Exhibit

November 2024

Pliable Entanglements

November 5 - November 30

Opening Reception on Arts Night Out

Audio Timestamps:

Pliable Entanglements Statement 00:00

Eva R. Barajas 02:07

María Sparrow 03:10

Ross Momaney 03:55

We ask that you see our body of work as an imperative call to be present in our shared Pliable Entanglements. Our visual collection serves as evidence illustrating the interconnectedness we inhabit through universal and foundational elements. The experiences we imagine, the instances that could have been, and the concrete histories that make up who we are all intertwine here. Pliable Entanglements offers the viewer the ability to honor their own past, present, and future while simultaneously acknowledging the malleable connections we have to the network of lives to which we are linked. These pieces serve as reflections of the overlapping histories and experiences of the artists, reminding us that we are not the first, the only, or the last to have them.

Through drawing and printmaking, we seek to explore the narratives of the past and their infinite connections to the present. Our shared tactile connection to the earth manifests through ceramic vessels that act as relics of timelines, memories, and experiences in alternative and imagined landscapes. Using clay to construct artifacts of invented experiences reflects the conception of the personal histories of what could have been and serves to fill in the gaps of the unknown. The ever-present threads that connect all of us are expressed through fibers weaving together the communal and personal histories we have experienced, both real and internally constructed. Together, these pieces bind the many histories and experiences of the artists while offering a moment in time to build a shared experience with viewers.

As humans, we are all connected through shared Pliable Entanglements. Our personal landscapes are infinitely malleable and subject to ever-evolving internal and external influences. May this presentation of artwork guide you to value the permeable and unseen links that connect us all and carry the notion that anything we observe, we change; anything observed changes and connects us in perpetuity.

  • Eva R. Barajas (she/her/ella) is a disabled, queer, interdisciplinary artist, educator and cultural producer.

    Descended from Southern Paiute/ Comanche and mestizaje peoples. Currently living and working on the unceded land of the Nonotuck people (Northampton, MA ) pursuing a Master’s in Art Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, with a focus on accessibility education in the arts.

    Her installations reflect her dedication to exploring disability, craft, grief, stimming, care, collectivity, and joy. An invitation to engage with the intricacies of creative labor, embracing the malleability of experiences and the potency of imagined scenarios.

    Her goal is to craft spaces that resonate with the vibrancy of unspoken dialogues, the malleability of experiences and a celebration of infinite diversity in infinite combination.

    @erbarajas87 

  • María Sparrow (she/they) is a teaching artist based in Franklin County, Massachusetts. Sparrow employs painting, fiber, and printmaking techniques in combination with historical research in order to probe questions of memory, identity, alienation and belonging. With half of their family based in Argentina and half in the U.S., Sparrow’s ongoing “Stains” series seeks to understand racial formation across these cultures. Focusing here on research on racial formation in Argentina, the artist offers a specific case by which Argentine and non-Argentine viewers alike might consider their own cultural racial constructs.

    mariatsparrow.wixsite.com

  • Ross Momaney (he/him) is a visual artist and arts educator. He grew up playing in the woods of West Dummerston, Vermont with plenty of room to roam and explore, letting his vivid imagination run free. As a child, he often played with and built elaborate imagined worlds with lincoln logs, LEGOs, and any other materials he could find. 

    From a young age, Ross knew he wanted to be a teacher. He attended the University of Maine at Farmington where he earned a BS in Elementary Education and Art. He is currently in the Master’s program for Art Education at The University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Prior to his graduate work, Ross was a teacher at an elementary school on Deer Isle, in Maine. There he taught writing and English, as well as third grade before becoming the school’s art teacher. His work in the classroom supports imaginative inquiry and play while providing equitable experiences in the arts for all learners. 

