Berde's works focus on three overlapping events from her childhood: her family's forced eviction from the neighborhood as part of Boston's urban renewal; the tragic drowning of her brother in the Charles River; and her medical battle with congenital scoliosis. Berde's art reflects how, as a young girl, she witnessed the tragedies of death and disability that befell her family and herself.

The exhibit uses painting, sculpture, collage, period furniture and clothing, sounds, and other media to recreate the life and death of the neighborhood, and to document how Berde came to terms with its destruction at the same time she confronted the death of her 9 year-old brother

As her family sought comfort in the Church, Berde used art as a therapeutic tool and a path to healing. Among the works included in "Leaving the River" are unconventional renderings of familiar religious images.

The installation captures the reminiscences of surviving West End residents who describe the pain of watching the wrecking ball destroy the neighborhood-and the sense of home and family they lost. "Leaving the River" interposes these sad reminiscences with other, happier ones through photographs and works of art documenting the stark contrast between the vibrancy of the West End of the 1950's and the desolation and rubble that remained after it was bulldozed to the ground.

Duane Lucia, Executive Director of the West End Museum, will serve as curator for this exhibit which runs through October 8, 2011.

In 1793, Massachusetts Governor John Hancock authorized the building of the canal between the Merrimack River in East Chelmsford (now Lowell) to the Mystic River in Medford. A private company later extended the 27-mile channel to Boston Harbor. The Middlesex Canal was the greatest public works project of its time and transformed post-Revolutionary Massachusetts.

Before the railroad was built along the canal route, the waterway was the state's first superhighway. The canal enabled the transport of manufactured goods to Boston Harbor for export, produce for families in Boston, and granite from Chelmsford and Tyngsborough for use in the construction of Beacon Hill's grand mansions and the new Massachusetts General Hospital.

In the 19th Century, the West End developed as Boston's transportation hub. Today, the West End Museum celebrates that history and embraces Boston's evolution. A number of free events are planned in conjunction with the exhibit-running from June 4-July 9, 2011-designed to educate, inform and delight families, children and transportation buffs (a listing of events follows).

The Middlesex Canal was the most important transportation development of its time, but its story has rarely been told. The Middlesex Canal Association and the West End Museum wish to thank the exhibit sponsors for helping to bring this celebration to life.

Museum Contact: Duane Lucia, (617) 416-0718, westendmuseum@gmail.com

Media Contact: Matt Ellis, (617) 278-6560, matt@ellisstrategies.com