CAPTION: MIT graduates (from left) Tony Scelfo, Jasper Vicenti, and Sid Henderson hold a business meeting at Trident Booksellers & Café to discuss the launch of their art-based Web site sculptr.com.




Three former MIT Zeta Psi fraternity brothers are poised to take on the art world, one listing at a time. Their Web site, sculptr.com, launched officially on Wednesday as a virtual gallery where artists may post their work for buyers to browse.

“Five years ago, no one would have thought you could sell art online,” said co-founder Sid Henderson, 26. “People are definitely becoming more comfortable with the idea of buying over the Internet.”

Research shows that consumers are willing to spend between $500 and $1,000 on products sold through Web sites, according to Henderson. Sculptr.com is sliding into a climate where student-created Web sites like Facebook.com and YouTube.com have reached gargantuan proportions by filling a basic need.

“The site is built so that it certainly could [achieve success] but we’re not relying on it,” said Tony Scelfo, who, at 23, is the trio’s youngest member. “We’re doing it because we really like doing it.”

The idea for the site was born early last summer when Scelfo and Jasper Vicenti, 26, graduated from MIT and wondered what to do next. Along with Henderson, a 2003 graduate, they sat in their shared Marlborough Street living room and brainstormed ideas for an upstart Web site. With Scelfo and Vicenti’s degrees in computer science and Henderson’s in economics and finance, the three set out to pool their know-how into creating a web-based business venture.

Sculptr.com sells paintings and drawings, photography, ceramics and glass, wood and fiber pieces, sculpture, furniture, mixed media and prints and currently lists 1,700 works from 140 artists. Prices range from $40 to over $100,000. The site opened for business in September, but this week’s official launch premiered a jewelry gallery, a product search function, and a chat forum.

They gave themselves six months to launch the site, treating the project as they would a full-time job. Scelfo designs the site, Vicenti is in charge of order and product management, and Henderson handles artist recruitment and business development.

“We’ve been surprised at how studious we can actually be,” Henderson said.
The idea for an art-based site suited their shared passion. All three consider themselves art lovers, with Scelfo interested in furniture making and Vicenti an amateur photographer. Scelfo’s and Vicenti’s mothers are also artists – Scelfo grew up attending the craft shows from where he and his colleagues now recruit artists to join their site.

“I’ve seen how people try to sell art,” Scelfo said, mentioning the Fine Furnishings Providence Show, the Paradise City Arts Festival in Northampton, Mass., and CraftBoston as familiar shows.

They noticed that the approach many artists used to market their art on the Internet could be improved. “We felt [the sites] were really lacking and behind the times,” Henderson said, adding that most sites looked cluttered, attracted few viewers, and featured inconsistent image quality because the sites were open to all artists. “We wanted to make a Web site that’s better than any other thing out there.”

Artists must be invited to post on sculptr.com. Most come from professional craft shows where entrance is at a jury’s discretion. After reviewing an artist’s portfolio, Henderson, Vicenti, and Scelfo will decide whether to extend an invitation, although “we don’t use our artists preferences,” Scelfo said.

Vicenti said that they tried to design the site with “a clean look.” “Even Web sites like Ebay are totally cluttered,” he said.

They took their inspiration from the Web sites for department stores Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue. “Visually, they’re very intuitive,” Henderson said. “They don’t overwhelm visitors by making them understand everything on the site.”
The trio designed the site with both consumers and artists in mind. Chat features and a blog have been designed to facilitate communication between artists and buyers. A rapport will lead to repeat sales, sculptr.com’s founders believe.
“It’s really important that the artist is able to have a smooth and easy experience,” Scelfo said. About 10% of the artists come from outside of the United States. No Boston artists are featured yet.

Sculptr.com does not sell advertisements, or charge artists to join or post their work. The site makes its profit instead from an 18% commission on all sales. Most sites dedicated to art sales charge between a commission between 25% and 50%, according to Henderson. “Eighteen percent commission should be more than enough. It comes down to not being greedy,” he said.

The project involved few start up costs, aside from those associated with operating the server and processing credit cards for orders. Publicist and lawyer friends have performed publicity and legal tasks free of charge. “We definitely owe a lot of favors to friends. That’s one of the reasons we hope we succeed,” Henderson said.