    Ross’ own artwork focuses on process and self-interpretation with an emphasis on constructing imagined worlds and relics from his imagination. At the core of his artistic practice, Ross centers on creating pieces that illustrate how he perceives and experiences the world. His work delves into the ways lines exist in our environment, both natural and constructed, and investigates how these elements can shape our understanding and awareness of the different landscapes that surround us. Most of Ross’ work utilizes clay to create and build relics of personal expression. Ross examines how signs, text, and images function as tools for navigation and communication, as well as how a given object serves as an artifact of personal experience. Ross’ art invites viewers to reflect on the subtle yet powerful ways that visual language influences our perception of the world.

    @theforestboss

    rmm-art.com

October 2024

In Light of Time

October 5 - October 30

Opening Reception on October 5th

We three artists: Mary Ann Kelly, Laura Radwell, and Carolyn Webb, are celebrating our longstanding relationship to the Connecticut River Valley. Individually, we realize how we have been altered, inspired and influenced by our immersion in this special place over time, recognizing and responding to its unique natural beauty. Over time and in its light, we find individual and profound spiritual allure: the lay of the land, the verdant woods, the plentiful waters. Perhaps this exhibition can also be seen as a gesture of gratitude for a community which seeks to protect its natural resources, promoting preservation, public interaction and access to the shared bounty.

Through painting, sculpture, prints, and drawings, we share our journeys of discovery, for the first time together. This immersive installation, featuring a blend of lines, gestures, color, and symbolic forms, is a creative conversation with each other. The distinctive style of each artist complements the others, flowing between the walls and floorspace to celebrate timelessness, resilience, harmony and grace.

  • Mary Ann Kelly made a quality of life move with her family to Northampton in 1997 from Washington, DC.  Here the rich, natural reminders of transformation, metamorphosis and the aging process inspired her to celebrate these themes in her two- and three-dimensional abstractions.  These artworks enable her to pursue her love of light, gestural line, texture, and colorful patinas while manipulating non-traditional and natural materials.  Each work is a mindful journey in space-making — celebrating the simplicity of form, quiet space, and the wisdom of stillness — evoking contemplative presence and timelessness.

    Mary Ann received her MFA from Massachusetts College of Art in 1987. Since then she has studied with various teachers and was accepted to a residency at Vermont Studio Center in 2002. She has exhibited her work throughout Massachusetts, in Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and New York City.

    “My love of Japanese aesthetic and calligraphy informs my work, including the concept of Ma.” Ma is the pure, essential void between all things.

    - an emptiness, yet full of possibilities

    - a resting space, or a pause between notes

    - silent intervals that give form

    - and therefore an invitation to breathe”

    www.makellyart.com

  • In the early 1990s, while focusing on growing a small communications business, Radwell began capturing detailed images of surfaces that chronicled erosion and decay, and began a process of manually collaging images of real world objects that she transformed into abstract compositions. This work continued over time, enabling her to harness evolving technologies and to make use of digital art forms incorporating both her images and drawings. In 2014, after a long hiatus, she returned to oil painting, but in ways that were informed by the digital work of previous years. Now Radwell paints “from the inside out” and produces lyrical abstract studies using color, texture, and form that retain landscape’s resonances.

     

    Radwell has exhibited locally and regionally. In 2020, she won First Prize in the New Britain Museum of American Art Annual Nor’Easter Juried Exhibition. Several of her paintings have earned places in juried exhibitions in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. She spent six weeks (two artist residencies) at the Château d'Orquevaux in France.

     

    “How does a visual narrative begin?

    Perhaps, in my case, deferring my dream to paint brought a multi-layered storage process of audio/visual observations of natural beauty and the manmade cacophony in the outside world, depositing subconscious recordings of the soft and sweet, sometimes loud and discordant sounds. These contributed to the inventory of impressions collected in my inside world.

