engage community stakeholders.
Before moving to Boston, Regina lived in New Orleans, where her work included cofounding a large-scale contemporary public event called the Lucky Art Fair, which showcased 30+ visual artists and had more than 2,000 visitors over two weekends. While in the South, she also honed her arts administrative skills at the Art Klub and the Brand New Orleans Art Gallery.
Regina has an M.A. in Nonprofit Leadership and a Certificate in Arts and Culture Strategy from the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to her B.A. in Art History from UMass Amherst, she completed coursework on starting a successful art business from NYU’s School of Professional Studies.
Regina is passionate about creating and strengthening community partnerships and advancing the missions of social impact organizations.
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Susan Altman served on the board of directors of ArtsMedford from 2014 to 2021. She is a mosaic artist, and has organized and helped facilitate many community projects and events, including MARV the Medford Arts Resource Vehicle, Making Art Together workshops for families, two retail art spaces, and a large mosaic mural in the Roberts Elementary School. She has also served on boards of directors for the Medford Farmers Market, Medford Health Matters, Harvest Cooperative Supermarket, and the Mystic River Watershed Association. She was a member of the Medford Energy Committee, and is the Managing Editor of Global Environmental Politics, an academic journal published by MIT Press.
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Celia Lee makes jewelry, quilts, and–for extra fun–programs robots. Celia has served on the ArtsMedford board since 2016, currently serves as their treasurer, and is a core member of the Mystic Makerspace steering committee. Celia is also the senior director of technical product management with PTC.
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Gary Roberts served on the Medford Arts Council for six years, including five years as their chair, leading the Arts Council in administering their duties as a Local Cultural Council. He also worked on public art projects and other community initiatives, including the Medford Arts and Culture Summit in 2015. Gary also served on the Transition Team Committee on Cultural Affairs and Recreation for Medford Mayor Stephanie Muccini-Burke. Gary directed faculty and research services at MIT’s Sloan School of Management through 2021. Gary is also an accomplished poet.
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Sarah Beardslee, a beader and jewelry designer, serves as president of ArtsMedford, and has been on their board of directors since 2012. She has been involved in many ArtsMedford's programs, including MARV the Medford Arts Resource Vehicle and the Mystic Makerspace, providing art tools and education for adults in Medford. Sarah also served on Mayor Lungo-Kuehn's Transition Team Committee on Cultural Affairs and Recreation.
Sarah serves as the chair of Beadesigner International (The New England Bead Society), and has been on its board of directors since 2019. She is also an accomplished musician focusing on early music from the Renaissance and Baroque periods, with over fifty years of performance experience in voice and recorder.
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Danielle Moriarty is an experienced art administrator skilled in public and nonprofit organizations, art education, community engagement and activating art in public spaces. She holds an undergraduate degree in cultural studies with concentrations in art history and psychology, and a master’s degree in public administration focused in public humanities and arts. Danielle is a strong advocate for integrated cultural resources and programming and firmly believes that the arts and humanities have a unique way of creating connections and bringing people together across boundaries. Her current interests and initiatives lie in finding new ways to create universal access to the arts for the public sphere.
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Pamela Shanley Daube is the operations manager of the Arlington Center for the Arts, which includes organizing and installing exhibits, being one of the camp directors for the ACA summer camp program, directing Arlington Open Studios, and other operational projects for this community art center. Pam has been a CACHE board member since 2019, and production designer with Deborah Abel for over 25 years, working on sets and costumes for both her professional dance company and School of Dance. Additional set, mural, and puppet work includes the Underground Railway Theater, Cambridge, MA; the Little Theater for the Deaf; O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT; and the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena, CA. Commissions for community mural work, funded in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Her paintings and drawings have been exhibited and collected in private collections in California, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.