They have been too busy to design a formal business plan, but business for the three former fraternity brothers has been smooth. They run into conflict and debate over the direction the site should take, at times, “but there’s three of us,” Henderson said. “We don’t get into too many stalemates.”

On Election Day, Back Bay voters will finally get a chance to weigh in on whether or not they would like the chance to pick up a bottle of wine while shopping for food rather than making an extra trip to a liquor store. The hotly-debated wine-at-food-stores initiative, otherwise known as Ballot Question 1, which would allow supermarkets, convenience stores and gas stations to sell wine if they can get local approval, is on the referendum Tuesday.

If the initiative passes, stores like Whole Foods Market at Symphony Hall and Trader Joe’s on Boylston Street may be permitted to carry wine. State law currently prohibits any person or store from owning more than three liquor licenses, and both have used up their quotas in other locations. Shaw’s Supermarket at the Prudential and Delucca’s on Newbury Street already have licenses to sell wine in their shops.

The Massachusetts Food Association collected 65,000 signatures in December to place the measure on the state ballot. It pertains only to “food stores,” which are defined as retail vendors, such as grocery stores, supermarkets, shops, clubs, outlets or warehouse-type sellers, that sell meat, poultry, dairy products, eggs, fresh fruit and produce to be eaten elsewhere.

Passage of the wine-sales ballot question would limit the number of additional wine licenses for each town or city based on population. Municipalities with more than 5,000 residents, like Boston, could issue one additional wine-only license for every 5,000 residents.

If every community in Massachusetts used its maximum number of licenses, the state could award 2,800 new licenses. No person or business could hold more than 10 percent of the total number of licenses issued under the proposed law. If Question 1 passes, the city’s Licensing Board would still oversee the licensing process.

Eddie J. Jenkins, chairman of the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, Ted Mahoney, the agency’s chief investigator, and the Boston City Council unanimously oppose the initiative.

“Boston’s unique fabric of neighborhoods is composed of small businesses, including gourmet food stores, restaurants and wine outlets, where the owner still works behind the counter,” said City Councilor Mike Ross, who opposes the legislation. “Is it fair to force these members of our community to compete with large, multi-national companies like Wal-Mart?”

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s election, advocacy groups have aired commercials for and against the initiative. Vote No on Question 1 has argued that selling wine in food stores would boost drunken-driving fatalities and that, once the stores have permission to sell wine, the same stores would push for permission to sell beer and other types of liquor.

Larry Levine, manager of the Clarendon Wine Company on Boylston Street, agrees that selling beer will be next on those stores’ agendas. He is also concerned that an increase in availability will lead to an increase in consumption. “It will give more young people opportunities to buy in mini-markets, convenience stores and grocery markets,” said Levine. “Plus more opportunities for drunks to drink, too.”

It is a point Ross and the Boston Ward 5 Democratic Committee, who also opposed the initiative, made as well. “I have seen the detrimental effect that the unchecked sale and over-consumption of alcohol can have on a neighborhood,” Ross said. “There is plenty of evidence to prove that if you increase the number of retail alcohol outlets, you increase the number of problems. Grocery stores and convenience stores, and the teenagers who work in them, are much less vigilant about policing underage drinking.”

Robert Whitney, Ward 5 chairperson, said committee members worried that a “yes” vote on Question 1 would dramatically increase the number of licenses to sell alcohol in the state, with no funding or plan for increased enforcement. “We also believe that store clerks in convenience stores would have inadequate training and experience — and much less incentive — to stop an underage drinker from purchasing alcohol,” he said.

Meanwhile, Yes on 1: Grocery Stores and Consumers for Fair Competition has emphasized the importance for competitive pricing and an open market. The group has estimated that consumers would save between $26 and $36 million each year through competitive pricing.

“The increased consumer choices will mean lower wine prices and will save consumers time and money,” wrote Coby Reinhardt, store team leader at Whole Foods Market in Symphony Hall in a letter to the editor. “It helps to bring Massachusetts law up to date with most other states.” Right now, 34 other states allow grocery stores to sell wine.

Reinhardt believes the liquor stores oppose Question 1 because “their true aim is to maintain the virtual monopoly they enjoy on wine sales. Law enforcement records in Massachusetts and other states show that grocery stores are as good or better than liquor stores at preventing the sale of alcohol to minors,” he said.

The Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay did not take a position on the issue, Chair Jackie Yessian said, because the association has never taken positions on ballot questions.