    The ultimate result of this process could be described in emotional terms, yet it seems simplistic to describe a creative practice as a reflection solely of emotions; but it is. The world is in chaos, and painting from such a personal place is unavoidable. If the outward expression of the good, the bad, the ugly, the sublime are all mixed together, then what more is there? Having lived with ADHD most of my adult life, I have learned to discipline thoughts and actions in my work life for almost half a century. Now it’s a different time, and the challenge is not to accomplish discrete tasks but rather to let myself be without such careful filtering. In some sense it is an unholy mess, which might explain why the work I’ve done over this past decade varies so much and travels along a spectrum of disharmony and imperfection to serenity and peace. It’s later in my life, and there is much to express; I choose to do it without the pressure of rules. The things I strive to incorporate into my work is a bit of mystery, unpredictability, color, always glorious color, and a touch of light.“

    www.lauraradwell.com

  • Sculptor and printmaker Carolyn Webb has maintained her studio in Williamsburg since receiving her MFA in sculpture at UMASS in 1981. Previously she studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts where she was awarded a Scheidt Traveling Scholarship and a post-graduate fellowship in sculpture. 

     

    Other awards include a Massachusetts Cultural Council Grant for Sculpture, an A.R.T. Grant, a Fellowship Residency at the Scuola Internazionale di Grafica, Venice. Her work can be found in the permanent collections of the Pennsylvania Academy, the Hyde Collection, the New York Public Library and the University Museum of Contemporary Art at UMASS among others.

    Growth, renewal, and a fascination with processes that build and destroy form are the basis of her life’s work.

    “My original perception of the world through observation of incremental change is expressed in my work, which is often either built over long periods of time with layers of ink in the case of prints or slow carving or laminating techniques in built wooden pieces.  I regard the practices of sculpture and printmaking as intertwined and complementary, as both are material and process driven. I work in many different media. Each is employed for their distinct tonal resonance in service of the work I envision.”

    www.carolynwebb.net

Listen to their interview on WHMP Radio with host Lary Hotts HERE

September 2024

Different Lenses:

Exploring Northampton MA and local areas

September 4 - September 28

Opening Reception on Arts Night Out

Exhibiting our work as a group allows for two separate photographers to capture the vibe and atmosphere of the Northampton community in a dynamic way. With its diversity and urban and natural landscapes, our photography provides stories of people, structures, shapes, colors, light and shadow. We both strongly believe in photographs with very minimal editing and no AI. Images, especially with street photography, are moments captured in time that tell a story. The images will speak to the viewer as they exist in the actual moment of capture.

We are very excited to present our work and to continue to explore the many ways in which we can continue to tell the story of Northampton, its surrounding towns and the many diverse peoples, urban, and natural landscapes.

Thank you,

CC and J

  • Jesse Merrick (he/they) grew up in western Mass. and also spent a lot of time during his formative years in New York City with his Grandma. Jesse has been creating art since he was a little kid and is a photographer, filmmaker and art/technology teacher at a local public high school (Frontier Regional), where he teaches photo, video & other classes full-time. Aspects of J. Merrick’s formal training include Film School at Mass Art in Boston, Video Production and Film Studies at UMass Amherst and a M.Ed in Instructional Technology, from MCLA in North Adams, MA. Jesse comes from an artistic family (including a Croatian great-grandfather who was an influential sculptor) who always encouraged his interest in art.

    Currently, Jesse is most focused on photography work, with a special focus on continuing and expanding the traditions of black & white street photography. Famous street photographers such as Berenice Abbott, Gordon Parks, and Vivian Maier, among others, are influences on his photo work. An interest in documenting real-life moments without adding or subtracting anything with Photoshop is explored in J. Merrick”s photo work. Historic, retro, and vintage imagery that displays a timeless quality are also common themes in J. Merrick”s photography. Jesse Merrick lives in Florence, MA, and is thankful for family, friends, and a positive Western Mass. community.

    In the future, Jesse Merrick is interested in creating unique visuals for local businesses and photography related to anti-racism, LGBTQIA+/civil/human rights, and other historical projects. For more information related to buying photo prints, individual or group photography lessons, or collaborating on photo projects, please contact Jesse Merrick.

    www.jmerrickmedia.com

  • Carolina (she/her), of Dominican descent, was born and raised in Washington Heights, NYC. She currently lives in Northampton, MA, with her family. Carolina is truly self-taught, learning by doing and being in the moment with her camera. She explores digital and film photography through books, videos, and, of course, by getting out there and practicing the art of photography.

