BRIEF HISTORY

The Claflin Elementary School opened in 1953 (see photograph above) on property deeded to the City of Newton by The Claflin Family as a bird reserve. The school closed in the early 1980s and remained unoccupied until 1986...

Many factors contributed to the development of the Claflin School Studios:

In the early to mid 1980s the greater Boston area was undergoing significant changes in real estate development. Old warehouses and manufacturing buildings in out-of-the-way parts of the city and surrounding areas, that had been home and refuge to local artists, were being targeted as attractive sites for renovation and development. As a result, many local artists were facing eviction from established studio spaces that they had created and long occupied.

In 1984, two artists, Gina Fiedel and Judy Haberl, learned from David Brown, then chairman of the Newton Arts Center, of a surplus elementary school building in Newtonville. They began a long campaign to acquire the building and develop it for artist studios and living spaces. Other artists soon joined the project, including three members of the Waltham Mills Artists Association: Roberta Paul, Scattergood-Moore and Wendy Seller. David Brown, Josephine Simon, director of the Newton Arts Center, and Christine Temin, art critic for the Boston Globe, were crucial supports to the artists in these early years. Resources were obtained with a grant from the Massachusetts Council for the Arts to retain a consultant, Jero Nesson, with experience in the development of artists housing (among his successes were the artist cooperative buildings at 249 A Street in Boston's Fort Point Channel area and The Brickbottom Artists Building in Somerville) to provide early guidance on the project.

After more than a year of work, including development on an architectural proposal for the site, establishing relationships with neighborhood committees and attending meeting of the Newton Board of Alderman, the Newton Artists Housing Partnership was selected from several proposals as the best use of the former Claflin Elementary School. Construction began in 1986 to create fourteen live/work units for artists, and three units for low-imcome housing. The building was renamed Claflin School Studios and established as a condominium. The artists and their families began moving into their studios and living space, which they had individually designed and constructed, during the spring of 1988.

The original artist members were: Doug Anderson, Michael Beatty, Gerry Bergstein, Kent Boyer, Gina Fiedel, Robin Grebe, Judy Haberl, Ralph Helmick, Will Howcroft, Bob Lewis, Jod Lourie, Louise Marshall, Michael Newby, Marlene Oliver, Roberta Paul, Wellington and Patricia Reiter, Scattergood-Moore, Wendy Seller, and Harvey Low Simons. As of January 2011, 9 of the original 20 artists continue to reside and create artwork at Claflin School Studios.

Adapted by Scattergood-Moore from articles by Keith N. Cohen and Christine Temin.

 

 

GOOGLE   MAPS   of   CLAFLIN   SCHOOL   STUDIOS

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BEFORE and AFTER CONSTRUCTION:

 

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2nd floor 6th grade classroom - now Unit 13

MORE IMAGES

 

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1st floor, right half of gym - now unit 1

 

 

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Claflin Park shouldn't be an off-leash park

"As a resident of the vicinity of Claflin Park for more than 40 years, I feel compelled to voice my strong opposition to the off-leash Newton Parks and Recreation Commission proposal to allow Claflin to become an off-leash dog park. . .

Originally, the small designated space was a paved parking lot for the Claflin School community. During the '70's the Claflin School PTO, in response to the community needs, cleared the area and planted grass so that the children could play in a grassy space. A fence was installed for safety during informal ball play and sledding. It was and continues to be a very pleasant addition for the neighborhood. . .

Newton Board of Alderman, Parks and Recreation Commissioners: Please don't waste our small, but treasured, Claflin Field."

by Jeanne White, Guest Columnist
first published on August 26, 2010

 

Claflin Sledding Hill, January 6, 2010 - photo by Dan Horowitz

 

Newton sold off city schools back in the 1980's

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Over the years, going back to the 1980s, Brian Yates and fellow Newton aldermen voted to sell off many of Newton's elementary school buildings. Now, though, as a recent consultant's report calls for the city to spend millions on new school construction, Yates is wincing...

Former Mayor Theodore Mann used his considerable political clout to advocate for selling the schools. He persuaded aldermen to sell and solicited developers, who converted them to such uses as artists' lofts, condos, and affordable housing for seniors. Many were sold for less than top dollar. Although Mann referred to the sale of the Claflin school to artists as a "momentous occasion," the building situated on a former bird sanctuary fetched only $400,000. Proceeds from some of the sales also helped fund his greatest legacy, a new public library next to City Hall that bears his name.

...for every remorseful seller, there may be a delighted buyer. Artist Scattergood-Moore, who lives in Newton's former Claflin school, said he struggled to find an affordable place to live for years. Now he lives and works in what was once a special education classroom. "The city did a good thing," he said of the sale. "I really wanted to buy something and wasn't interested in renting and being at the whims of landlords."

Megan Woolhouse,   Globe Staff
first published on July 26, 2007

 

City of Newton: Millenium Park

Millenium Park located between Newton City Hall and the Newton Free Library, is a space where families and friends can gather to relax and enjoy a serene setting.

The Time Capsule Project
To mark the entry into the new millennium the artists of the Claflin School studios joined in a project to prepare a time capsule that would be sealed for 100 years. The project when completed was presented to the City for burial at a site within the new park by Keith Cohen and Roberta Paul. It was installed in the fall of 2004 and its contents are registered with the Newton History Museum.

    • Board of Aldermen Report (PDF)