Should you go to the Mary Heaton Vorse House for the exhibition of art from 12 galleries that are members of the Provincetown Art Gallery Association (PAGA), you will have the rare experience of seeing art in an impeccably restored 18th century home. Run by the Provincetown Arts Society (PAS), the house has been exhibiting art, hosting films and offering residencies to artists of any kind since 2020. The Society’s director, Gene Tartaglia, said that the Provincetown Arts Society supports the existing arts in Provincetown, and gives space for the community to gather, celebrate and talk about art in many forms. “The fiscal sponsor is the St. Joseph’s Art Society Foundation in San Francisco that was founded by Ken Fulk, who was approached by the granddaughters of Mary Heaton Vorse who wanted to sell him the home because they felt he’d be a good guardian,” by keeping it intact, restoring … [Read more...] about REINVENTING WINTER: PROVINCETOWN GALLERIES TEAM UP AT MARY HEATON VORSE HOUSE
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A SHOW OF CONSISTENCY AT THE ART COMPLEX: REFRESHING TAKES AT DAA EXHIBITION
A juried art exhibition is always a time of great excitement for local artists. Who was accepted? Who won the prize money? The 51st “Annual Winter Juried Show” of the Duxbury Art Association (DAA) is no exception, and the DAA is fortunate to be able to display the chosen art in the handsome Art Complex Museum. Jurors Patricia Walsh, Laura Barletta and Carl Lopes chose art that ranges from abstraction to realism across a wide range of media including an “alternative materials” category. Marcia Ballou’s “Nest,” First Place winner in this category, uses painted fabrics and cotton threads to create a vibrant floral garden filled with daisies, asters and zinnias. The detail of cut clipped and stitched materials is amazing. By grouping flowers by color and keeping the stems vertical, she unites dozens of tiny florets in a unified vision. I recognize Ballou’s style from other juried shows; … [Read more...] about A SHOW OF CONSISTENCY AT THE ART COMPLEX: REFRESHING TAKES AT DAA EXHIBITION
A CREATIVE SEARCH FOR ANSWERS: FREEDOM BAIRD NURTURES AI & ECOLOGICAL CONSCIOUSNESS
Freedom Baird is the vortex of her ideas. They are a constant flow of conceptual strings of consciousness. The manifestation of these ideas take form in the manner of the Magician in the Tarot deck; those which start as brilliant sparks in the mind’s eye manifest in varying installations and art pieces, crystallizing and forming as an act of communication. At the Umbrella Center for the Arts in Concord, Massachusetts, curator Stephanie Marlin-Curiel is collaborating with educator Dr. Linda Booth Sweeney to present “Tapped In,” a pairing of eight scientists in the field of global warming, with eight artists. “The inspiration for this project,” Marlin-Curiel writes, “stems from a systemic understanding of climate change mitigation commonly expressed through the Bathtub metaphor. Originated by MIT Professor John Sterman and popularized by Al Gore through the Climate Reality Project and … [Read more...] about A CREATIVE SEARCH FOR ANSWERS: FREEDOM BAIRD NURTURES AI & ECOLOGICAL CONSCIOUSNESS
WCMA’S POWERFUL EMANCIPATION PROJECTL: A HISTORICAL & CONTEMPORARY LOOK BACK — AND FORWARD
The range and depth of experience represented in “Emancipation: The Unfinished Project of Liberation” at the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) is a vortex arrived to by the layers of observation and research of the curators and represented artists in this expansive exhibition. As the 160th anniversary of the “Emancipation Proclamation” has just past us in 2023, the exhibition examines how emancipation has evolved through a multi-dimensional, cyclical timeline and how its manifestation may appear in the future. The exhibition is a collaboration between the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas and the Williams College Museum of Art in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Co-curators Maggie Adler, Curator of Paintings, Sculpture and Works on Paper at the Carter, and Maurita Poole, Executive Director of the Newcomb Art Museum at Tulane University have chosen seven … [Read more...] about WCMA’S POWERFUL EMANCIPATION PROJECTL: A HISTORICAL & CONTEMPORARY LOOK BACK — AND FORWARD
A SHARED FUTURE AT PEM: OUR TIME ON EARTH SHOW AIMS TO SPARK ACTION
It is not until I return back to the layers of tree bark that frame the entrance to “Our Time on Earth” that I am bold enough to put my nose to it and inhale deeply. My suspicions are confirmed: it smells delicious, like sweet amber and something quietly sharp. I think immediately of how I want to wear it—to bottle it up — to be able to envelop myself in it any time I want. The thought is followed by a series of questions, all spurred by the very exhibit the bark marks the entrance to. Why do I want to “own” this scent? Where does that impulse come from? What if I could find satisfaction in the simple miracle of smelling it here, now? This is how I know the exhibition has done its job. I have already been changed. Organized by London’s Barbican Centre and curated by Luke Kemp alongside guest curators Caroline Till and Kate Franklin of Franklin Till, “Our Time on Earth” makes its United … [Read more...] about A SHARED FUTURE AT PEM: OUR TIME ON EARTH SHOW AIMS TO SPARK ACTION
SOARING SOLILOQUIES OF HOME: DINA NAZMI KHORCHID’S PALESTINIAN-ROOTED ART
Pigeons, a common name for gray doves, symbolizes peace. They often roam urban epicenters and make home wherever they land. The resilience of their spirit is often overlooked because we see them often. Dina Nazmi Khorchid’s textile and installation work draws from the metaphor of the pigeon to talk about her migration story. Khorchid is like what surrealistic blues poet aja monet calls “born of distance between now and then” as the sediments of inherited trauma and migratory patterns influence Khorchid. She migrated from Lebanon to the United Arab Emirates then Lebanon, again, and then the United States. While her story is deeply personal, it connects to a broader narrative of her Palestinian culture. I wish we did not have to admire her for her strength because strength is a burden. Her vulnerability is on display through her recent pigeon series. Pigeons started appearing in her work … [Read more...] about SOARING SOLILOQUIES OF HOME: DINA NAZMI KHORCHID’S PALESTINIAN-ROOTED ART