    Carolina feels that in her photography, she experiences a sense of connection and gratitude with her surroundings. In college, she was obsessed with classic films, abstract art, and graphic design.

    Artistic influences include artists such as Frida Kahlo, Georgia Okeefe, Salvador Dali, Ansel Adams, and many others.

    Carolina got her 1st camera in 2022. From then on, she has been happily capturing images that she feels create

    an emotional connection with the viewer.

    She enjoys street photography, landscape, abstract, and nature photography. Carolina's passion for creativity and her journey into photography is truly inspiring. It’s wonderful how she has developed her skills and followed her curiosity, leading her to capture images that resonate deeply with viewers. Her story and gratitude make her work even more special.

    @carolina_created

August 2024

emerging artist showcase

Five local emerging artists

august 2 - august 29

Opening Reception on Arts Night Out

Art has always gone hand in hand with community, from the first cave paintings to the Eastern Island Statues. Artists of every status represent the physical voice of their community at that time—and emerging artists are stepping stones into the realm of that expression. In this exhibit, the art of each individual artist is not sectioned off, but organized according to how each painting communicates with the other. If artists from different backgrounds can still find connection through different pieces, then we as a community can find connection to one another. Supporting art, and embracing emerging artists, is one of the many ways we can push back against toxic individualism.

-Forrest Graey

  • Debra Hoyle is an artist and writer from Western Massachusetts with a studio/gallery in the small hill town of Conway. Conway sits on the South River, about an hour east of the Berkshires. Currently she is exploring mixed media using collage, monoprints, and acrylics. Her inspirations come from the beauty of the natural world, a love of history, memoir, mark making, color, texture, and the movement of energy. Pieces often begin with an idea and a personal process which then lead into an unplanned, intuitive unfolding. Debra usually works in series, and formal elements such as design, composition, value, and color are always considered. Her many layered pieces invite the viewer to connect with a sense of mystery and discovery. Art is at the core of the way Debra perceives life. She is mainly self-taught and has studied with a number of artists both in person and online. She has also worked in oils, pastels, and watercolors. Some influences are the abstract expressionists and contemporary artists such as Louise Fletcher, Jane Davies, Judy Woods, and Nicholas Wilton. Debra has exhibited at the Hosmer Gallery in Northampton, MA (solo show), Blake and Co., Orleans, MA, The Southern Vermont Arts Center, Manchester, VT, A3 Gallery, Amherst, MA, Northampton Center for the Arts, Northampton, MA, and at libraries in her area. Debra has also had a healing arts practice for over 30 years, and has a degree in art history.

    @debhoyle.art.rockpaperscissors

  • Forrest Graey (she/they) is a hobby artist who enjoys writing and cycling in her spare time. As someone on the spectrum, when she paints she finds it’s easier to cultivate inspiration by giving herself over to hyper-fixations and seeing what inspiration comes from them. While she is not currently painting, she is creating another piece of art in the form of her debut novel, “Bloodwater”.

    You can follow her writing process on Instagram, @author.forrestgraey

  • Kari Giordano is a visual artist and educator working in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Her primary work is within the digital realm and she creates photographs and graphic design for commercial and personal use. Her current digital photography work, False Moons, comments on our search for social connection and aims to communicate our search for both individuality and group identities, and how we’re driven by instinct, experience, and collective consciousness.

    http://www.karigiordano.com

  • Rosetta Marantz Cohen has lived and painted in Northampton for 34 years. Her art celebrates the pleasures of everyday life in this community and the intimate world of her own painting studio–a converted garage behind her house. She finds humor and solace in very small things, and seeks to convey those feelings in her work.

