A woman in a torn gauze dress crouches at center, holding an axe. Around her, the room is a clutter of objects: A flock of birds flying out of a hole in the floor and roosting on the limbs of a tree emerging from the colorful fleur de lis wallpaper; a tiny rocking horse; a rabbit; a birdcage; an overturned chair; a hornet’s nest; candles, tattered books with broken bindings, animal horns, clumps of dug-up roots. Dorothy O’Connor’s photograph “Passage” is rich with details; the eye is drawn everywhere, almost all at once. (To read more, pick up a copy of our latest issue! Find a pick-up location near you or Subscribe Here.) … [Read more...] about UNIQUE & WIDELY DIVERGENT: THE GRIFFIN BRINGS THOUGHT-PROVOKING WONDER BACK TO PHOTOGRAPHY

Erin Corrales-Diaz, curator of the “The Iconic Jersey: Baseball x Fashion” exhibition now on view at the Worcester Art Museum, grew up outside of Seattle, Washington, where her father would bring her to watch the Seattle Mariners baseball team during the days of Ken Griffey, Jr. and Edgar Martinez. While her passion for the sport declined over the years (“I’m now a fair-weather fan,” she admitted), it was reignited when she began her search for materials for this show which ranges from the sport’s early years to today, when every person can wear a jersey as a fashion statement. “Now I’m a rejuvenated baseball fan. It brought me back and I realized it was so long ago I went to those games. My father’s so excited (to come to the opening).” While curating a show based around baseball might seem a million miles away from her regular work compiling collections by current artists … [Read more...] about FASHION TRENDSETTERS: DESIGNERS STEAL HOME AT WAM’S ICONIC JERSEY EXHIBITION

The scale of the Amazon Rainforest is mind boggling on many levels, from its two million square mile circumference to its extraordinarily rich plant and animal life. Kate Dzikiewicz, who has put her curatorial hat on for this far-reaching exhibition at the Bruce Museum, zeros in on “many of the largest, the most dangerous, most beautiful, and most delicate plants and animals known to humankind.” (To read more, pick up a copy of our latest issue! Find a pick-up location near you or Subscribe Here.) … [Read more...] about NATURE’S WONDERS, MAGNIFIED: CAN THE BRUCE HELP SAVE THE AMAZON RAINFOREST?

Even before one arrives at Cold Hollow Sculpture Park in Enosburg, the Vermont landscape of lush curving hills, verdant canopies of maple, aspen and wild cherry trees and the scent of a passing summer shower awaken the senses to an intense connection with the environment. Then, another turn of the road, and a colorful steel structure becomes visible, emerging from the hill, announcing itself and inviting the visitor to enter the realm — a 45-acre expanse that is home to nearly 70 monumental steel sculptures by renowned artist David Stromeyer. (To read more, pick up a copy of our latest issue! Find a pick-up location near you or Subscribe Here.) … [Read more...] about FIFTY YEARS IN THE MAKING: DAVID STROMEYER’S COLD HOLLOW SCULPTURE PARADISE

We often think of plastic as a nuisance, a pollutant or as an unnecessary evil. Plastic is everywhere, introduced to us the moment we’re born. Necessary and overused, contradictory and highly politicized, plastic has been demonized in American culture for the environmental impact it can have when improperly used and discarded of — which is, unfortunately, too often what happens. The ability to render the demonized into something adorable is a kind of power all on its own. Artist Michelle Lougee has done just that with her latest installation along Arlington’s Minuteman Bikeway. Sponsored by the Arlington Commission for Arts and Culture (ACAC), “Persistence”showcases plastic with a positive spin in 38 unique sculptures that Lougee created and hung from trees along the bikeway. (To read more, pick up a copy of our latest issue! Find a pick-up location near you or Subscribe Here.) … [Read more...] about THE SECRET LIFE OF PLASTIC: MICHELLE LOUGEE’S ENVIRONMENTAL ART IN ARLINGTON

When I think of scale in art, Monet’s water lilies or Cristo and Jeanne-Claude’s environmental installations spring to mind. While large-scale works immerse us, small-scale works ask us to squint up close to explore every detail. The 13th Biennial Miniature Print International Exhibition at the Center for Contemporary Printmaking requires just this. Curated by Christina Weyl, author of “The Women of Atelier 17: Modernist Printmaking in Midcentury New York,” this exhibition features 128 miniature prints generally measuring two-by-two inches, none more than four. (To read more, pick up a copy of our latest issue! Find a pick-up location near you or Subscribe Here.) … [Read more...] about SMALL SCALED CLASSICS: CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY PRINTMAKING IN MINIATURE