The age-old problem. Artist displacement is not new. It’s happened for decades, and it continues to the present day. It’s the age-old gentrification cycle: artists/creatives move into a run-down, undesirable, low-rent neighborhood. Through creating art, they bring more creatives to said neighborhood, which then attracts bars, restaurants, cafes, book and record stores, which then brings people to want to live among the valued neighborhood culture. Then property values go up, forcing the artists out. In Greater Boston, we’ve lost hundreds of artists, creative small businesses, live performance venues and the other businesses associated with the creative economy as neighborhoods turn over. It happened to Jamaica Plain, Central Square and Davis Square, and we’re in the throes of ittaking place in Union Square, Dorchester and Roxbury. We’ve lost many artist communities including Piano … [Read more...] about A RARE VICTORY FOR ARTISTS
Artscope Issues
AN INVESTIGATION OF COLOR AND LIGHT
Sky Painter, Nadia Parsons, has been an artist from a young age. When her mother recognized her dyslexia, she introduced her daughter to creating art, hoping that it was a place where she would flourish. Parsons immediately took to painting, and her high school and college years brought her to explore drawing, acting, photography and printmaking. After college, she returned to her childhood passion for painting, working with acrylics when her children were born (they dried faster), and after taking workshops at the Massachusetts College of Art and the Museum School at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, finally returning to oils to paint the sky. In 2019, Parsons found a home in the SoWa Art District, where she works and displays her dynamic paintings of skyscapes and connects with visitors to her studio. “I’ve really loved it,” she said. “I get to talk about the art with people, … [Read more...] about AN INVESTIGATION OF COLOR AND LIGHT
A LIFETIME COMMITMENT
Beverly, Massachusetts’s Montserrat College of Art begins the new year with a selection of shows that celebrate its newest and oldest talents and make space for inner and external explorations of form, color, trauma and politics. The range of the college’s teachings are spotlighted throughout its four galleries of exhibitions featuring the psychedelic works of Isaiah Hope, a recent graduate of the college, to samples of the timeless works of Reno “Ray” Pisano, Montserrat’s last living founding faculty member who will celebrate his 100th birthday this February. These two shows are on view now through January 28 and February 25, respectively, while two additional exhibits spotlighting artists Robert Moeller and Allison Maria Rodriguez are set to open on January 23. Ray Pisano’s elegant works exude the kind of long- time devotion to craft that Pisano himself embodies. As he approaches … [Read more...] about A LIFETIME COMMITMENT
A CONTEMPORARY FOCUS
The materials messaging in “Social Fabric: Textiles and Contemporary Issues,” on view through June 11 in the Cushing and Morris Galleries at the Newport Art Museum, is certainly of the moment and contextualized by the inclusion of excerpts from the National Aids Quilt and work from Judy Chicago’s “The Dinner Party,” her 1970s landmark installation that remains just as significant today as an activist’s expression of contemporary art. Many of the artists included in this show have used the soft hominess of quilt-making to address society’s ills. In chief curator Francine Weiss’ and co-curator Megan Horn’s carefully chosen artist list for this exhibition, they’ve built an interesting and insightful conversation about gender, sexual bias, equality, racism and incarceration. Recently, after visiting the show on two occasions, Artscope Magazine’s Suzanne Volmer exchanged questions about … [Read more...] about A CONTEMPORARY FOCUS
A REFLECTION OF THE TIMES
The much-anticipated Members’ Exhibition, on view at Attleboro Arts Museum through January 27, is an annual event that provides an opportunity for members of all ages and artistic backgrounds to exhibit up to three artworks with guaranteed inclusion. Always an interesting percolation of ideas and trends, the current iteration of the survey includes 411 artworks by 201 artists. 2023 happens to be Attleboro Arts Museum’s 100th Anniversary and the Members’ Exhibition is certainly a signature event to begin an auspicious year. Zachary M. White, executive director of Gallery X in New Bedford, Massachusetts, was the awards juror for the show. His choices followed the museum’s template of Best Abstract ($100), Best Representational ($100), six Juror’s Awards ($50 each), four Blick Materials Awards ($50 value each) and 12 Merit Awards (certificates). Reinforcing these honors, in her remarks … [Read more...] about A REFLECTION OF THE TIMES
HEIGHTENED SENSE OF COMMUNITY
In a year that we reached for normal — new normal, old normal, what exactly is normal, anyways — the show introducing the Copley Society of Art’s latest members won’t necessarily take you anywhere new, but they’ll take you back to the places you’ve missed visiting over the past three years. “This group of artists represents people coming from a variety of backgrounds that share a united focus of representing their everyday surroundings,” said gallery coordinator Paige Roehrig. “Whether it be through figurative or still-life, artists are pulling from familiarity to showcase their unique artistic vision. “One thing that they all have in common is that they are all professionally ambitious - becoming an accepted member of the Copley Society of Art provides an important credential and a rewarding achievement for them to celebrate while also providing a heightened sense of … [Read more...] about HEIGHTENED SENSE OF COMMUNITY