    @rosettamarantz

  • Ruthie Baker is a photographer and mixed media artist working primarily with analog and alternative photographic processes. Her work combines photography, collage, poetry, and sculpture, exploring how analog photographic processes can be combined with other mediums to create something strange and new.

    Ruthie is interested in capturing the mundane experiences of daily life to examine themes of memory, tradition, self, and family. Her work centers on the emotional significance of modest objects and interpersonal relationships, as well as the fragility of human life.

    She received her Bachelor of Arts in Film and Media Studies from Emory University and is currently a final-year MFA Candidate at The University of Massachusetts - Amherst.

    https://ruthiebaker.art/

July 2024

Hold Me Close, I’m Re-membering How it Goes

Eli Liebman & Lynsey Robertson

July 5 - July 31

Opening Reception on Arts Night Out

The works of Hold Me Close spring from the desire to question an unthinkable and unknowable world and self. The presented work - a body of quilts, a collaborative “newspaper,” and a few ceramic sculptures - embraces a wide range of disparate parts into familiar and quotidian containers. The gentle fabric whispers, clay remembers gesture and gaze, and Nerve Meter gathers a chorus to tell differently the maladies and ecstasies of today. Visual motifs proliferate to play within and against given ways of being. These paths appear at once all too familiar while still strange, enticing yet insidiously alienating. Suppose it went a little differently.

  • Eli likes to question why we are conscripted to live such canalized lives. In an effort to breach these

    artificial banks, Eli spends time learning how to do things and then likes to learn how to do other things.

    Eli works in whichever media make sense for communicating a concept/emotion, yet with particular biases for the tactile ones often with utilitarian histories (namely clay, fabric, printmaking, drawing, and wood).

    elimack.weebly.com

  • Lynsey is an artist working in sculpture, print and sound to explore performance and ritual in the service of re-enchanting matter. They often work with the multiple in media such as cyanotype or clay, to practice devotional attention to matter and sculptural re-interpretation of myth. Lynsey lives and works in Los Angeles.

    lynseyjrobertson.com

June 2024

Run and Return/ רצוא ושׁוב

Jay Smith

MAY 31 - June 28

Opening Reception on Arts Night Out

רצוא ושׁוב (ratzo v’shov) is a Chasidic concept that emphasizes our dual desires and tendencies to “run” to the divine, to cleave to Gd and escape our earthly existence, and to “return” to our mortal bodies and material world, finding divinity where we are. As Rabbi Arthur Green describes it: “Opting for either world…can only lead to prolonging fragmentation. We see spiritual ebb and flow, moments of absence and moments of presence, as central to the human religious situation…can we step beyond conflict and see the thing as rhythm?” (After Itzik: Toward a Theology of Jewish Spirituality, 1971)

As a trans, American Jew living in a country and time where trans bodies are under threat, and where Jews are implicated and engaged in extreme violence, Jay Smith seeks to explore the pull towards and push from their tradition. Smith’s illustrations grapple with their relationship to Judaism, naming explicitly the comfort, healing, and wisdom that their tradition has gifted to them, while at the same time bearing witness to the tradition being twisted to justify death, exclusion, and alienation. They seek to reclaim their tradition from extremists and cultivate protective Jewish magic for their community: trans Jews in diaspora. Their work asks the questions: what does it mean to run to Gd when we are responsible for immense suffering, and what does it mean to return to our own bodies when they no longer feel safe?

  • Jay Smith (they/them) is an illustrator, clinician, and Judaism enthusiast. They have no formal arts education and credit their grandmother Sylvia with teaching them to paint at an early age. Their artwork reconstructs traditional Jewish ritual for a contemporary audience, and creates protective spells for trans bodies and spirits. They currently reside on Nipmuc/Pocomtuc land in so-called Florence, MA with their partner, Clare, and two cats, Gene and Charlie.

    www.mmmjaysmith.com/contact-wells

    @mmmjaysmith

May 2024

COALESCENCE

NORTHAMPTON HIGH SCHOOL EXHIBITION AND SENIOR SHOW

MAY 3 - MAY 29

Opening Reception on Arts Night Out

Come see Coalescence! The exhibit showcases the artwork of students enrolled in intermediate and advanced-level visual arts coursework at Northampton High School! All foundation classes will have work displayed in the school display cases for the month of May and installed by the students themselves.

