New Links: Local Art Instruction

March 10, 2008 – 1:10 pm

We were thinking about the old Guild Studio School, which we miss – we were so hopeful that it would evolve into a degree-granting art school (wouldn’t that have been fabulous?). It was so sad that it closed in 2005, but there are still some great places in the area for art classes in everything from painting to pottery to printmaking.  So we’ve added a new link category, “Local Art Instruction.” We’re aware of a few excellent places in the Valley: Snow Farm in Williamsburg, The Garage Annex School in Easthampton, and Zea Mays in Florence; we’re sure there must be more.

If you know of any other places in the Valley offering art classes, please let us know and we’ll add them to our list.

 The final webpage of the Guild Studio School is still online at the Wayback Machine. The page includes a letter from the director, Andrew Francis, thanking supporters and it closes with this wonderful paragraph about art and community:

The most powerful organizations are those with the support and participation of their community. The Guild Studio School does not feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, or protect a vulnerable population. However, art infuses a soul into a community and is a necessary resource for broadening and enriching the lives of children, families and individuals. Art is an unsung hero that has struggled for millennia for support. Art is personal and public, emotional and political, informative and decorative, as well as wild and crazy at times. Supporting the arts and artists in your community is the most powerful way to make it more than a good and safe place to live; supporting art and artists is the only way to ensure that your community will be a rich, thriving and diverse place to live.

Beautifully put.

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In the Realms of the Unreal

February 9, 2008 – 4:15 pm

We recently saw an interesting documentary, In the Realms of the Unreal, about the artist Henry Darger. We first saw Darger’s work on the cover of local musician Mark Schwaber’s CD The Killing Card – the cover has a dark, post-apocalyptic scene with little girls running from a background of flames, smoke and explosions.  The artwork is striking and strange. We assumed it was the work of a local artist. The liner notes credited Henry Darger, At Sunbeam Creek. We were intrigued, so naturally we went online to find more information about the artist.

Darger lived 1892-1972 in Chicago. A quiet recluse, his enormous body of work was discovered by his landlord, Nathan Lerner, shortly before his death. After his death all of his work and belongings entered into Lerner’s possession.

Darger’s artwork is a mix of line drawing, tracing, watercolor, and collage. All of his art seems based on his 15000-page novel, Realms of the Unreal – a good vs. evil war story in which the heroes are the “Vivian Girls”, young often nude little girls who represent all that’s good, pure and holy. The novel seems to be semi-autobiographical, filled with anecdotes from Darger’s own childhood woven into the fantastical story.

Darger’s work is considered “Outsider Art“. Outsider Art (also called Art Brut or Visionary Art) is art created by untrained artists, outside the mainstream, and often by people who don’t, or didn’t, consider themselves artists. Much outsider art has an obsessive quality – pieces that are enormous, or intricately detailed, sometimes one piece is a lifetime’s work.

The documentary about Darger (In the Realms of the Unreal) was tough to follow, but fascinating nonetheless. The filmmaker may have been trying to mimic Darger’s writing, by drifting the narrative in and out of reality, blurring the boundaries of fantasy and reality, so the viewer is left wondering what is fact and what is part of Darger’s fantasy.

Art note: New York City has an Annual “Outsider Art Fair” in January, as part of The American Folk Art Museum’s Outsider Art Week. Darger’s work is always among the most popular there.

In 2000, Kiyoko Lerner (Nathan Lerner’s widow) donated Darger’s manuscripts to the American Folk Art Museum, which established The Henry Darger Study Center, “to foster open inquiry and multidisciplinary research into the life and work of the Chicago artist,” and recently announced a Henry Darger Fellowship Program.

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Local Historical Museums and the Pioneer Valley History Network

January 30, 2008 – 12:25 pm

In response to our previous post (see below) about the numerous local historical museums, a reader posted a comment about the Pioneer Valley History Network. He wrote:

The Pioneer Valley History Network is a new organization that helps link these historical museums and sites. They have a listserv … and soon will have a website. It can be a great source of information for anyone seeking to explore historical resources in the area.

They have a Yahoo Group, and we’ll post info about their new website when it launches.

We’ve also added a new list of links to our sidebar, “Local Historical Museums.” These little museums are fascinating places. Many are admission-free, but please consider a donation when visiting to help support them.

One of our favorites is the Skinner Museum in South Hadley, which was a pet hobby of its founder, Joseph Allen Skinner (who bequeathed it to Mount Holyoke College). Not only is it full chock-a-block with local artifacts and curiosities from all over the world, the building itself has an interesting history: it was moved from one of the towns that is now submerged beneath the Quabbin Reservoir.

Local trivia: Joseph Skinner was part of the Skinner family who made their enormous wealth via the Skinner Mills in Holyoke in the early part of the 20th-century. Wistariahurst Museum in Holyoke was the family home of Belle Skinner, Joseph’s sister.

By artparlor | Posted in Art News, Art Spaces | Comments (1)

Visit your local small museums

January 27, 2008 – 12:16 pm

There are many small historical museums in the valley that go unnoticed. They often have very small operating budgets, and their curation and management is frequently a labor of love by dedicated volunteers. These places are hidden gems; small treasure troves of artifacts and documents of local history.

