People, places, events, and ideas shaping Essex County—reported and shared by Creative Collective. Search the archive or start with a story path below.

June 21, 2026
Featured image for “Eternal October Salem Cuts the Ribbon on Its New Pop-Up”
Creative Collective Events
Salem

Eternal October Salem Cuts the Ribbon on Its New Pop-Up

by John Andrews
We grabbed our cameras and headed to the Point this June — and watched Eternal October Salem take a big step. The city’s only Black-owned alternative brand cut the ribbon on its new storefront inside North Shore CDC’s retail pop-up incubator at 104 Lafayette Street. A pink ribbon, oversized scissors, neighbors packed into the mural-covered courtyard, pizza and cold drinks
June 21, 2026
May 1, 2026
Featured image for “Inside Hawthorne Lofts: Affordable Artist Housing in Salem Opens Its Doors”
Salem

Inside Hawthorne Lofts: Affordable Artist Housing in Salem Opens Its Doors

by John Andrews
A converted school auditorium in downtown Salem held an unlikely cross-section of the affordable housing world this morning. A priest from the Archdiocese of Boston. A state senator. The director of the Punto Urban Art Museum. Affordable housing financiers. City planners. And Sarah Ashodian, the building’s first artist-resident. The occasion was the ribbon-cutting for Hawthorne Lofts, 29 units of affordable
May 1, 2026
January 28, 2026
Featured image for “Lived Experience Leadership with Shantel Alix Fernandez”
Creative Collective Member
Creative Connections Podcast

Lived Experience Leadership with Shantel Alix Fernandez

by The Dot Connector
Creativity Connects with Mikki Wilson is a podcast from Creative Collective that amplifies the voices and stories of women entrepreneurs who are members of the Creative Collective. In each episode, host Mikki Wilson sits down with a woman business owner from the Creative Collective community to explore her unique journey, what drives her, and where she’s headed next. Local economies
January 28, 2026
November 18, 2020
Featured image for “Making Space for Artists with North Shore CDC’s Schools Project”
ART
Communities

Making Space for Artists with North Shore CDC’s Schools Project

by joeyphoenix
by Joey Phoenix This month, we’re highlighting local businesses as part of our #StayLocal2020 campaign. Scroll to the bottom for more information. North Shore Community Development Coalition (North Shore CDC), the organization behind Salem’s Punto Urban Art Museum, Espacio – Community Space, and YouthBuild North Shore, is at it again with the Schools Project. The project will be a repurposing of
November 18, 2020
July 30, 2020
Featured image for “North Shore CDC + Punto Urban Art Museum Release 25 Free Artistic Educational Resources to Raise Awareness”
ART
COVID-19

North Shore CDC + Punto Urban Art Museum Release 25 Free Artistic Educational Resources to Raise Awareness

by joeyphoenix
From North Shore CDC and Punto Urban Art Museum Click here for free COVID resources In May, North Shore Community Development Coalition (North Shore CDC) held a call for Massachusetts-based creatives to use their artistic powers of communication, empathy, and advocacy to develop Public Service Announcements (PSA) for primarily low-income, immigrant, non-English speaking communities. Through its on-the-grounds-work, North Shore CDC
July 30, 2020