A curated selection of visual art from art classes taught by Zoe Sasson and Louise Martindell PLUS Senior Honors Art Shows.

April 2024

Off the wall

curated by artist Melissa Stratton Pandina highlighting local muralists

March 30 - April 29

Opening Reception on Arts Night Out

We are living through a Mural renaissance. Between mural festivals, Municipal investment and private commissions drab spaces are now dripping with color. Murals are the place were fine art and street art combine. Fine artist and Graffiti artist are coming together to share skills, visual languages and create a vibrant art seen.

But what do these creative do during the cold months when outdoor painting is not an option…. They return to the studio. Off the wall is an exploration of how muralist create art in their “off time.” This collection includes graff work and abstract work, Realistic and stylized work. By comparing their mural work to their studio work, one can see more of the thought process behind the making of art. For while the technique differs, the mind behind it remains the same.

  • (she/her) is an award-winning artist (BFA from MassArt) whose work has been internationally published and sold. Growing up as an Army Brat exposed Melissa to many cultures and instilled a great love of listening to people's stories. This love shows in her work being dedicated to portraiture and bringing peoples’ stories to life. She has been featured in Professional Artist Magazine and had a piece hung in the Berkshire Museum of Art and Framingham Art Museum. Her work can also be seen in large-scale murals. The largest being murals in Fitchburg and Springfield. In her Mural work, she uses her traditional oil painting skills and translates them into house paint. She is passionate about creating murals WITH the community, so the community feels the art is theirs and that they had a hand in creating it. She has done public art pieces and murals across Massachusetts. She is a winner of the Saara Parker Painting Prize from Fitchburg Museum and has won 1st Place at Several Chalk Art Festivals and in the Boston 19th Amendment Poster contest. Oil is her primary medium, although she also works with egg tempera, Acrylic, and watercolor. She teaches non-credit painting at Holyoke Community College. When not painting, she can be found doing crafts with her small children and hiking with her dog.

    www.deshria.com

    @deshriastudio

  • (he/him Born Siphanoum) is a Lao American visual artist on an introspective journey to discover his authentic voice, blending graffiti, abstract expressionism, and portraiture in his work. LESN101 draws profound inspiration for his artwork from his personal and familial story marked by survival and trauma. It all began in 1976 when his mother fled Laos, seeking refuge in Thailand following the communist takeover and the Laotian Civil War. Joining the Laotian diaspora in the United States, LESN101 was born in 1979 in Nashville, TN, and spent his formative years in Columbus, OH, until domestic violence and abuse prompted his family's relocation to Springfield, MA, in 1989. Currently residing there, he translates his mother's resilience and his encounters with fear and trauma into transformative art, delving into themes of self-liberation, healing, and empowerment.

    LESN101's artistic achievements have garnered notable recognition, including the "Art’s Next Up 2023" award and the ValleyCreates 2023 Capacity Grant. Additionally, he holds certification from the Community Mural Institute. His work has been exhibited at the Piano Craft Gallery in Boston, Northampton Center for the Arts, and the FPAC Gallery in Boston. Furthermore, he contributed to the group exhibit "Rumble Above the Clouds" in NYC

    https://lesn101.com/

    @lesn101

  • (she/her) Originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico, is a dynamic presence in the art world. With a focused approach and a versatile style of artistic expression, Gabriela creates works that resonate with the stories of diverse lives, transcending barriers and fostering unity.

    With a degree from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a Masters from Atlantic University College, Gabriela's artistic style is influenced by a range of sources, including Moebius, Camilla d'Errico, Pop Surrealism, Science Fiction, and Comics. Her interest in storytelling brings depth to each creation, transporting observers to imaginative realms where emotions and intellect intertwine.

