by Kristin Nord Downtown New London is easing into this late-winter’s morning, with passengers arriving and departing from the H.H. Richardson-designed Union Station and locals bursting through the front door of the funky Muddy Waters Café, just a short walk away. Across the street, Hygienic Art is open, with founder Jim Stidfole, an Arlo Guthrie look-alike, perched on a stool at a once-active counter, his elbows on Formica worn smooth by the coffee mugs of many generations. Saved from the wrecker’s ball in 1994, the Hygienic (79 Bank Street) has evolved from an outsider arts outpost into a foundational city pillar, fostering mural walks and gardens and an ample dose of street theater. This grassroots response to urban blight generated a buzz early on — and has continued to fuel many creative spin-offs. An estimated 200 visual and performing artists, musicians, artisans and … [Read more...] about New London: A Forum by the Sea
March/April 2014
Keeping up With The Actor’s Shakespeare Project
A Merry Band by James Foritano Finally, almost at the end of its 10th season, I was catching up with Actors’ Shakespeare Project. Guided both by our eccentric GPS and the seat of our pants, we were threading our way through the fanciest streets of Chestnut Hill toward the even fancier Dane Estate, just inside the gates of Pine Manor College. So what was a “Project” that proclaims to disdain bricks and mortar for a “whatever/however” approach to community outreach — trading venues with an alacrity that would alarm more house-bound thespians — and doing it in a gilded–age mansion swathed in acreage? Their excuse, when you think about it, does sound plausible. In a “Broadway World” interview last January, director Melia Bensussen put the choice down to luck and tradition. Dedicated to finding spaces as diverse as downtown Boston’s Old South Meeting House and an Elm Street … [Read more...] about Keeping up With The Actor’s Shakespeare Project
Artlifting
ARTLIFTING PROVIDES BOSTON-AREA HOMELESS AND DISABLED ARTISTS A MUCH-NEEDED OUTLET FOR SELLING THEIR WORK by Brian Goslow Who knew we’d be art dealers?” That’s what ArtLifting co-founders (and brother and sister) Liz and Spencer Powers found themselves asking each other in January. They had just arrived at a Boston-area office building for their first attempt at selling art made by local homeless and disabled artists to a commercial property. “We were walking in loaded up with these pieces of artwork and both looked at each other and laughed,” Liz said. By the time their meeting was over, they had sold 18 pieces. It was a positive sign that Liz’s goal of creating a sales outlet for participants in the area’s art therapy programs was a good idea. With a stated mission “to empower sick, disabled and homeless artists through the celebration and sale of their work,” … [Read more...] about Artlifting
Getting Schooled
BIDDEFORD WELCOMES THE HEARTWOOD COLLEGE OF ART by Jamie Thompson The Pepperell Mill Campus in Biddeford, Maine was already home to several artists’ studios and galleries — now, it has an art school as well. Last summer, the complex welcomed Heart- wood College of Art as the 20-year-old college embarks on a new chapter. “The impetus behind the move to the mill in Biddeford was multifaceted,” explained college president Berri Kramer. “The most pressing concern was to relocate from a rural location to a more vibrant urban community, a better fit for an art school.” There was also an interest in downsizing. Heartwood’s MFA program is low residency, giving students the flexibility to complete their degrees while working. All of the MFA students work from their own studios. “Heartwood College was established in 1993 in an old grange building that was once the center of … [Read more...] about Getting Schooled
Capsule Previews
It’s been gratifying to see a number of new galleries opening up in the New England region in recent months. As we went to press, Ellen Wineberg and Cathleen Daley opened the doors to their room 83 spring gallery, which they call “A site for experimentation and process.” The space is intended to host a mix of creative disciplines, provoca- tive installations and engaging exchange. “We are artists who wish to foster and celebrate other artists. Arts without exception, it’s all about the conversation.” Room’s first exhibition, “Un-Mapping The Air,” featuring works by Bob Oppen- heim, Carol McMahon and Ted Ollier, continues through April 10 at 83 Spring Street, Watertown, Mass. Longtime Pioneer Valley resident Amiee Joy Ross curated photog- rapher SD Holman’s “BUTCH: Not like the other girls” exhibition to “explore the liminal spaces occupied by feminine masculinity in contem- … [Read more...] about Capsule Previews
Arlene Shecthet
EVERYTHING OLD BECOMES NEW AGAIN by Suzanne Volmer Exploring the conceit of preciousness attached to Meissen branding, Arlene Shechet’s sculptures and the installation format she designed meet the antiques and object-filled Period rooms of the Rhode Island School of Design’s Museum of Art in a head-on spoof and serious deconstruction of old versus new. What porcelain “is” and what it “was” are, frankly, very different things. Working at bridging that divide, Shechet explores an archived Old World ceramics vocabulary to create artworks about industrial slip casting and artist- driven narrative. For this show, she requested that RISD exhibit all of the Meissen works in its permanent collection simultaneously with her new creations to reframe the past in a contemporary context. The Meissen Porcelain Factory, located outside of Dresden, Germany, has been in operation since 1720 … [Read more...] about Arlene Shecthet