Thursday, December 20, 2012

Andrea Dezso video of Art at Bucharest Embassy, Romania

Detail of Andrea Dezso's mosaic at American Embassy in Bucharest, Romania


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTXPmaCM3tw&feature=youtu.be

Friday, November 30, 2012

Artscope Review of Amherst Biennial


                                                     Amherst Biennial 2012
Rosalyn Driscoll, Whether

Distilling the essence of an entire Arts community and brewing an exhibition that seeks to intrigue, invigorate, and involve, is the goal of arts promoter Terry Rooney as she mounts her second Amherst Biennial.  

“Art in Expected and Unexpected Places” sets over 100 art pieces in three academic museums, an ATM bank lobby, a stationary storefront window, two frame shops, very deep along the Hitchcock Nature Trail, two libraries, the local Historical Society, a children’s museum,  a clothing store, an assortment of greens and public spaces sometimes miles apart, and a pop-up gallery that also serves as the Biennial’s welcome center.   This ambitious undertaking opened on Oct. 6th and continues through November 30.  

Mustering this type of project requires a personality that can deal with the politics and requirements of many municipal departments, the stuffiness of academics, the organization of an army of artists, site securing, management of volunteers, fundraising, insurance, transportation, media outreach, and the general logistics of mounting a  traditional exhibition.  Rooney’s enthusiasm for the the project is credited to “...the incredibly exciting art produced in the Valley.”

Forty-six artists participated in the project including two octogenarians and an amazing teenager from Deerfield Academy.   

Peter Krasznekewicz, Little White House Project 
Peter Krasznekewicz is a seventeen year old phenom whose Little White House Project has been seen in various incarnations around the Valley beginning in 2011.    Four of his houses now sit on the lawn of Hampshire College as part of the Biennial celebration.  When I was first told of the Little White Houses, I imagined objects slightly larger than a breadbox.  Yet there on the grassy knoll of Hampshire’s main entrance, the Little White Houses greet you with words.  Simple bold black mini thoughts culled from the poems of Emily Dickinson. The houses are far from little.  You could park your motorcycles in them if the houses had a door, but they are windowless sealed contemplative structures inhabited only by a phrase.  Sometimes as simple as a single word-”JOY”-or a mantra- “Dwell in Possibility”-or a fragment that challenges you to finish the thought-”The possibility’s slow fuse is lit.”    



As one drives in and out of Hampshire College the collective formation of the houses and their emblazoned thoughts present a different perspective, a poetry of landscape that is a joy to behold. Amazingly, the young man’s project has included a total of 38 houses in its peripatetic history.  

Matt Evald Johnson,
Adjoining the Little White Houses at the Hampshire College site is a monumental tower of heavy bent steel lyrically rising from its base in a facile defiance of gravity.  The convoluted mass of interlocking tendrils is the work of Matt Ewald Johnson.   Johnson’s massive oculus from the first Amherst Biennial still stands in its place in  Kendrick  Park.  It is in the process of becoming a part of Amherst’s permanent public art collection.   

A newcomer to the Amherst area, Dawn Howkinson Siebel, is represented at three different Biennial sites.  The Frost Library at Amherst College  showcases a triptych of her 343 firefighter portraits executed on burnt wood, an homage to the 9/11 tower disaster.  However, most striking are her  two biblio-sculptures cleverly placed in the center of the Jones Library’s Atrium.  The pressed open pages of two ancient encyclopedias are the springboard for Siebel’s collaged fantasias.  Visitors searching for their book of choice are destined for an encounter with Siebel’s provocative mixed media constructs.  The impact of these two pieces of public art aptly demonstrate how important the proper placement and location of public art is to its overall success.  

In addition to the drawings, paintings, and three dimensional works that comprise the 2012 Biennial, the performance art of Karen Dolmanisth is being staged in a series of incarnations at the Amherst College Mead Museum.    THE BALANCE: NATURE/SPIRIT/BODY/BREATH IMMANENCE, is a site-specific work featuring dance and music presented outdoors in the Museum’s sculpture court, or in case of uncooperative weather, indoors.  