    Gabriela's journey has been marked by notable achievements, including the prestigious Arts Next Up Showcase 2023 Award, recognizing her exceptional artistry and dedication to nurturing local art and culture. At the heart of her community, she drives impactful projects throughout the city, using her talents to make art accessible to everyone.

    Among her accomplishments, Gabriela earned "The People's Choice" honor at The D'amour Museum of Fine Arts Community Gallery, a testament to her ability to create deep connections through her portraiture. She has also collaborated on murals alongside respected artists such as Gretta McClain and Pablo Kalaka.

    Looking forward, Gabriela's focus remains on enriching her community through her creative pursuits. With every stroke of her brush, she infuses life, emotion, and imagination into her canvases, fostering a lasting bond between viewers and her art. As she continues her artistic journey, she remains committed to bridging hearts and minds through her unwavering creativity.

    https://sootnsprinkles.com/the-ivory-bunny

    @The Ivory Bunny

  • (she/her) is an Easthampton, MA-based artist and community activator. She uses mesmerizing colors to capture fleeting moments of awe from life. Sharon’s work begins with a process of deep listening, both to herself and her community. She dives into the confluence of our innermost thoughts and the playful nuances of our shared experiences in a way that challenges societal norms and makes way for healing. Sharon’s work

    draws from the spontaneity and improvisation of abstract expressionism. Like a symphony of poetic phrases and words, curved

    forms, and bold colors, her work evokes a sense of ever-present movement and a joyful acceptance of change for the viewer. Sharon is the Artistic Director and Founder at the mural company, The Color Collaborative. Her murals can be found in cities around the country and internationally.

    https://www.sharonacolor.com/originals

    @sharona_color

  • (he/him) is a spray paint stencil artist and muralist, received his Bachelors of Fine Arts from Carnegie Mellon University in 2014, and currently resides in Springfield, MA. He is currently represented by Art for the Soul Gallery. Through his work, Ryan unearths and examines unsettling but important conversations about the stigma of mental illness, with the goal of normalizing the discussion and treatment of mental health in black communities.

    “To examine Black mental health is to examine the effect of events in both the past and present, socioeconomic factors, how patterns of suffering repeat themselves, and the burden of certain societal expectations.”

    Ryan utilizes repeated symbolism and autobiographical elements to address the reality and the reasons that people of color suffer in silence more than their white counterparts. Some of these works incorporate elements from photos taken during childhood, while others are derived from collages made during the artist’s therapy sessions.

    Ryan is a recipient of grants from the Community Foundation of Western MA, Mass Cultural Council, and Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation. He has exhibited in numerous western MA locations, Pittsburgh PA, and even abroad in Florence, Italy.

    https://ryanamurray.com/

    @rywandojones

  • (she/her b. 1977) is a multi-disciplinary artist working in painting, drawing, installation, murals, public art, and site-specific activations. Carlino exhibits internationally, including shows at the University Museum of Contemporary Art in Amherst, the 2019 Every Woman Biennial, Site Brooklyn Gallery, Garvey Simon Gallery, Alfa Gallery in Miami, the Grand Rapids ArtPrize, Pierogi Flat Files, and the Honorary America Artist for Ras Al Khaimah Art in the UAE. Carlino was a member on the team of artists that installed the 25 year Drawing Retrospective of Sol LeWitt’s Wall Drawings at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts in 2008. Her team installed Wall Drawing #38, Wall Drawing #142, and Wall Drawing #797. Carlino’s awards include Art on the Streets 2022 Grand Prize Award, the Prutting Award for Painting, Bromfield Solo Competition, Dehn Visiting Artist Fellowship, and a 2016 Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship in Drawing and Printmaking. Carlino has been painting murals since 2014 and has completed numerous mural commissions as well as public art projects for the City of Springfield, City of Colorado Springs, City of Northampton, Lower Eastside Business Improvement District, NYC Department of Transportation, Isenberg Projects in Boston, Turning Art, Grand Rapids ArtPrize, Marshalltown Iowa, Orange Virginia, the NYC Garment District Alliance and recently a commission for Google Headquarters in Cambridge, MA.

