Alyssa Cohen and Kyle Strom

 Continuing our series "Getting to Know Our Neighbors," we want to introduce you to Alyssa Cohen and Kyle Strom.  Alyssa’s grandfather bought their condo at the Esplanade’s auction soon after it was built. The condo remained unoccupied for several years and, after much encouragement from her grandfather, in 2015, Alyssa moved in. She and Kyle met in the fall of 2017 at a local meet-up and have been together since. In 2018 (on the 4th of July), Kyle moved in and both say that they love living here and being together — “we’re partners and best friends.”  Their condo is sunny, warm, and filled with lovely and interesting plants, a high-rise greenhouse! Alyssa wrote “An Invitation to a New ‘All Things Plants’ Group” in the Summer 2019 ECG Newsletter. She noted that “Whether perched companionably on sunny kitchen sills or bearing sweet fruit in raised beds, climbing crisp white trellises or offering verdant companionship on neighborhood strolls, plant life not only surrounds our spaces but so often helps to define them. And sometimes us!” This certainly describes their inviting condo and outlook on life. As we were talking, Roxy, aka Moosh Moosh, their kitty, curious about what we were doing, joined us. 

Alyssa grew up in Newton and graduated from American University in Washington D.C. in 2013.  As a young child, she would visit the family bakery, Lederman's, run by her grandfather’s family.  It was the site of her grandparents’ initial connection so many years ago as one-time colleagues.  Carrying the memory of decadently frosted half-moons and inspired by a desire to connect with her long-passed grandmother, Dottie, who was famous for her fudge, Alyssa eventually went on to open her own confectionary shop, specializing in handcrafted candy.  It opened in October 2015, on what “coincidentally was the anniversary of my grandmother’s passing.”

(To read more about Alyssa and her bakery, see the article in the Fall 2019 Newsletter called appropriately “Dottie’s Delights.”) Since the bakery closed in 2017, due to Alyssa’s health challenges, she has worked as a PCA (Personal Care Assistant) and it has been “fulfilling helping others with profound medical issues, to stay safe, supported, and comfortable, especially during Covid.” During the pandemic, Kyle worked the “graveyard shift” at the Szostak MGH laboratory and Alyssa worked long days so they were “ships passing in the night” and it was hard on both of them.

Kyle grew up in the Phoenix AZ area and did his undergraduate work at the University of Arizona, received his Ph.D. in Chemistry at Boston University and just recently finished six years of post-graduate work in Jack Szostak’s Lab at MGH studying the origins of life. (Szostak won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Medicine.) This year Kyle will travel to Arizona to his grandfather’s 100th birthday and spend time with his family there.

Both Kyle and Alyssa are “taking a break from their intense work and studies.” They’ve accomplished a lot in their lives and now are exploring the world of the arts together.  Knowing Kyle’s past history with ceramics and hoping to reignite that spark while also spending time together, Alyssa managed to secure two much sought-after spots at Mudflat Pottery School for the 2023 spring semester (https://www.mudflat.org/).  While Alyssa admits she did encounter a rough patch as she navigated the initial challenges of the highly technical art form, she has since fallen in love with it.  Alyssa showed me a few of her lovely pots — she describes them as “bits of magic” — and together they spend many Sundays at Mudflat, each working on their own clay pieces. Alyssa continues to bake and make wonderful cakes, cookies, and candies. She brought some amazing cupcakes to our Fall Get-Together for everyone to enjoy!  She is fond of sharing her treats and likes knowing others are enjoying them.  She will often bring sweets to the Mudflat School with little notes for the other artists to enjoy.

Kyle is developing his skills as a graphic artist and illustrator and showed me several of his clever drawings. They often work on graphics together; Kyle illustrates Alyssa’s ideas, such as an “Asparagoose” — a half asparagus, half goose hybrid.  Kyle is working on a short story written by Alyssa and hopes to have it ready to exhibit at MICE in December.  MICE is The Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo. known as “the New England area’s premiere event dedicated to the exciting and accessible art form of independent comics and graphic novels.” https://www.micexpo.org/  And he’s looking forward to the conference later this year that “hosts thousands of attendees eager to check out new comics, join in on hands-on workshops, and attend inclusive panel discussions.” 

Alyssa and Kyle love life here at the Esplanade and Cambridge, which they describe as “a ‘little town city,’ diverse and lots to do” When asked about “walk away” places that they enjoy, they mentioned the Remnant Brewery Satellite (formerly Atwood’s) https://www.remnantsomerville.com/satellite on 877 Cambridge Street, where the “ambience, food and drinks are great.” They smiled as they noted that Kyle is a “night owl” and often enjoys music, especially metal concerts, at late local shows. Alyssa notes that she’s an “early bird” and joked that back when Kyle worked the graveyard shift during the pandemic, she’d sometimes be getting up when Kyle was just getting home!

As they consider the future, Kyle hopes to get a job at a local pharmaceutical company. His expertise, training, and experience make him particularly suited for a Kendall Square future! Kyle also plans to continue to develop his skills at illustrating and narrating. Alyssa will continue with her ceramics and hopes to be an “architect of wonder, hoping to help people find joy” while she keeps as anonymous as possible in her work and contributions.  As she says this, she apologizes for “being cheesy” but it’s clear that she means every word. Eventually they hope to find a house that will have space for their studio and, definitely, keep their Esplanade condo. She and Kyle plan to continue collaborating on illustrations and ceramics, telling stories, and building creative spaces for themselves, both together and independently. They would like to share their art with you in the accompanying photos. And, they added, “if folks are interested in seeing more, we post our work on our Instagrams” :https://www.instagram.com/trufflepigpottery?igsh=MTF3MmV0aDJiejM1Mg== and https://www.instagram.com/kstrtsk?igsh=dTM0enh0eHdibTdw

Alyssa and Kyle are a joyful, creative, and accomplished couple. They enjoy giving to others, creating joy in their and others’ experiences, and have a lot to look forward to. When you see them, please say, “Hi.”

Jane Hilburt-Davis