Arson Benefit Art Auction this Sunday

January 27, 2010 – 10:00 am

Just got this message about the upcoming benefit auction. A stellar list of artists have donated work.

Sunday, January 31, 1-4pm
William Baczek Fine Arts, 36 Main Street, Northampton

A silent auction of artwork donated to benefit the victims of the Northampton fires. This will be a one day event, with 100% of the money made during the show going directly to the people affected by the fires.

To view a selection of the works available go to: www.wbfinearts.com/page.php?id=2047

The bidding on the show will end in phases beginning at 3pm.

ARTISTS INCLUDE:

  • Eric Carle
  • Leonard Baskin
  • Robert Sweeney
  • Scott Prior
  • Robin Freedenfeld
  • Katy Schneider
  • Nanny Vonnegut
  • Tony DeTerlizzi
  • Mo Willems
  • Rick Beaupre
  • Patrick Clifford
  • Claudine Mussuto
  • Ali Osborn
  • Raphy Griswold
  • Michael Tillyer
  • Charlotte Sullivan
  • Sean Greene
  • Tom Ryan
  • Joshua Smith
  • Joshua Jayne
  • Mat Matera
  • Ellen Augarten
  • Mira Ishii
  • Emily Saunders
  • Kim West
  • Lyn Horton
  • Hilary Emerson Lay
  • Christy Patrick
  • Mia Cabana
  • Sloan Tomlinson
  • Angela Zammarelli
  • Christin Couture
  • Craig Medeiros
  • Michael Shapcott
  • Jane O’Hara
  • Deborah Rubin
  • Donnabelle Casis
  • Laurie Mason Goddard
  • Lynn Peterfreund
  • Denise Beaudet
  • Liz Chalfin
  • Sue Katz
  • Sally Curcio
  • Kaleidoscope Pottery
  • Susan Barocas
  • Laura Kamyk
  • Robin Logan
  • Rachel Alexander Chase
  • Dean Nimmer
  • Lisbeth Kraus Rock
  • Lisa Orsted
  • Frances Kidder
  • Shawn Farley
  • George Beaupre
  • Casey W. Coller
  • Nancy Howard Smith
  • Barbara Hadden
  • Stephen St. Francis Decky
  • Taiga Ermansons
  • Tiffany Hilton Pottery
  • Mona Shiber
  • Nick Raptelis
  • Joshua Vrysen
  • Rebecca Bleecher
  • Jim Wallace
  • Jane Lund
  • Susannah Auferoth
  • Eduardo Hernandez Santos
  • Terry Rooney
  • Hilary Price

PLEASE NOTE THAT PAYMENT FOR AUCTION ITEMS SHOULD BE MADE BY CHECK (payable to the “Northampton Neighbors Relief Fund”) OR CASH. To preregister and get an auction bid number, email the gallery at info@wbfinearts.com or call 413-587-9880.

By artparlor | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Art Show & Silent Auction to Benefit Victims of Northampton Arson Fires

January 9, 2010 – 11:38 am

Artist Rick Beaupre is organizing an art show and silent auction to benefit victims of the recent arson fires is Northampton. From Rick:

On January 31st 2010, William Baczek Fine Arts will be hosting a silent auction of 50-75 pieces of artwork donated to benefit the victims of the Northampton fires. This will be a one day event, held from 1-4pm with 100% of the money made during the show going directly to the people affected by the fires.

This is a professional gallery show, and as such all works should be suitable for display (wired, framed, etc). Artists wishing to donate work should contact Rick Beaupre at rick3po@aim.com. Please attach images of work to be submitted for consideration.

Deadline for delivery of works is Jan 22, 2010.

By artparlor | Posted in Art Events, Art News | Comments (0)

Um, is that art?

January 6, 2010 – 12:46 pm

Have you ever been at a museum or gallery and walked by something that made you unsure if it was a piece of art or not? Like a trash can (is it art or can I drop my gum in there?). Or a bench (will a guard come running if I sit here?). Have you ever scratched your head and thought, “is it an installation, or did someone just drop this stuff here?” I love it when we respectfully keep our distance from a piece of trash or dropped belonging in an art space because we’re unsure if it’s a piece of art, and is meant to be there. What *is* art anyway…..?

The video below doesn’t provide any answers, but is an interesting little tidbit about five pieces that “need to be identified as art” at the Walker Art Museum in Minneapolis.

By artparlor | Posted in General | Comments (0)

Weekend full of art events: Jan 7-10

January 5, 2010 – 12:52 pm

Try to catch some of these large events this weekend in western MA:

Amherst Art Walk, Thursday 5-8
Northampton Arts Night Out, Friday 4-9
Easthampton Art Walk, Saturday 5-8
Flywheel Flea Market, Sunday 10-3

Treat yourself to seeing a heap o’ local art for free, and pop in on some opening receptions. Check out The Valley Arts Newsletter and Valley Art Share for info on opening receptions and other arts events.

By artparlor | Posted in Art Events, Uncategorized | Comments (0)

The Art Parlor tweets

January 4, 2010 – 5:53 pm

The Art Parlor is on twitter: www.twitter.com/artparlor

I’ll be posting again on the blog too. I just moved it over to it’s own domain, which will allow more freedom over the design and future additions to the site.

Happy New Year!

By artparlor | Posted in General | Comments (0)

Charles Parkhurst and the Monuments Men

August 9, 2009 – 8:30 pm

I was looking through a year-old copy of Art in America, and noticed a tiny little obituary for Charles Parkhurst hidden in the back of the magazine. I was sad that a man so important to 20th century art history didn’t merit a larger mention.