    www.kimcarlinoart.com

  • I’m a graffiti artist whose art reflects authentic imperfections. My name “SELF” is an acronym for Stay Elevated Live Free. I use aerosol in 95% of my art, whether it’s on a wall, a canvas, or something I’ve built. The simple sound of the spray paint spraying can be extremely therapeutic for me. Although I sometimes wish I could create knowing what I want the final outlook to be. Most times it’s based on a feeling and the end reveals itself to me. I also love words and writing to help convey life lessons I've learned that perhaps someone else could benefit from. I don't expect everyone to love my art, but I'm deeply thankful for those who resonate with my messaging, my art, and what I represent.

    shopselfinvest.com

    @self.413_

  • (she/her b. Boston, 1992) is an American visual artist who primarily paints and makes large-scale murals. Her work explores states of mindfulness, healing, and the divine feminine. Combining figurative symbols with abstracted forms, she creates metaphorical spaces that contemplate the spiritual and mysterious aspects of the world around us and our place within it. In 2016, Lena began painting in the streets while living in Santiago, Chile, and has since continued to paint in public spaces across the world. Her work ranges from ephemeral street paintings done in several hours to large-scale mural works. Her works are scattered across the globe on four continents; she has participated in numerous mural festivals in the US, Mexico, and India and has been an artist in residence with the Dripped on the Road traveling residency (2021, USA), La Sierra Foundation (2023, Colombia) and Watershed Studios (Ireland). In 2021 she constructed a large-scale solo exhibition of her paintings and installation in Project B Gallery (USA).

    www.lenamccarthyart.com

    @_lena_mac_

March 2024

Archive of Ambiguity

Boram Kim

March 2 - March 27

Opening Reception on Arts Night Out

Bo Kim excavates and re-examines photographic histories and museum archives of the past. By closely reinterpreting them through her research method, she rethinks the institutionalized meanings beyond the historical events of the past with an artistic perspective. Through the collection, analysis, and structural rearrangement of archives—based upon historical, natural scientific, and anthropological—sources, the artist aims to capture the moment of a new art form of her own. The specimens in the museum symbolize the institutional coldness of itemization, quantification, and the reduction of human beings to labels and numbers in hospitals, schools, and governments. The taxidermy in the museum participates in many dichotomous conversations: life and death, beauty and ugliness, categorization and uncategorizability. The tension between these dichotomies is like the tension that exists between Korean and Western culture. The friction between normativity is not only within the artist herself, but also in our society at large. Bo Kim realistically draws copies of photographs in the archives of museums using traditional materials in the artist's possession, and explores the elements of records that represent institutionalization—such as tags, strings, and descriptions. Kim points out and analyzes that the objective truth presented by objective historical documents can be quite ambiguous and distorted.

  • Bo Kim is an artist-researcher, and educator who is based in both Amherst, MA and Northern Virginia. She was born in Busan, South Korea and holds an MA in Art Therapy and Counseling from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), as well as an MFA in Oriental Painting from Hongik University in South Korea. In 2009, she completed her BFA in Paintings from Dongduk Women's University. Currently, Kim serves as an Instructor of Drawing 110 & 120 and is concurrently pursuing an MFA in Studio Arts at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the Department of Art.

    Kim's work has been featured in several national exhibitions, including those held at the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Washington, D.C., the Asian Arts & Culture Center at Towson University in Towson, MD, the Korean Cultural Center in New York, NY, the Sejong Center in Seoul, South Korea, and the CAFA Art Museum in Beijing, China. In addition, she has been an artist-in-residence at Ox-Bow in Saugatuck, MI, and is a recipient of The Studios at MASS MoCA fellowship, sponsored by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

    www.bobo2067.com

    @bokim_studio

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