Welcome to our 14th Anniversary issue!
Since 2006 it’s been our goal to promote the artists, galleries and museums of New England with the hope that our coverage leads to increased attendance at exhibitions and sales with the long-term outlook that we’re all in this together and those we assist will reciprocate in supporting our mission.
Looking back at our premier issue (March/April 2006), the cover of which highlighted “Jamaican Art in Boston” and featured stories on “Random Acts of Art: Community Murals in Boston”; “Cross-Currents in Recent Video Installation: Water as Metaphor for Identity” and Arthur Freedman’s photographs documenting the homeless of Greater Boston, it shows how our dedication to spotlighting the many cultural aspects of New England’s arts community and its devotion to environmental and political issues has been a priority from our inception.
In this issue, photography focusing on life’s challenges continues to be a priority. Isabel Barbi reviews “Present Histories Redefined,” a Photographic Research Center exhibition of photographs by Feda Eid, Jonathan Mark Jackson and Joanna Tam focusing on marginalized voices that was curated by Jessica Burko that are currently on view at Lesley University’s VanDernoot Gallery.
Marta Pauer-Tursi interviewed Dona Ann McAdams’ about her “Performative Acts” series
at the Catamount Arts Center in St. Johnsbury, Vermont; as some people are wondering what the lasting legacy of the social activists of 1960s through ‘90s is in 2020, this show and interview is the perfect time to revisit the importance of that period and the need to protect the social advances from that time.
I exchanged questions with Horace C. Ballard, curator of American Art at the Williams College Museum of Art, on its “Landmarks” exhibition of photographs compiled over 120 years that not only spotlight highlights of that time period, but focuses on more recent imagery of man-made disasters and challenge today.
Rachel Flood Page makes her Artscope debut reviewing the “Water: Medium and Mirror” exhibition on view till June at the ClipArt Gallery on Clippership Wharf in East Boston. A writer, musician and educator based in Jamaica Plain, Page earned her master’s degree in the history of art and architecture from Boston University and spends her days connecting schools with arts education programs at a local nonprofit.
We’re always looking for fresh ways to share ideas and outlets for artists to exhibit and sell their work and since that first issue, we’ve watched a growing number of new opportunities for artists to show and sell their work present themselves and we’ve worked to find the right artists and businesses to feature in telling those stories.
Companies moving into the New England region have hired mural artists to give their new headquarters a lively, fresh look. As the craft beer craze expanded, more and more companies hired local artists to create unique looks for their latest products. Large sculptures and installations, both temporary and permanent, have become part of our landscape with the intention of bringing fresh audiences to the neighborhoods, cities and towns they’ve been placed in.
In this issue, we focus on another potential market for artists to sell their work. Katherine Sloan reports on an exclusive invitation-only VIP Post-Modern and Modern Art exhibition for private jet owners that was held in the Hudson Yards in New York City. Both iconic and current artists’ work was for sale. Please let us know if you find stories like these helpful in exploring different ways to promote and sell your work.
Nancy Nesvet provides a thorough tour of the recently-renovated Museum of Modern Art in New York City; barely a week goes by where I don’t see one of the artists we’ve covered in a past issue of Artscope sharing pictures from a pilgrimage there on social media.
Just after we started production of this issue, the MassArt Art Museum opened its doors to overflowing crowds. Longtime Artscope contributor Suzanne Volmer interviewed director Lisa Tung prior to the opening and then returned on February 22 to get a first-hand look at its first exhibitions. We hope her story will encourage you to visit in the weeks and months ahead and that you’ll get out to see as many of the shows and venues covered in this issue as possible.
Like any publication, we count on the support of our advertisers to continue. Every issue, we work overtime to convince the region’s museums and galleries to support our mission by partnering with us, whether through an advertisement or exhibition or listing in our exhibitions section. We know that our readers — many who tend to be artists and makers — will not only be interested in the shows there, but in purchasing their accompanying catalogs. These creative people love to travel in a group, and if the opportunity exists, will most have having lunch in the museum café.
“We are aware that curators, directors and collectors look at Artscope as a trusted source to learn about the current direction and trends of the art world, both nationally or globally, while we work to drive readers and patrons to attend exhibitions, increase artists’ sales and fundraising events, through encouraging our writers to find the next best things and give artists voices,” notes Artscope publisher Kaveh Mojtabai.
“We hope marketing directors invest in their shows and artists to promote exhibitions and create access and awareness inclusively and to increase creative participation with the public. To support media outlets like ours in turn supports attendance turnout and gives a voice to the creators.”
As we were putting this issue together, we learned that Artscope and the artists we cover will once again be represented in the collective booth in the Magazines sector at Art Basel in Switzerland this June.
To everyone who’s read us, helped spread the word about Artscope to other artists, art lovers, galleries or museums, advertised and listed with us and most importantly, kept us informed on all your openings, exhibitions and specials events over the past 14 years, we can’t thank you enough.
Onto year 15.