I was in attendance at the first of these week-end performances where the threat of rain moved the project to the quiet of the Renaissance Room of the Mead.  

Set on the floor of the Renaissance Room’s ancient floorboards was a geometric arrangement of muslim floorcloths, large swaths of drawing paper, and a collection of sealed objects of unknown origin. 

A series of smooth river rocks defined the perimeter of the space which was adorned with feathers, collections of autumn leaves, a meditation bell, a neat pile of books, floral plumes, a series of colored bowls and an oversize spool of white yarn.  What followed was a yogic exploration of this space in what I call “buddha dancing”-a deeply intuitive observation of a trancelike experience that included sustained posturing, hypnotic drawing, a rain of pine needles, and a transpersonal experience between artist and audience.  Interspersed through the happenings was the recorded soundscape composed specifically for the performance by a duo of musicians known as “TOO HUMAN.” 

 Dolmanisth is always compelling, unpredictable,  and treading a challenging artistic path that takes her and her audiences to undiscovered country.  

For information in regard to the upcoming performances of Dolmanisth and complete information on all facets of the Amherst Biennial 2012 contact Terry Rooney at the Pop Up gallery at 59 Boltwood Court in downtown Amherst or by visitingwww.amherstbiennial.com.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Andrea Dezso's Cut-Out Illustrations Book - Publisher's Weekly Best Book of 2012!

Andrea Dezso, one of the Biennial artists (her artist's book is on display at Hope & Feather's Gallery) has received accolades for her cut-out illustrations in Lies, Knives, Girl's Red Dresses. Publishers Weekly named it one of the best books of 2012. She will be signing copies of this book on Dec. 7th at the Odyssey Book store.

 Andrea Dezso is a mulit-media artist who designed two subway stations in New York City as well as a beautiful mosaic installation at the embassy in Budapest this year.


http://www.odysseybks.com/event/andrea-dezso-lies-knives-girls-red-dresses

Friday, November 16, 2012

deChristopher install at UMASS preview of DeCordova Museum Exhibition

The Fish Sufficeth is a sneak preview of Tim deChristopher's sculpture for a future installation at the DeCordova Museum. deChristopher comes from a lineage of stone covers, in fact he's the third generation to carve stone sculptures at St. John of Divine on the Upper Westside  in Manhattan.

His installation outside Hampden Gallery at UMASS cleverly incorporates one of his fish (on a bench) with other nautical items with a model for his dream - the Cathedral Project which he hoped to create at Turners Falls. Unfortunately because of the financial collapse this project has not come fruition. Possibly as Tim's reputation grows maybe this project could become a reality.

Tim's work is now represented by William Bascek Gallery in Northampton. Hopefully his work will start to get the attention it deserves.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

William Brayton - Two Biennials

William Brayton's multi-media sculpture graces the front lawn of the newly renovated Lord Jeffrey Inn in downtown Amherst for the second edition of the Amherst Biennial. Brayton, an art professor at Hampshire College created the college's sculpture program. This fall, he was also selected by the curators of this highly competitive New England Biennial at the Brattleboro Museum in Vermont. The Brattleboro's Biennial selected only seven artists from our region including New York and Brayton represents Massachusetts in this prestigious exhibit. Seems that these Biennials have similar tastes for talent in the region.

William's sculpture Encounter 2 will move next spring to the rotary at Atkins Corner bringing art to our newly constructed gateway to south Amherst near Hampshire College's campus. 

http://www.gazettenet.com/search/2454460-95/brayton-sculpture-art-metal


Sunday, November 4, 2012

Canvassing Town & Emily's Rhapsody

Samuel Rowlett contemplating the Portal by Matt Evald Johnson at Kendrick Park



Canvassing from UMASS to Downtown Amherst

After visiting Boltwood Gallery heading towards Town Hall
Fort River artists with Emily's Rhapsody
Samuel Rowlet "canvassed" Amherst, Thursday evening with his performance Landscape Painting in the Expanded Field from UMASS to The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. It was a fun experience to see the community reactions to his piece and how his work fit into the "landscape" of town.


