EGLESTON SQ.—City Life/Vida Urbana member Heather Gordon collaborated with an artist in protesting her recent eviction at her former home at 3 Mendell Way on Aug. 7.
Gordon and video artist John Hulsey worked together in creating a video of Gordon handwriting a letter that tells her foreclosure story. The video was then projected onto the facade of her former home.
“While this was a public mourning for Heather’s loss of her home, it was an opportunity for us as, a group, to talk about what could’ve been done differently,” Hulsey told the Gazette.
Gordon was forcibly evicted from her home on June 14, following years of fighting mortgage-holder Huntington Bank. Several City Life members and state Rep. Liz Malia were arrested while protesting the eviction.
Gordon did not return a Gazette phone call.
“The house is boarded up, still unsold apparently,” said Steve Meacham, City Life’s organizing director. “Heather is still in the struggle, and she says she will remain with us no matter what happens to her old house, although she is still contesting the mortgage.”
Steve Gayle, another former resident of the house, was arrested after the protest for allegedly shooting two men downtown. He reportedly did not attend the protest.
Hulsey first got involved with City Life with similar projection projections, notably projecting handwritten letters to Bank of America onto the bank’s building in the Back Bay, a move that earned him national coverage, including the New York Times.
Gordon’s former neighbors offered their full support, offering their stoops and electricity to arrange and power the display, Hulsey said.
Gordon bought her home in 1992, after it had been vacant nine years as a result of the last banking crisis.
(From left) City Life members Ricardo Henry and Heather Gordon stand in front of Gordon’s former home during the installation viewing Aug. 7. (Photo Courtesy John Hulsey)