Affordable housing coming to Brookline Street in Cambridgeport may keep some of the property’s famous fence. (Photo: Cathy Zusy)

The process of converting an outsider artist’s home into affordable housing begins this month with a community meeting set by Just A Start, the nonprofit developer who bought the property at 37 Brookline St., near Central Square in Cambridgeport. 

The property once known as Peter Valentine’s Cosmic Moose & Grizzly Bear’s Ville will become between a dozen and 15 affordable homes, likely for rent, the nonprofit developer Just A Start said. The meeting to discuss the transformation is set for 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at 55 Norfolk St., in The Port near Central Square, a one-story storefront that Just A Start recently renovated into a Financial Opportunity Center.

The meeting isn’t the only step underway in the transformation: As weather permits, Central Square Business Improvement District ambassadors will dismantle the property’s colorful fence under the direction of Cambridge Arts conservator Craig Uram to preserve it. The work is expected to take place in April or early May, said Cathie Zusy, coordinator of the Peter Valentine Legacy Advisory Board and a former museum curator.

The 158-foot structure on Brookline and Franklin streets is “more of an art installation than a conventional fence,” Zusy said, and without Valentine there to maintain it, is deteriorating.

Valentine died Aug. 9, 2022, after decades of turning his property into an evolving art installation and “research in the electromagnetic arts centered around developing a psychic defense system for personal, citywide, national and universal protection,” Zusy said, recounting a philosophy the artist would bring up in City Council meetings or with visitors to the local landmark. That protection included the purple fence, “his magnum opus,” which is featured on websites such as the Spaces Archives and Atlas Obscura and in many YouTube videos. Visitors from around the country, Europe and Asia were known to photograph and film it, she said.

A section of the fence may be incorporated into the new building. “Just A Start is honored to have the opportunity to preserve the legacy of Peter Valentine. While our primary focus is on providing affordable housing, we are committed to finding ways to incorporate elements of his art into our project and contribute to the cultural richness of the community,” said Yolanda Gilbert, Just A Start’s senior project manager, in a press release.

The advisory board, which includes curators, Historical Commission and Cambridge Arts leadership, a public artist and family members, is working with Just A Start on plans, but in the meantime will dismantle it, rid it of mold, mildew or pests and store it out of the weather until a permanent home is found for all or parts of it, Zusy said.

The board has identified a foundation interested in underwriting the conservation but is looking for a municipality or nonprofit organization to take ownership afterward. “We’re open to ideas about a suitable home for the whole fence, or panels of it,” Zusy said.

“Peter’s fence has inspired joy in passersby for more than 30 years,” Cambridge Arts executive director Jason Weeks said. “Its removal marks the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. The fence represents an important part of the identity of Central Square, the Central Square Cultural District and Cambridge more generally.”

Valentine’s sister, Adi Bemak, plans a brief meditation in his honor at the fence at 5 p.m. April 23. It will take place rain or shine, organizers said.

Zusy can be emailed with leads on fence ownership at [email protected]. 

This post took significant amounts of material from a press release. The post was updated April 22, 2024, to better describe where Thursday’s meeting takes place.