It was so grand to see the young artists from Fort River School, their parents and community enjoy the reception for Emily's Rhapsody at the Bank of America ATM display space. Teri Magner, Fort River art teacher organized her 4th grade students response to Emily Dickinson poems this Spring. These one foot square panels were donated by the White House Project artist, Peter Kraznekewicz to our community from the Little White House Project (5 houses are installed at the entrance of Hampshire College.) Local artists artwork from this series are installed at Emily Dickinson Museum & Amherst Town Hall Gallery.

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Art in Expected & Unexpected Places for Amherst Artswalk, Nov. 1, 5 - 8 PM-MAP

All the Amherst Biennial sites will be open for the Amherst Artswalk with Hitchcock Center & Bank of America opening early from 4 - 6 PM. Some of the sites will also be hosting receptions such as Hope & Feathers, The Eric Carle Museum,  The Strong House Museum, Boltwood Gallery (behind Judi's) and of course Amherst Town Hall. Check out Karen Dolmanisth's installation inside the Stearn's Steeple in front of the Mead Art Museum   when you visit the Museum & Frost Library Gallery  while on the Amherst College Campus. Karen will also be on site this weekend from 9 - 5 PM as artist-in-residence at the Stearn's Steeple as well as a final performance on Friday, Nov. 30th at noon inside the Mead Art Museum.

Also we will have a special performance of Samuel Rowlett tomorrow evening starting at UMASS pond at 5 PM. Samuel will be carrying a large canvas on his back through downtown Amherst, visiting other Biennial sites including Amherst College and then onto Hampshire College and ending at The Carle Museum around 8 PM which will be free and open to the public tomorrow night as well as hosting a reception for the artists Carl Calvano & Sandy Litchfield from 5 - 8 PM.

Amherst Biennial Host Site Map
 http://gis.amherstma.gov/stories/maptour/AmherstArts.html 

Friday, October 26, 2012

Art in the Park - Rabbit Stolen!!!!

Matt Evald Johnson, Portal
Lee Hutt, August Rabbit
 One of the gifts of the Amherst Biennial is making public art a permanent part of the landscape of our town. Matt Evald Johnson sculpture Portal was selected by the curators during the first Biennial in 2010 and is installed on a knoll in Kendrick Park. The sculpture acts as a link between downtown Amherst and the UMASS campus.We are in the process of making this a permanent installation and the curators have added another sculpture to this park, Lee Hutt's August Rabbit. Our hope is that this will spark the beginning of a natural playground which our community wanted for this Park. The rabbit is a wonderful tie-in to our community since the author, Howard R. Garis of the famed children's books Uncle Wiggily once lived in Amherst.



As I was checking the public art around town to make sure everything was OK after Sandy's unwelcome visit, it seems Lee Hutt's Rabbit has been stolen from it's perch in Kendrick Park!!!! Any help with helping to retrieve this sculpture would be greatly appreciated.


Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Hitchcock Center Celebrates 50th with contemporary installations from Biennial





Nancy Winship Milliken's installation at Hitchcock Center
Hitchcock Center for Enviromental Studies has provided a valuable educational and environmental resource in Amherst for 50 years. The Amherst Public Arts Commission is pleased to celebrate this momentous occasion at the Hitchcock Center by bringing contemporary art by adding contemporary art to it's landscape.

Nancy Winship Milliken utilizes natural material including local clay and straw to construct these gestural figures of farmers which rise and fall back to the earth depending on the weather These earthly figures are a reflections of the cycle of crops through the seasons.

Chris Nelson has created a special installation which slices through the forest that changes our way that we look at the forest through the seasons. In working with the conservation commission Nelson raised his yellow ropes to allow deer and moose to pass through his installation unharmed.

