NANCY HAYES’ UNIVERSE Don Wilkinson In anticipation of the early-April opening of “Anatomy of a Small Universe,” an exhibition of works by painter Nancy Hayes at the de Menil Gallery, I visited Hayes’ spacious basement studio in South Dartmouth, Massachusetts. Paintings were carefully propped up on makeshift tables of milk crates and cinder block. Clamp-on lights provided illumination to the immaculate space in a good approximation of a gallery setting. While a few of the paintings are singular selfcontained panels, the majority are polyptychs, or multi-paneled works. All are acrylic on medium density fiberboard. I have long been familiar with Hayes’ ceramics work, in which her subject matter delved into organic forms, objects that rose like tendrils seeking some greater truth from the light. In her transition from the three-dimensional world of ceramics to painting’s … [Read more...] about ART, SCIENCE AND SPIRITUALITY

A HANDS-ON APPROACH Taryn Plumb We are looking out on craggy rocks and an ocean inlet: evergreens border a subdued surf, a mottled sky lazily settles into dusk. The scene has a familiar quality, classically Maine — but yet, there is an inherent whimsicality to it. The water, land and sky are uneven, as if different dimensions have attempted to meld and are now equally vying for the eye’s attention. Such is the essence of Catherine Worthington’s work: The Brunswick textile artist crafts tranquil scenes of the natural world that she then cuts and pastes, allowing her to create a reality all her own. “It is a combination of abstraction and representation,” said Worthington. “It gives you a feeling that you know what place that is, but not necessarily the exact place. People can relate to it.” Viewers now have that opportunity to do just that with the exhibit “Textile … [Read more...] about WORTHINGTON’S TRANQUIL REALITY

LIVE. LOVE. LEARN. J. Fatima Martins ArtCountry, a new cultural initiative launched in March 2017, is a collaborative consortium of five leading cultural organizations, “nestled in the Berkshire hills of western Massachusetts and at the foot of the Green Mountains in southern Vermont,” that are working in partnership to create visual art exhibitions and performance productions in theater and music that complement each other for both pleasure and learning. At the core of its cultural character is the landscape itself — the forested mountains and hills, historic trails and rivers and agricultural industry, which form the backdrop motifs of the region’s particular New England rural-modern intellectualism and economy. Its rural-meets-industrial New England location makes it a vibrant place to engage in dialogue about identity, which you can do this summer when you can … [Read more...] about ARTCOUNTRY

EXTOLLING WALDEN’S HALLOWED SHORES James Foritano Thoreau at home…and “abroad” I don’t actually know if Thoreau traveled abroad physically, but his astral body was in constant movement. One moment he was looking deeply at what exists, then that place would become an idea that would go on to become the seed for what we now know as environmentalism. In one of the two exhibits currently celebrating Thoreau’s bicentennial in Concord, photographer Abelardo “Abe” Morell dusts a few inches of Walden’s twig- and-rock-strewn shore with white baker’s flour in the shape of the pond itself at the Concord Museum, which presents the work as part of its year-long “Be Thoreau” initiative. The baker’s flour will dissipate into the soil harmlessly, but the symbol of Thoreau’s bifocal view of nature is indelible. The sage of Walden lingered locally. And then he flew. Another of the … [Read more...] about I WENT TO THE WOODS

CLOSER READINGS AT UNH Linda Chestney Known for its proclivity for a cross-curriculum philosophy, the University of New Hampshire (UNH) doesn’t disappoint in its museum offerings, either. The museum will often invite students to view and absorb various art works and understand their relation to the specific discipline they’re studying. Be it history, writing or another area of study, art enriches the academic experience by emphasizing life from different perspectives. The current exhibition at the UNH Museum of Art does exactly that. “Closer Readings: New Hampshire Writers Respond to Art” was organized to mark the 150th anniversary of the founding of the state’s flagship public university. It showcases the University of New Hampshire’s visual and literary arts by pairing distinguished writers with ties to the university with works of art from the museum’s permanent … [Read more...] about A CROSS-CURRICULUM PERSPECTIVE

TIME STANDS STILL AT SMITH John B. Stapleton As someone who loves the Classics, I was very excited to hear that the Smith College Museum of Art was hosting the traveling exhibit, “Leisure and Luxury in the Age of Nero: The Villas of Oplontis near Pompeii.” Before I got to the museum, I wasn’t expecting much more than a gallery filled with recovered artifacts from excavated sites, and intended to give an overview of the creative and aesthetic ideals of the era. What I actually walked into was a much more personal experience. Oplontis, as the title attempts to make clear with its inclusion of Pompeii, was a site similarly affected by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Neither of the two sites that the exhibit focuses on were found until the 16th century, due to being completely covered by the eruption. These sites, referred to respectively as Villa A and Oplontis B, ended up … [Read more...] about ART AMONG THE RUINS