Cristela Guerra

1 month ago | wbur.org | Cristela Guerra

Pieces of a community’s collective memory filled a high school in Dorchester on a recent afternoon. Specifically, stories of war, trauma and resilience of Vietnamese refugees following the Vietnam War, which ended 50 years ago. Built as a makeshift gallery space, each corridor offered a place to reflect on the legacy of the diaspora. Five entered at a time. The line snaked down the hall. Dorchester resident Thanh Nguyen’s memories of Vietnam are vivid.

2 months ago | wbur.org | Cristela Guerra

A collection of precious bronze and ivory masterpieces at the Museum of Fine Arts will be returned to Robert Owen Lehman’s collection of West African works from the 16th to 18th centuries at the end of this month. Lehman had lent the objects to the MFA in 2012 and “pledged to give them to the museum over time,” according to museum leadership. But that agreement is now rescinded by both parties. This means the Benin Kingdom Gallery will close April 28.

2 months ago | wbur.org | Cristela Guerra

Man charged with murder after 2 bodies found in SalemPolice have arrested and charged a man with murder after two bodies were found in a wooded area behind a Walmart in Salem. Jay Blodget, 30, was charged with two counts of murder in connection with the deaths of the two men found Wednesday, according to Essex County District Attorney’s Office. He was arraigned Thursday morning in Salem District Court.

2 months ago | wbur.org | Cristela Guerra

Editor's Note: This story is an excerpt from WBUR's weekly arts and culture newsletter, The ARTery. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here. In less than a year, Fabiola Méndez found herself playing NPR’s famous Tiny Desk not once, but twice. First, she performed her own music for a Tiny Desk Concert that dropped in September, Hispanic Heritage Month. Her next appearance happened on April 7 as she accompanied one of the most famous artists in the world, Bad Bunny.

2 months ago | wbur.org | Cristela Guerra

Ruth Thomasian remembers sneaking up to her family’s attic as a child in Belmont to look at boxes of her parents' old photographs. Even then, those images tugged at her. Something in that history drew her eye. “Nobody ever talked about them,” said Thomasian, 79, whose father was Armenian. “I never brought them back down to ask my parents what they were all about.”Her natural curiosity led her to study history, but she had no interest in knowing the birth or death dates of Roman emperors.