Signs leading to Nelson work guide visitors to his installation, continue down the path to the rear of the Hitchcock property to view Milliken's installation near Bramble Hill Farm.

http://nancymilliken.com/news/

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Freedom Trails features Installations & Video Room






Freedom Trails which is connected to Valley Frameworks is run by Ani Rivera an artist from the first Amherst Biennial 2010.. His gallery is presenting an installation of Maggie Nowinski's cynotype prints and Alicia Rendette's Cast away both are returning artists from the first Biennial. Also Sarah Bliss's video You Leave Here in the gallery's new video viewing room in the rear of the gallery. Freedom Trails features some of the boldest and colorful artwork of this Biennial with Lourdes Morales's combinations of souring spiritual spaces playing off of comic book figures and Marlene Rye's lyrical landscapes. One of the other surprises in this gallery is one of Jeff Stauder's Buffalo series (in Jeff's other life, he teaches art at Amherst High School!). This are just some of the highlights of local talent featured in the gallery.

Also Freedom Trails Gallery has just put out a Call for Art for Dec/Jan for a small works exhibit with the 30% commission going to the Survival Center and the balance to the artists.
http://www.amherstvalleyframeworks.com/open-call-to-artists-juried-small-works-exhibition-to-benefit-the-amherst-survival-center/

Monday, October 8, 2012

Pope Johanna & Zea Mays Printers at Hope & Feathers Framing & Gallery



Each setting for the Amherst Biennial has it's own character and Hope & Feather's Framing & Gallery is no exception. There's a softness and quiet elegance to the artwork here created by local women artists,several of whom are members of the Zea Mays Printmaking Studio, a non-toxic print studio in Florence, MA. The Founder & Director Liz Chalfin is featured in this Biennial with her sculptural installation of "Day" This ground breaking piece examines the shifting light of a day.

Also Zea May's member, Anne Bissett features prints about money. The artist overlays her father's writings to her while she was in college with slogans about money, This work is so poignant for the times were in.



One of the most striking installations in the Amherst Biennial is Susan Montgomery's 3D installation honoring Pope Joanna's myth/story of a 9th century woman who disguised herself as a man to get an education. She rose in the Catholic Church hierarchy to eventually became pope. The artist is interested as to why her story survives, and in the contadictions within.


Prints of the Zea Mays and gallery's Biennial artists will be available for sale in the gallery this Fall.

http://hopeandfeathersframing.com/

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Biennial Opens to Rave Reviews



   Today, Karen Dolmanisth's IN BALANCE performance at Noon,will be inside the Mead Art Museum. Stearns Steeple bells rung by Aaron Hayden will announce the beginning of Karen's performance. Boltwood Gallery at 49 Boltwood Place opens from noon - five today and every Saturday & Sunday in October & November.While you're in the area  check out William Brayton's sculpture in front of the Lord Jeffrey Inn on the green, and if you stop by for brunch or a drink at the Tavern you'll see Dawn Siebel's playful alterations of vintage paint-by-number paintings at the entrance to the tavern today. (and for the rest of the Biennial). Also the one of Peter Kraznekewicz's  little White House series sits at the entrance of Hampshire College. A few more little white houses will dot the landscape of Hampshire College by Columbus Day.

   Challenging weather this week effected the production of Nancy Winship Milliken's production of gestural "cobb" (bricks made of local clay, hay, sand and other organic materials) figures at Hitchock Center which will start in earnest this week with the sun. Also we are rescheduling Samuel Rowlett's performance with walking canvas, dates TBA.


Last night openings at several sites (Emily Dickinson Museum, Boltwood Gallery, Strong House Museum, Hope & Feathers Gallery & Freedom Trails Gallery) created great excitement. So many different parts of our community have come together to support the incredible talent of this fertile valley. Artscope's reporter, Gregory Morell  toured the Biennial on opening day and will be reviewing the Amherst Biennial in Artscope November edition.

If you missed the grand opening last night there will be many more host sites open for the Amherst's Artswalk on November 1st, Thursday from 5 - 8 PM.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

49 Boltwood Gallery - Biennial Gallery


Just finished installing our pop-up gallery in a  new LEED building in downtown Amherst, just behind Judi's. We thank the owners IAT Partners who have donated the space to us for the Amherst Biennial. This  brings great exposure to our local artists and this brand new "green" building.

