We are proverbially circling our wagons, which is to say we’re making everyone feel more welcome. 

Bloom Local has teamed up with Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity to create “Rooted Resilience: Intersectional Narratives of 2SLGBTQIA+ Creatives in Western Massachusetts,” a multimedia project dedicated to preserving and amplifying the marginalized voices of contemporary creatives in our region. It launches the evening of March 19 and will feature artists of all mediums to build and protect community in a time when some seek to do the opposite.We speak with organizers and performers, Luc Abbott, M. Rudder, Inde Francis and Hazel Basil, about the work they’re putting in on and offstage.

And just across the bridge on Route 9, a garden center has stood for almost 6 decades, but around the time of the beginning of the pandemic, it saw a shift. We head to Hadley to make a visit to the worker-owned land of lush greenery, the Gardener’s Supply Center, formerly known as the Hadley Garden Center. Eric Tiedeman-Mau speaks with us about the evolution of the business and what folx are eager to get in the ground as spring arrives.