Welcome to our July/August issue; while it took longer than usual for temperatures to reach the level that causes New Englanders to abandon their spring (and in some cases, winter) clothing, as June took hold, crowds started to fill the streets of summer resort and vacation locations throughout the region. We received wonderful feedback on our May/June issue’s extended wanderlust presentations; you’ll find the second half of our New England art road trip suggestions in the pages ahead: Jamie Thompson ...

You Can Get There From Here by Jamie Thompson   Although visitors may not make pilgrimages to Route 1 like they do to Route 66, the East Coast thoroughfare does make for an attractive summer road trip. The coastal stretches of Route 1 in Maine are particularly appealing. Freeport, Brunswick and Bath are all within 18 miles of one another, and they boast a mix of historic atmosphere and modern flair, with eclectic boutiques, fine restaurants and, of course, a ...

Paintings by Sarah Lutz And Richard Baker by Laura Shabott Jean-George Vongerichten, a New York celebrity restaurateur, describes “amuse-bouche” as the “best way for a great chef to express his or her big ideas in little bites.” It is a fitting thematic for the work of two remarkably talented painters — Richard Baker and Sarah Lutz — in their collaborative site-specific show this August in The Gallery at Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill. This departure into installation ...

Looking Beyond The Grayscale by Elizabeth Michelman “Black/White,” this summer’s show at Bromfield, contextualizes the work of 13 gallery artists. Included are drawings, collaged and digitally processed images on paper and plastic, letterpress and photography, needle- point and paintings on aluminum and canvas. What counts as (primarily) “black and white” is left up to the individual artist, based on theory, desire or past work. The limited palette, is for some, the preferred modality. Others produced work just for this show, ...

Ziek And Shapiro Make Their Marks by Linda Chestney What is it that invades artists’ psyches and propels them toward new exploration while fueling the flames of inspiration many years after they’ve first waded into the profession? More than 30 years after they each made a lifelong commitment to their work, mastering the process and materials of their medium along the way, potter Mark Shapiro and weaver Bhakti Ziek both say they are still challenged, awed and “lucky” to be ...

COLLECTING FOR THE BOSTON ATHENAEUM IN THE 21ST CENTURY by James Foritano The Boston Athenaeum’s current exhibit explores the question of what constitutes rarity, with its own brand of exuberance that is at once spirited and discriminating. And what a probing and wide exploration it is. One example, enthroned behind glass (but just barely), we owe to the Countess of Aylesford’s genius for adorning her own private copy of Thomas Pattinson Yeats’ 1773 edition of “Institutions of Entomology” with “delicate, ...

FINDING CLARITY IN THE GREY AREAS by Jim Dyment The words black and white generally make us think of photography; in this case, Nick Johnson and Kelli Costa have curated an exhibit of drawings and paintings. Costa had a couple of artists in mind. She remembered Alicia Dwyer’s black and white paintings of dresses hanging in Indian Hill Music Center in Littleton back in October 2012. It didn’t take long to expand this concept, and artists Catriona G. Baker, Arthur ...

The Quiet Corner Makes Some Noise by J. Fatima Martins There is a place within “The Last Green Valley” with an endearing sobriquet: northeast Connecticut’s Quiet Corner, a quintessential New England day-trip or weekend getaway retreat for urbanites and romantics seeking seclusion from the big city. While the Quiet Corner can be remarkably dark, sometimes foggy, sleepy and atmospheric at night (and free of heavy artificial lighting and city glare), during the daytime, the mostly rural landscape, abundant in country ...

Giving Victims A Voice by J. Fatima Martins A team of professional visual artists and their supporters has birthed a new project that has, in only a few months, raised a loud voice, transforming an old storefront into The Gallery on Main and launching the Empty Spaces Project with a stream of exhibitions. Leading the way is iPhonegrapher/ artist Paul J. Toussaint and his business colleague, Ann Monteiro. Their latest project brings in Giancarlo Beltrame, an interdisciplinary artist, journalist and ...

A Common Conviction; A Century Apart by Marguerite Serkin It may be difficult to consider parallelism between two artists as separated by time and tradition as Erastus Salisbury Field and Alice Neel. Yet parallelism is exactly the tenet of a groundbreaking exhibition opening July 5 at the Bennington Museum, “Alice Neel/Erastus Salis- bury Field: Painting the People.”Erastus Salisbury Field was born in 1805 in Massachusetts, where he lived for most of his life. Like Alice Neel, Field found his way ...