Carl Calvano's, artwork in foreground, yours truly, Terry Rooney next to Sandy Litchfield's work, (she's attending an opening of her work in NYC). Both of these artist's will be honored at the The Carle Museum on Thursday, Nov. 1,  5-8 PM. The  Museum will be free & artists' reception during the Amherst's Artwalk

Today's the Big Day - Update on Biennial

The Amherst Biennial spreads from the little White House at the entrance at Hampshire College in South Amherst  (Matt Johnson's sculpture will be installed by the Admission Office this week) to the Harp with Lynn Peterfreund's video (starting at 8 PM) for the after party!

The majority of the exhibits will be open this evening, the exceptions are: The Eric Carle Museum, The Jones Library, Hitchcock Center and Amherst Town Hall. Also, The Lord Jeffrey Inn is hosting weddings but you can still see Dawn Siebel's paintings at the Tavern entrance and William Brayton's sculpture on it's front lawn. All four of these venues will be hosting receptions during the November 1st Artswalk, Eric Carle museum will be free to the general public and will be hosting reception with the other Biennial sites on Thursday, Nov. 1.
Host sites closed tonight are: Eric Carle Museum, Jones Library, Hitchcock Center, Lord Jeffrey Inn & Amherst Town Hall open for November Artswalk

Performances:
The weather may affect Samuel's Rowlett's performance this evening. But as of this time, it's a go.
Samuel's performance begins at 5 PM at the Pond behind the Fine Arts Center at UMass.

Karen Dolmanisth's performance is scheduled at Stearns Steeple in the quad in front of the Mead Art Museum at noon tomorrow Oct. 7th. Rain brings the performance inside the Mead Museum. Several more performances on weekends will post link and dates soon.

Maps are posted at 49 Boltwood Gallery (behind Judi's) and in the Bank of America which is hosting Fort River students response to Emily Dickinson poems. Reception Nov. 1, Amhest Artswalk

Look forward to seeing you all tonight!

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Eric Carle & Biennial Artists - Preview in Amherst Bulletin!

This morning I was up at the crack of dawn to help the artists, Carl Calvano (pictured left) and Sandy Litchfield install at the Carle Museum. Curator and Founding Director Nick Clark gave us a private tour of the galleries. It was wonderful to how Eric Carle's independent work had similarities.to Calvano's arwork. Both Carl and Eric both have used use sculpted painted metal in their art work. 
Sandy's renderings of  buildings appeared in another artist's drawings in the first gallery. It's wonderful to see the links between the artists.

After I can home to continue production on the Biennial, I picked up my morning paper and read this wonderful article in the Amherst Bulletin. Just a reminder you can get a sneak peek of the Biennial at a dozen sites tonight. Hope to see most of you this weekend for the grand opening starting at the Hitchcock Center a little earlier since the installations are outdoors, you can see Nancy Milliken & Chris Nelson's pieces from 4 - 6 PM. 

Carl Calvano, Spiral now installed at The Carle Museum




Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Amherst Biennial Map

 http://gis.amherstma.gov/stories/maptour/AmherstArts.html 

 Anne Krauss, Namesake, computer painting at the Frost Library

Sneak Preview at Amherst Artswalk Tomorrow Night 10/4/12

Tomorrow night, 12 sites from the Amherst Biennial will be open during the Amherst ArtsWalk 5 - 8 PM


Amherst College, Frost Library Gallery
Amherst Town Hall, 4 Boltwood, Emily's Rhapsody
Bank of America, 1 S. Pleasant
  Emily's Rhapsody & Biennial Map
Emily Dickinson Museum,  
   260 Main St.
Freedom Trails Gallery, 534 Main
Hastings, 45 South Pleasant.
Hope & Feathers, 319 Main
Jones Library, 43 Amity St.
Lord Jeffrey Inn, 30 Boltwood
Strong House Museum, 67 Amity .
UMass - Banners on Fine Arts Center
Zanna

Annie Bissett, Mixed Feelings, woodblock prints at Hope & Feathers Framing & Gallery (top)
Adele Mattern, installation at Strong House Museum in response to Mabel Todd Loomis artwork.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Strong House Museum- Contemporary Art & Antiques!