A report revealing that nearly 75 percent of the valves that control the city’s gas supply are inaccessible has sparked widespread concern over safety.

“We cannot wait for an emergency to occur before we realize we do not have access to those valves,” said Councilor Charles Yancey in a city council meeting on Wednesday. The council will hold a public hearing on the valves later this year.

Lack of access to service valves, many of which are paved over or covered in debris, can prevent the flow of gas into a home or building in an emergency. Yancey said that a Dorchester man was killed in a home explosion 15 years ago. Similar explosions have occurred in Weston and Hopkinton.

The state Department of Telecommunications and Energy launched an investigation into the blocked valves in May after a gas workers’ union raised concerns, according to a report in The Boston Globe. The union stands to benefit from a large-scale project to unblock the estimated 755,000 of 1.1 million total valves that the investigation judged inaccessible.

The investigation also found that crews working on street projects paved over valves in the Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Dorchester and South Boston. Service valves are usually placed under street and sidewalks.

Federal and state law requires that gas companies ensure that all shut-off valves are accessible. Gas companies say it will cost $185 million to make the valves accessible, according to the Globe report.

Councilor Michael Ross, whose district includes the Back Bay and Beacon Hill, was not available for comment.

1) Many Boston drivers complain that the city has more cars than the roads can handle. What do you think? Does the department have any theories about how to control the volume of vehicles on the street?

Our streets were developed by cow paths. We lost the opportunity hundreds of years ago to map out a grid system for the city, so we have to manage best by working with what we have. If you’re sitting in [traffic] all day, though, you might take exception to that. We’re always coordinating with the police department to manage traffic. It’s a little bit of the old stick and carrot method. You don’t want to give the streets to drivers but you don’t want to give it over to pedestrians, either.

2) The crosswalk at Beacon Street between Cheers and the Public Garden is notoriously difficult to cross. Many drivers do not stop for pedestrians, and those who do risk getting rear-ended by speeding drivers behind them. What measures, such as installing a blinking yellow light, can the department employ to make the crosswalk safer?

The federal government sets the guidelines on where traffic and blink signals can be placed. A lot of visitors probably spot Cheers and say, “Hey, look!” and want to get right to it. But we’ve installed new green fluorescent signs to jump out at drivers and remind them that they must yield to pedestrians at a crosswalk. We have Area A-1 officers and [Captain Bernard] O’Rourke out there, sometimes posing as pedestrians trying to cross the street. If a car doesn’t stop, they radio down the street and the police pull the driver over.

3) What is your opinion on citywide initiatives for drivers to buy hybrid cars?

Anything we as a city can do to promote the use of alternative-fuel vehicles, we should be doing. Mayor Menino is driving a hybrid car right now – a CNG (compressed natural gas). The city now looks to hybrid vehicles first when it needs to make a purchase. We wanted to get a hybrid tow truck, but unfortunately it’s not available yet. Luckily, the technology is becoming so advanced that the cost is coming down.

4) Has the department considered penalties for irresponsible bicyclists who ride against traffic or skip red lights?

We work hand in hand with the police department on any new regulations, but, as it goes with bike messengers, those regulations are enforced by the police. If there’s a moving violation, it’s the police’s business. But if the bike is parked, or if it becomes street furniture, the transportation department will take the necessary steps to handle it or move it.

5) What effect will the Allston turnaround currently being built have on traffic?

The whole intent is to give Logan Airport and Boston Convention Center and Copley Square traffic a better way to get around. Anything we do to keep regional traffic on regional highways is a good thing. There’s nothing less environmentally friendly than gridlocked traffic. It would be really nice if we could get the taxi drivers to take that route as well.

6) The city recently removed from Newbury Street the yellow meters which designated loading zones between 8 and 11 a.m. What does the department plan to do instead?

Loading zones have been established on those blocks. The yellow meter loading zones weren’t being utilized the way they were designed to be utilized. We reevaluated and moved the yellow meters but we will continue to be establishing loading zones and consolidating loading zones in other areas. We talk to delivery companies and UPS and FedEx and there’s nothing like getting it from the horse’s mouth. My dad – a Teamster for 50 years – calls me every night and says, “You know where you should put a loading zone?”

7) What kind of influence does the department have over MBTA projects? Do you have any input on the plan for the Silver Line? How does the department collaborate with state agencies?