Latino Artists in The Spotlight by Meredith Cutler For those of us living in Boston’s MetroWest region, it’s a given that for the best pupusas, or to catch a Capoeira practice, a visit to Framingham is a sure bet. The town is a known enclave of Latino businesses, from hole-in-the wall taco stands to Columbian bakeries to Brazilian ... everything. But “Latino,” this pan-ethnic label of a population predicted to claim the US majority by 2070, can be hard to ...

A Conversation About Provincetown Galleries by Laura Shabott Provincetown, a renowned arts colony, is a safe harbor for diversity, not just for lifestyle choices, but also as a place where artists of all mediums exhibit their works. Today, there are well over 50 galleries within three miles on its two main streets, Commercial and Bradford. It’s a stunning number of venues in such a small town, giving the art scene an urban sensibility, especially on a Friday night. The range ...

Thorne-Sagendorph: Gallery Of The People by Greg Morell As I traveled out to the quiet south- western corner of New Hampshire for my first visit to the Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery (aka “The Thorne”) at Keene State College, I never expected to encounter the fourth dimension, but that is exactly what transpired through my viewing of the works of Hans Schepker, part of its current “Passionate Pursuits” exhibition. Always seeking new ways to creatively involve the university and regional community, gallery ...

From Old Lyme To Guilford by Kristin Nord With the advent of trolley service from New Haven running eastward to Branford, Clinton and Old Lyme in the early part of the 20th century, the Connecticut shore- line became accessible seemingly overnight. Among the visitors flocking to the state’s midcoast region were artists seeking to recreate the colony experience so many had encountered in Europe. FIRST STOP: OLD LYME Leaders in the American Tonalist and Impressionist movements, Henry Ward Ranger, Childe ...

Hera Explores The Social Landscape by Suzanne Volmer Hera Gallery was founded in an endeavor to raise consciousness, particularly through creating exhibition opportunities for women. In forwarding a feminist agenda, and most recently providing exhibition exposure for all genders, it has developed a reputation for exploring issues aimed at sparking social awareness. On view through July 19, the twin billing of “Self Portraits: Under My Skin” by Amanda Swain Bingham and “Old World” by Viera Levitt are solo photography exhibitions ...

Dip Into The Mad River Valley Art Flood by Alexandra Tursi If you have skied Vermont, or peeped at the glory of fall foliage, or even sailed Lake Champlain in summer, you know that Vermont is a four-season smorgasbord of cultural, social and recreational activities. However, you might be surprised to learn that one of Vermont’s best ski towns also boasts its best summer arts event: the Vermont Festival of the Arts in Waitsfield, now in its 17th season. WHAT ...

Sulzer Setting Her Own Paper Trail by Taryn Plumb When we see paper hanging on a wall in a gallery, we expect nothing less than perfect; stains, dimpling, buckling, rips or wrinkles all seem like faults. But this is where Andrea Sulzer challenges the conventional; the Brunswick, Maine artist purposely manipulates and exploits paper to its very limits, transforming it from a flat, formless and blank canvas for other ideas and materials into its very own unexpected and complex 3-D ...

Westport, Mass. & Tiverton, RI by Don Wilkinson Just south and southeast of the old Massachusetts industrial mill city of Fall River are the border towns of Tiverton, Rhode Island and Westport, in the Bay State. The two have much in common beyond a shared town line as visual pastoral paradises, with more than a few working farms, that give way to stunning views of rivers, estuaries and the ocean. They also share a combined cultural community of excellent galleries, ...

Opening Their Doors To Inspiration   by Brian Goslow   For most, their first drive through the South Coast is an unexpected arrival to a land of beautiful back- road, water-enhanced scenery, farm stands bursting with local produce and restaurants, cafes and galleries conveying a warm invite to their owners’ special culinary and artistic dreams (see the accompanying Westport/Tiverton Wanderlust). And, since 2004, for two weekends each summer, a large number of area artists have welcomed art lovers to enjoy, ...

by Brian Goslow Eight members of the Rocky Neck Art Colony (Matt Cegelis, Elynn Kroger, Sinikka Nogelo, Regina Piantedosi, Rosella Sagall, Ruth Schneider, Martha Swanson and Heidi Zander) are among 18 New England artists selected by juror Al Miner, assistant curator of contemporary art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, to participate in the “A Fine Line: Drawings and Other Interpretations” exhibition that is being held from July 3 through August 3 at the Cultural Center at Rocky Neck, ...