Strong House Museum,  67 Amity St., Amherst
(to left of Jones Library) will feature the artwork of Rosemary Barrett, Christin Couture, Adele Mattera & William Hosie amongst historical objects from Amherst's past. Christin's encaustic and ethereal paintings are featured next to Emily Dickinson's white dress and Adele Mattera's installation has a conversation with Mabel Loomis Todd watercolor flowers with her installation gracing the center of Mabel's exhibit. These artists work engages the past with contemporary sensibilities with echos of the past.
Strong House will be participating in this week's Amherst Arts Walk as well as the Grand Opening of the Amherst Biennial on Saturday, Oct. 6, 5 - 8 PM.

See how history speaks to the present!

Monday, October 1, 2012

Painting Amherst with Art

Art is appearing all over Amherst this week for the Biennial, Frost Library Gallery at Amherst College sings with a variety of talent from our fertile valley, Anne Burton newest work combines sand-blasted glass with her graphic monoprints, Kim Carlino's colorful and elegant drawings draws people up to the gallery staircase  (her piece just went up in Hastings window this weekend also). Jeff Stauder's playful works on paper draw the viewer in; Anita Licis Ribak's photograph one of the iconic images (top of page) from the last Amherst Biennial - documents Erika Zekos's Shedding Light (the lighting of the tobacco barn) & Nancy Winship Milliken's Pleiades  (woolen sails)  Dawn Siebel gives the viewer an intimate view of her portraits of the fallen firefighters from 9/11 in burned frames. This is just a small preview of the stimulating work here.

Artists at the Frost Library: Anne Burton, Kim Carlino, Pamela Crawford, Oriole Farb Feshbach, George Greenstein, Anne Krauss, Anita Licis-Riback Charles Miller, Lynn Peterfreund, Marlene Rye, Jeff Stauder, Erika Zekos. This gallery is handicap accessible.

Kim Carlino, Coming From and Going To III, watercolor and ink on vellum

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Performances at the Amherst Biennial

                                                                   

During the Grand Opening of the 2012 Amherst Biennial, Samuel Rowlett will hike from the UMass pond at the Fine Arts Center to Amherst College with an 8' x 6' canvas on his back! He feels that the journey of explorers and artists are linked in their quests. This past summer Samuel hiked up Skinner Mountain to pay homage to Thomas Cole's paining of the Oxbow, Other extraordinary feats this year included a building a canoe at Oxbow Gallery and then paddling down the Connecticut River, exploring a buried river under Hartford. We are delighted to bring Rowlett's performance to Amherst where he will link these two colleges and engage with our downtown landscape with his performance. 

Rowlett's Performance starts at pond behind Fine Arts Center at 5 PM at UMASS through downtown to Amherst College!!!

On the following day, Sunday, Oct. 7th at noon, Amherst College will be hosting a rare performance of Karen's Domanisth, who will be an artist-in-resident at the Stearns Steeple where she will building an installation using natural materials honoring sacred texts. Her performance will be featuring an original score composed by Too Human a transplant from Hollywood who collaborated with the artist using natural sounds, instrumentals and the carillon bells to enrich her performance. 


 Dolmanisth's Performance at Quad in front of Mead Art Museum at noon Sunday, Oct. 7th (rain brings performance inside museum). Too Human created an original score for Karen's performance and Aaron Hayden (Selectboard Member) will be ringing the bells in the steeple.


IN BALANCE:
Nature/Spirit/Body/Breath/Immanence

OPENING 
Performance Collaboration and Ephemeral On-Site Sculpture Piece

IN CONTEXT:

Weaver of Light and Place

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Biennial Map Coming Next Week!!!