As far as MBTA projects, absolutely. [MBTA General Manager] Dan Grabauskas has done a wonderful job opening dialogue with the city. Dan understands that everything the MBTA does has an impact on the city. Mayor Menino is the one who – no pun intended – got the Silver Line back on track. He has always considered the project to be a socioeconomic justice project. Connecting Dudley Square with the waterfront area is a one-seat ride economic opportunity for many people along the Washington Street corridor. We will continue to work with the MBTA on the Silver Line’s Phase 3. There’s been a lot of discussion on portal locations, and while we haven’t supported a particular location, we have always said that the process needs to continue. It’s too important to the city.

8) What is your five- or 10-year plan for the department? Do you have any overarching goals?

If I’m fortunate enough to be here in five or 10 years, I would continue to focus on technology and traffic management, balancing the needs of motorists with the needs of pedestrians. With economic development comes more traffic. We need to think outside of the box and look to other cities and other countries and see how they manage traffic. Many European countries use creative modes of transportation or use peak pricing to manage the flow. Boston is a walking city but there’s competition from a variety of concerns. We need traffic progression and sound engineering projects to keep the city running. The best way to control traffic in the city is when people realize it’s not worth driving into the city and think, I’m leaving my car at home. For $1.25, you can go anywhere in the city. It’s not worth burning $20 in gasoline.

credit: Dahn Shrestha



Nine-month-old Danielle Barro, Beacon Street, had a swinging-good time at the Clarendon Street Playground’s Halloween Party this week. Kids enjoyed treats and decorations until sundown.

No endorsement

The general election will be held in four days. You might expect to find endorsements for the major state offices on this page, but you won’t.

It doesn’t seem fair to either readers or the candidates to make endorsements based on our editorial staff’s private biases without having interviewed all of the candidates and given them a chance to state their case.

If the candidates for major state offices were obliged to sit down with editorial staffs from hundreds of community newspapers they would never be able to do any other kind of campaigning. So, unless there is an issue unique to this neighborhood that the candidates should address, we leave the state office candidates to the daily newspapers.

So we confine our endorsements or non-endorsements, as the case may be, to local candidates whom the daily newspapers may ignore or give short shrift to.

We polled the panel that interviewed the candidates for state Senate in the Second Suffolk District in the primary election. Those we reached said the Sun should make no endorsement in the general election, so we are not.

Politics as theatre

Just because we don’t endorse major candidates doesn’t mean that we don’t find the races dramatic and compelling. The governor’s race has been particularly good theatre this season.

Who would have expected that the fashion-challenged Grace Ross would be so articulate and effective in bringing her concerns to the forefront?

Christy Mihos has turned out to be enjoyable to watch and listen to. The axe he is grinding has cut through some of the posturing on the Big Dig.

Kerry Healey, while at first appealing to a broad (sorry about the pun) spectrum of women especially, has dug herself so deep in the Karl Rove style of character assassination, that it is unclear whether she can ever recover enough respect to do anything in Massachusetts politics again. That would not have been the outcome anyone would have predicted from a woman who, six months ago, seemed smart, level-headed and practical. One imagines that in the confines of her political strategists’ meetings, there is a lot of shouting and blaming now going on.

Deval Patrick has become the star of the show just by being charismatic — which mostly means handsome and articulate — and it looks as if he’ll win. We hope he turns out to have enough confidence and independence to move beyond the traditional base of union and ideologically-based Democrats into the realm of what is practical, proven and tested. Republicans are now the ones usually accused of too much ideology, but Massachusetts Democrats can also become so ideological that it interferes with accomplishment and solving problems.

Practicality

Forgoing the ideological in favor of the practical apparently has begun to affect the thinking of advocates for the homeless. According to a story in the daily newspapers, advocates for the homeless are switching their tactics to actually providing homes for people, rather than meals and shelters. The change in thinking has come about because the methods employed so far have not shrunk the homeless population.

Providing people with homes of their own without regard to their behavior or substance problems better enables advocates to provide services for people who actually have a chance of working, they speculate.

This is the kind of outcome-based thinking that we hope those who tackle social problems will engage in. Too many times, whether it is education, immigration or war, one ideological stance becomes more important than the problem it is supposed to solve.

That kind of attitude prevents a multi-pronged approach. It prevents testing other theories. It makes the problem worse.