CLASS ACT: Pastel Work by Students of Jane Lund

Pam Bartlett

CLASS ACT is a retrospective of work done by participants in Jane Lund’s pastel still-life workshops. The workshops began over twenty years ago at the Guild Studio School in Northampton, moved briefly to Eastworks and then landed at the Northampton Center for the Arts in 2008. CLASS ACT features pieces by over 30 artists and will be shown in both the East and West Galleries. The galleries are open 11am-4pm, Tuesday thru Friday. The East Gallery will be open 5-8pm during Arts Night Out on Friday, August 10.

"My life has been enriched in so many ways by my association with the various artists who have travelled through these classes." says Lund. "This retrospective is a great opportunity to showcase some of their work."

Jane's "pastel intensives" generally last a week at a time and are characterized by a focus on a particular theme. Over the years, subject matter has ranged from "Facing Flowers" to "Cakes in a Landscape" to "Seeing Red."

How does Lund choose her themes? " Well, I don't exactly know," she muses. "It's what subject matters happen to appeal to me as an artist. I want my students to be entertained and challenged, and I want to feel the same way. I try to make the title sound catchy. We're all cultural products of the advertising world, and I guess I'm trying to sell a product -- my classes! I actually do get all caught up with the theme myself and really look forward to seeing what the class comes up with. I'm so pleased when it works out -- because, one never knows if it WILL work out .”

Jane Lund was born in New York City and attended Queens College, the New School for Social Research, and Pratt Institute, where she studied art. Her celebrated pastel style of rich color and graceful detail has earned her recognition as a master of her medium. Her works are housed at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, The Davidson Collection, Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Fine Arts in Springfield and other museums and galleries throughout the United States.