IN AUGUST 2024, SIDE PRESENTS CO-PRODUCED GOING TO GROUND IN COLLABORATION WITH THE ROSE KENNEDY GREENWAY CONSERVANCY AND ARTIST LARISSA ROGERS, BRINGING HISTORY, ART, AND COMMUNITY TOGETHER ON A SITE OF PROFOUND SIGNIFICANCE. THE EVENT TOOK PLACE AT THE FORMER HOME OF ZIPPORAH POTTER ATKINS, THE FIRST KNOWN BLACK WOMAN HOMEOWNER IN COLONIAL BOSTON, RECLAIMING THE SPACE AS A SITE OF REMEMBRANCE AND CELEBRATION. ANCHORED BY ROGERS’ SCULPTURAL INSTALLATION, GOING TO GROUND EXPLORED THEMES OF BLACK ANCESTRY, MIGRATION, AND THE ERASURE AND RECLAMATION OF SPACE—OFFERING A POWERFUL REFLECTION ON THE HISTORIES EMBEDDED IN THE LAND BENEATH US.

AS PRODUCERS, WE WORKED WITH LOCAL BUSINESSES TO THOUGHTFULLY EXECUTE EVERY DETAIL, ENSURING THE EVENT HONORED THE LEGACY OF THE SITE WHILE CREATING A SPACE FOR COLLECTIVE GATHERING. THE DAY FEATURED TWO IMPACTFUL LIVE PERFORMANCES: TORITORI MUSIC DEBUTED STORIES WITH MISS TORI, AN IMMERSIVE, LOOP-DRIVEN STORYTELLING EXPERIENCE FOR CHILDREN, WHILE DZIDIORA DELIVERED A DEEPLY MOVING MUSICAL PERFORMANCE THAT RESONATED WITH THE CROWD.

GOING TO GROUND WAS MORE THAN AN EVENT—IT WAS A RE-CENTERING OF HISTORY, A SPACE TO HONOR BLACK WOMANHOOD, RESILIENCE, AND CREATIVITY, AND A MOMENT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE PAST WHILE SHAPING THE FUTURE THROUGH ART, MUSIC, AND SHARED EXPERIENCE.