Welcome to our 89th issue. In some ways, we began planning this issue — covering November/ December and New England’s 2020 holiday season — during our summer issues, anticipating the need to prepare ourselves against the second surge of COVID-19 and the effect it could have on the region’s galleries and museums if they once again found themselves having to close or to severely limit their operations. At that time, we began to consider the kind of coverage that would ...

I arrived at the Fitchburg Art Museum to see its current “The BIG Picture: Giant Photographs and Powerful Portfolios” exhibition expecting a show of big, large-scaled imagery destined to mesmerize my visual senses. What I found was an ever more-powerful show that, planned that way or not, through photography, serves as a loud vehicle on how the art world, as well as society, needs to truly open its eyes to all viewpoints — and the origins of them — if it ...

What more is there to say about the explosive, trendsetting work of Andy Warhol, the bad boy and sought-after mega star of the Pop Art movement in the 1960s? Dr. Francine Weiss, Newport Art Museum curator, stated, “For an artist interested in the appropriation, replication, and mechanical reproduction of images, the medium of photography was a natural choice.” This exhibition of Warhol’s photography and resulting prints, photographed with his Polaroid “Big Shot” and SX-70 cameras, validates Weiss’ claim...

Reinterpreting artwork from the past is a tricky business! “Call and Response” is an invitational exhibition by 15 Newport regional artists who were given access to the Newport Art Museum’s collection. Each artist chose one work to interpret in any style, thus the apt title. The result is a joyous puzzle with many surprises and great diversity of solutions to the problem of interpretation. Basically, two approaches are employed; one a “literal” interpretation; the second, an antithesis, almost rejection, of the ...

With the theme of “Hope,” the Southern Vermont Arts Center (SVAC) in Manchester, Vermont, opened its annual Fall/Winter member exhibition on October 10. On view in the Yester House, the exhibition represents an artistic response to this year’s COVID-19 pandemic by 75 of the 200 SVAC member artists. Their works invite visitors to ponder a range of media and to find respite from the stress caused by the health crisis. The offerings are diverse, ranging from Kathleen Fleming’s new works, ...

What a singular sensation it is to walk into a museum gallery, thoughtfully painted in just the right hues, with just the right lighting, to confront art on its own terms. The great outdoors has served us well as the ultimate catch-all venue for most of 2020, but with the weather turning less hospitable, art lovers may yearn for something more traditional ... like, walls. If you are seeking a museum to visit with safety precautions in place, at a ...

The genius of Salley Mavor’s meticulously realized imaginative worlds is just what we need right now. Using needle and thread, as she has since childhood, “I stitch during every possible moment”, her hands have taught her how to proceed to create three-dimensional mise en scenes (she calls them fabric bas-reliefs) of alternative realities which are part theater, part dollhouse, part folklore and folk art, and always completely original — unfolding, she said, magically, like visions...

At the time of this writing, the predicted fall season resurgence of COVID-19 infections was affecting over 30 states in the United States, threatening the possible reinstatement of lockdowns and quarantines. With the first wave, the cultural sector, like every other part of the economy, suffered the consequences of the pandemic and had to respond to stay afloat. The day I visited Three Stones Gallery in Concord, Massachusetts, Jennifer M. Johnston, the owner, was overseeing the finishing touches on the ...

The Center for Contemporary Printmaking (CCP) has used much of what we’ll all probably think back on as our “pandemic year” to brainstorm, adjust programming and make changes to its existing infrastructure. A one-time $50,000 NEA grant through the CARES Act has helped keep staff fully employed and involved in developing online courses. Changes inside the Center’s historic building at Mathews Park in Norwalk, Connecticut, reflect not only the infusion of money, but months of elbow grease. Executive Director Kimberly ...

For many artists, the creative process is a solitary pursuit. Looking within, inspiration turns to outward implementation, which in turn becomes a formed expression of the artist’s vision — perhaps influenced by others, but decidedly individual in nature. Yet the power of shared creativity; of artistry practiced in community with others is widely recognized, and so badly needed, in these fractured times. Although its effects cannot be quantified in measurable ways, making art in the company of others initiates positivity ...

New York City speaks to personal style like nowhere else. During the 1980s, the New York ethos was particularly defined by individuality, and by expressing that individuality through overt statements in attitude and appearance. Photographer Amy Arbus seized the day — the decade in fact — to document the brazen, courageous and often visionary personas of New Yorkers as they chose to be seen. Over 500 of Arbus’ portraits were published by the “Village Voice” between 1980 and 1990, as ...

During this pandemic, curating art exhibitions has become an exercise in uncertainty, with curators’ heads spinning as restrictions change from day to day. Since London’s National Gallery reopening on July 8, followed by the Tate Museum galleries on July 27 and Victoria and Albert Museum on August 6, tickets have remained unclaimed by people reluctant to visit. Curators have become more creative, changing communication and modes of gallery exhibition. To make visitors feel safe, reservations for timed tickets, required masks, ...

Connecticut has been celebrated for its cultural heritage for generations, yet in some ways, nonetheless, it has remained in the shadow of big cities along the I-95 corridor. Even today, people who dip into its august museums and historical societies are astonished by the depth and breadth of their holdings. But perhaps it took like-minded visionaries to propose ways to build support for these special places under the banner of cultural tourism. Early efforts ultimately led to the creation of ...