Parkhurst was an art historian who held many distinguished positions throughout his long lifetime: including numerous curatorships, director of the Baltimore Museum of Art, assistant director of the National Gallery, taught at Princeton, Oberlin, Williams, and Smith. Perhaps his most important contribution to the art world was as one of the “Monument Men” during World War Two; a group that helped save great works of art, and architecture, from destruction from bombing and Nazi looting. From the Monuments Men Foundation website:

The “Monuments Men” were a group of approximately 345 men and women from thirteen nations who comprised the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives section during World War II. Many were museum directors, curators, art historians, and educators. Together they worked to protect monuments and other cultural treasures from the destruction of World War II. In the last year of the war, they tracked, located, and ultimately returned more than 5 million artistic and cultural items stolen by Hitler and the Nazis. Their role in preserving cultural treasures was without precedent.

Their efforts were indeed monumental: one feat involved secretly moving the entire contents of the Louvre, and hiding them in a salt mine, protecting the artworks from Nazi looting during the occupation of France. For his part, the French government awarded Parkhurst the Legion of Honor, Chevalier, an honor rarely bestowed on a non-French citizen.

The work of the Monuments Men was recently part of the excellent documentary, The Rape of Europa. The documentary includes interviews with Parkhurst.

A better obituary for Parkhurst in the New York Times described his undiminished curiousity and fascination with art history:

A few years ago, while looking at Giotto’s frescoes in the Arena Chapel in Padua, Mr. Parkhurst became intrigued by the possible influence of the theater on Giotto’s art. … the idea gripped him, and he pursued it doggedly. Well into his 90s, he was still chasing after art.

Parkhurst died at his home in Amherst, MA, June 25, 2008.

By artparlor | Posted in Art News | Comments (3)

Loss of the Arts in Public Schools

August 3, 2009 – 8:41 am

Fine arts programs being cut at schools across Western Mass: As school committees across Western Massachusetts face severe budget cuts, fine arts programs are being cut one-by-one.

It is tragic that the arts are usually the first things to be cut from public school curriculum, especially in an area like the Pioneer Valley, where so much of our local economy is dependent on the arts.

Coincidentally, news of these cuts arrive with the news that Northampton, once again, has been voted one of the “Top 25 Arts Destinations” in the country by American Style magazine.

By artparlor | Posted in Art News | Comments (0)

June 13-14, a weekend full of art events – and the bears are here…

June 9, 2009 – 10:01 am

Friday night in Northampton is Arts Night Out, and Smith College’s “Second Friday” – admission to the museum is free. At 5.30, artist Lesley Dill gives a free talk about her latest work, currently on exhibit.

Easthampton has a day full of events on Saturday. The Bear Fest kicks off this weekend with the unveiling of the artist-decorated bears at 2pm on Cottage St. That day also features three art openings (Juli Kirk, Barbara Johnson, and Brigita Fuhrmann), a small art/craft fair by the Etsy Western MA Street Team, and Bear Festivities continue behind Easthampton Savings Bank, on Main Street, after the unveiling. Art Walk from 5-8pm caps off the evening. And as an added bonus, the opening of the new bar and restaurant everyone in town has been waiting for, Venus and The Cellar Bar on Main Street. If you can’t make any of the events, definitely pop into town at some point after the unveiling – more than 30 bears will be placed at various locations downtown until October.

Also on Saturday, in Amherst is Eric Carle’s 80th birthday bash, featuring an exhibit by the Western MA Illustrators’ Guild.

Get all the details on these events (and more!) at The Valley Arts Newsletter.

By artparlor | Posted in Art Events | Comments (0)

Art Weekend!

May 8, 2009 – 11:21 am

Lots of big art events this weekend…

Pulp Science Fiction: Spring Open Studios and Installation Event at Paper City Studios: Friday 6-9pm at Paper City Studios in Holyoke.

Arts Night Out in Northampton: Friday 5-8pm downtown Northampton.

Flywheel Record Fair: Saturday 10am-3:30pm. Fundraiser 10am-3pm at their new space in Easthampton’s Old Town Hall.

Art Walk Easthampton: Saturday 5-8pm.

By artparlor | Posted in Art Events | Comments (0)

FOUND in Baltimore

May 4, 2009 – 12:41 pm

In Baltimore on Sunday, and made my regular pilgrimage to Hampden. One of my fave places in the city is Atomic Books in Hampden, the coolest indie bookstore you’ll ever visit, full of crafty things, zines, comic books, fringe novels, Japanese toys… aaahhhh it’s heaven. I popped in yesterday and stumbled into the FOUND “Denim and Diamonds Tour” which had just started.

FOUND Magazine is a collection of found paper items: notes, shopping lists, photos, love letters, etc. This stuff is found on the street and sent in to the magazine from all over the country. The magazine’s founder, Davy Rothbart, is on tour reading a selection of these items and telling stories and reading from his new book, Requiem for a Paper Bag. Davy’s brother Peter also plays some great acoustic guitar and sings songs inspired by some of the found items. This was a great event – very funny.

Valley folks: this show is coming to The Rendezvous in Turners Falls on May 11th. Definitely go and check it out!

Art note: Hampden is a hip, funky part of Baltimore full of indie shops and cafes. It’s probably best known as the area John Waters is from and where he shot many of his films. It’s also home to the Hon Cafe (just look for the giant pink flamingo) and the Hon Fest, which happens in June.

By artparlor | Posted in Art Events | Comments (0)