Artist Date: Arts Night Out Northampton… 16.4.2014

Another highly successful spring Round the Mountain Book Sale (highlighted in the Artist Date: Used Book Stores blog post) last Thursday afforded us with an “excuse” to extend the book-buying spree throughout the weekend and provided us with an opportunity to check out Arts Night Out Northampton on Friday evening.

Northampton hosts Arts Night Out every 2^nd Friday of the month. There are approximately 34 venues that participate, the majority of which are located on Main Street (please see map below) and you can check them out before you set out at http://www.artsnightout.org - this site is updated every month prior to the event.

Entrance to the "Bank Vault"


We found out pretty quickly that the three hours allotted for the event is simply NOT ENOUGH time to see everything, and, in some cases, some of the venues actually closed early (~7:30 pm), so we will definitely have to return again!

View from the 2nd floor

Most of our time was actually spent at the R. Michelson Galleries which is located in a beautiful former bank with lots of little alcoves and even a small gallery within the bank’s vault that contained paintings by Dr. Seuss:


The size of the building and the amount of art that they are able to fit within it is nothing short of incredible. There were multiple “shows” going on, including an artist’s reception for Turi MacCombie’s wildlife watercolors on the 2^nd floor, as well as representation from at least a dozen additional artists.

On the 1^st floor in the back was the Children’s Book Illustrators show that highlighted by additional prints and sculptures by Dr. Seuss, some Eric Carle drawings, and my new favorite: Jon Muth’s Zen pandas - please see below :)

View of Leonard Nimoy's photos on the 2nd floor

But the “show” that stole my imagination for the rest of the evening... or to be more accurate, the rest of the weekend, was a small group of photographs by Leonard Nimoy. Yes, all you Trekkies: Mr. Spock himself. Who knew he has been a photographer for 60 years? I am certainly not going to pretend that I did.

Specifically, it was Nimoy’s photographs from “The Full Body Project” which immediately caught my attention: all of the women in the series are not what society would immediately call “beautiful” and, yet, I found the photos of REAL women: women who are strong and proud and photographed in a respectful manner - the most unforgettable works of art in the galleries.

Please check out Nimoy’s statement at: http://www.rmichelson.com/artist_pages/nimoy/pages/MaxBeaut.htm

And please check out the rest of the incredible artists represented at the R. Michelson Galleries: http://www.rmichelson.com/artist_pages/nimoy/pages/MaxBeaut.htm

Note for all bibliophiles: In addition to the four bookstores that participate in the RMBS, we stumbled across an unusual collaboration in Hadley, MA: the Grey Matter Bookstore and the Troubadour Books.

These two bookstores are under the same roof and it is not always obvious where one starts and where the other ends, but they do have one AWESOME art book collection. In fact, there is an entire ROOM dedicated to the arts. Simply the largest collection I have seen so far. The collection includes a lot of out of print and specialty books, so the prices are slightly higher, but last weekend there was a 35% off sale that helped a lot. If you are in the area, please check them out!

http://greymatterbookstore.com/

47 East Street, Hadley, MA

Jenn White

White Rooster Studios

Announcement: Upcoming Shows and Events… 1.4.2014

I will be participating upcoming shows:

·         I will have two I Ching mixed-media paintings in the Greater Haverhill Arts Association’s Annual Art Exhibit at the Buttonwoods Museum of the Haverhill Historical Society on 240 Water Street in Haverhill, MA.

o   Artist reception will be: Friday, May 16^th from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm.

o   The exhibit will be open from May 10^th to May 25^th.

o   The Buttonwoods Museum is open Tuesday – Sunday from 10:00 am – 5:00 pm.

·         The Arts Institute Group of the Merrimack Valley (AIGMV) will host their annual Art in the Orchard Show June 7^th and 8^th. The theme this year is: “Through the Years”. The show will be held at Mann’s Orchard at 27 Pleasant Valley Street, Methuen, MA.

o   No times yet, but will send out an update when they are available.

·         I will have two I Ching mixed-media paintings in the Wilmington Council for the Arts 34^th Annual Art Exhibition. The exhibition will be held at the Wilmington Arts Center at 219 Middlesex Avenue (Route 62) in Wilmington, MA.

o   Artist reception will be: Friday, June 20^th from 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

o   The exhibit will be open:

§  Saturday, June 21^st from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

§  Sunday, June 22^nd from 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm

I will also be participating in the following events with the Woburn Guild of Artists:

·         WGA will participate in the 2^nd Annual Salisbury Art Stroll on Saturday, May 17^th, from 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM. The Art Stroll will begin at the Old Eastern Marsh Trail. It can be accessed from Route 1 South in Salisbury, take a right onto Friedendels Street, right before the bridge going into Newburyport.

·         The Woburn Guild of Artists (WGA) will be participating in the Northeast PAC Spring Arts and Crafts Festival on Saturday, April 5^th, from 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM. Northeast Metro Tech High School is located on 100 Hemlock Road in Wakefield, MA.

·         WGA will participate in Arts Fest Beverly on June 14^th. WGA will be set-up outside of St. Mary’s Church at 253 Cabot Street from 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.

Jenn White

White Rooster Studios