The Biennial  map will be posted on line next week as well as around the Valley. Check www.amherstma.gov and this site for details. We just added two new fantastic sites - Hampshire College and a brand new storefront at 49 Boltwood, behind Judi's. This will be our pop-up gallery for the Biennial


Alix Hegeler, Amherst, artist book can be seen at Hope & Feathers during the Biennial.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

The Carle's Museum 10th & The Biennial

The Amherst Public Arts Commission is please to celebrate The Carle's 10th anniversary and the Biennial with two talented artists Carl Calvano & Sandy Litchfield whose work compliments the museum's collection.
The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art will be open and free to the general public while hosting a reception for the artists during Amherst ArtsWalk on November 1st, 5 - 8 PM . Come celebrate the Biennial & Carle's 10th at the same time! ( Please note the museum will not be open for the grand opening on Oct. 6 but the artwork will be installed)
The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, 125 West Bay Road, Amherst, MA
  (413) 658 1100  www.carlemuseum.org

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Portal Sculpture Saved for Kendrick Park

The Amherst new Business Improvement District has committed $3,500 towards the purchase of the Portal sculpture by Matt Evald Johnson, which was installed in Kendrick Park during the first Amherst Biennial in the Fall of 2010. The Amherst Public Arts Commission has also received $500 from an anonymous donors and is grateful to these art angels with helping keep "Art in the Park". We will be kicking off a fund raising campaign this Fall to raise the remaining $6,000 to give this sculpture a permanent home in Amherst.

Sneak Preview of Talent in next Biennial

Monday, August 6, 2012

Webb's Banners grace FAC facade


The unofficial opening of the Amherst Biennial started last week with the celebration of Carolyn'Webb's banners which were installed on the front of the Fine Arts Center (FAC) at UMass . These prints celebrating  nature on campus, a graceful elm tree that stands tall behind the FAC having survived the blight that destroyed many of this species years ago in this country. Carolyn took a picture of the tree on campus with her I phone this past winter. She captured it's winter's naked structure and modified these images with Photo Shop to create these unique banners.

Carolyn's whose main focus is sculpure, has been has exploring printingmaking for 10 years at Zea Mays Printmaking which has informed her process in creating these banners.

This FAC Banner installation will be held over from this Summer to be included in this Fall's second addition of the Amherst Biennial, which will be officially opening on Oct. 6th at 5 - 8 PM with performances on both Amherst College and UMass Campuses.

Monday, July 9, 2012

Another Museum Site for Biennial

We are please to announce that the Strong House Museum will be a host site for the next Amherst Biennial with installations inside and out of this historic landmark. The interplay between this historic setting and it's collection and contemporary art will provide and interesting interplay between different time periods as well as bring a new audience to this hidden gem next to the Jones Library.

This brings a total of five museums sites for the next Biennial. So far we have the Eric Carle Museum, Emily Dickinson Homestead Museum, Mead Museum, Amherst College, University Museum of Contemporary Arts at UMass and now the Strong House Museum.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Save the Date - Saturday, Oct. 6th

We will have our grand opening for the next Amherst Biennial on Saturday October 6th, 5 -8, Art in Expected and Unexpected Places. Many exciting new developments for our next Biennial including Virtual Art, Yarn Bombing, Bells Ringing, Emily's Rhapsody and some of the most talented artists around. We will be presenting close to 50 artists, many returning from our first Biennial and some new faces who have settled in the Valley. We have selected William Brayton's sculpture Encounter 2 for our sculpture garden which is presently on view at Chesterwood. We are still finalizing our roster, but will have our final selections by the end of June.

Amherst Biennial October 6 - November 30

Friday, May 25, 2012

Local Sculptor Selected for Banner Project at Fine Art Center at UMass

The curatorial committee from the University Museum of Contemporary Arts has selected Carolyn Webb to produce two banners for the Fine Arts Center this Summer. This summer's installaiton will be held over to the Fall and be included in this year's Amherst Biennial. Carolyn Webb is known for her sculptures and works on papers is excited to be able to work this large in a new medium. Congrats Carolyn, look forward to your new work. http://carolynwebb.net/wood