We’ve just read a nice post about one these small museums by local blogger Tommy Devine — about the Calvin Coolidge Museum in Northampton. The museum is located on the second floor of the Forbes library. Devine gives a good brief review including photos. (FYI: Calvin Coolidge was mayor of Northampton, MA from 1910 to 1911).

A quick list of local historical museums we could find online includes:

Wow. Quite a list. We’re sure there are more of these great little places that we’re unaware of.

By artparlor | Posted in Art Spaces | Comments (2)

MassMOCA on YouTube

January 25, 2008 – 12:21 pm

MassMOCA has a YouTube page where they post videos of events and exhibitions. This such a fabulous idea for a museum.

They’ve really embraced online technology: a nicely-designed website, a blog, live webcams, podcasts, and now a YouTube page. We wonder what’s next: MySpace, or Facebook?

If you haven’t been to MassMOCA, we highly recommend a visit. The museum is in an enormous 19th-century mill complex, and has some stunningly large exhibition spaces. So large, they can show work that simply can’t fit anywhere else. The current exhibition in the largest gallery is Jenny Holzer’s Projections.

By artparlor | Posted in Art News, Art Spaces | Comments (2)

Dean Nimmer Moving Sale

January 25, 2008 – 10:21 am

From Dean Nimmer:

I’m having a fantastic MOVING SALE of my artwork during the week of January 21 to 26. The RECEPTION for this sale will be on SATURDAY, JANUARY 26th from 2pm to 6pm at the Open Square studio building in Holyoke. This sale will feature my 1000 DRAWINGS series, the quirky drawings and sculptures of UNIQUE FREDRIQUE and the best examples of my oil paintings and collages at the most affordable prices I’ve ever offered! Don’t miss this great opportunity – please come and see!!!

We had a sneak peek yesterday and there is alot of interesting stuff for sale. We’ve written about Dean in a previous post – he’s an interesting artist. This reception will be a nice chance to see a large selection of his work in one space.

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

Easthampton Mural Controversy?

January 22, 2008 – 1:03 pm

There’s quite a lively discussion going on about the proposed mural on the Masslive Easthampton Forum (see threads 4319 – 4324). Surprisingly, many posters aren’t happy about it. Some excerpts:

The particular graphic design seems more suited to be shown on a smaller scale–perhaps on the cover of a brochure for Easthampton. These large jumbled letters will be mostly meaningless and confusing to drivers-by. I think that to please the majorityin a fairly traditional New England community like Easthampton, a design that is in keeping with the traditional tone of the town would be more accepted and appropriate. (post 4322)

 It seems like it is more inner city 1960’s urban renewal, than small “town” mural. (post 4322.3)

I think the mural will look nice. I live in that part of town & am delighted at how nice the Cottage St area has become. I love that’s it becoming such a creative and funky street with great little independent shops, and hope this trend continues. Public art will make it an even more intersting area. (post 4320.5.2.1.)

I know what is appealing to some isn’t appealing to all, but in my opinion, the proposed artwork (?) that is going to be displayed on the side of Wiskerz Pub will be an eyesore. (post 4318)

I lke it and I think it meshes well with the art atmosphere. (post 4318.4)

What do you think of the proposed mural? Post your comments below…

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Mural project winner announced in Easthampton

January 19, 2008 – 5:07 pm

Easthampton City Arts has announced Tom Pappalardo the winner of the call for submissions for their mural project on Cottage Street in the city’s downtown. Painting will start this Spring.

There’s already one mural on Cottage Street, on the side of Off The Map Tattoo – an awesome fantasy sea-monster scene, and another on Union Street, on the side of Movie Gallery. We hope murals will become a new trend downtown.

Art note: Pappalardo works as a designer under the name Standard Design. You may recognize his work in the excellent ads for Turn It Up!, and some of the coolest local band posters around. Especially this classic for Pop-a-Wheelie.

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Art Events this Weekend

January 10, 2008 – 1:12 pm

Two evenings chock full o’ art:

Friday night, 5-8pm: Northampton’s Art’s Night Out. Download & print the map.

Saturday night, 5-8pm: Easthampton’s Art Walk. View & print the map.

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Warhol Foundation gift to local musuems

January 9, 2008 – 8:31 pm

The Warhol Foundation announced a few months back a massive gift of more than 28,000 Warhol photographs to be distributed among college and university museums across the country. Local beneficiaries are the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, the University Gallery at UMASS, and the Smith College Art Museum. The gifts are scheduled to arrive sometime this month.

From the Foundation’s October press release:

The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts today announced an unprecedented gift of Warhol art to 183 college and university art museums across the U.S.  The gift, made through the Andy Warhol Photographic Legacy Program in honor of the foundation’s 20th anniversary, consists of 28,543 original Warhol photographs valued in excess of $28 million.

No news yet of any exhibition plans at Smith, Mount Holyoke, or UMASS.

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