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The Valley Arts Newsletter - April 2, 2024

Arts and Entertainment

April 4, 2024


Featured Listings:

A Simple Circle

Artist: James Gehrt
Start Date: March 18, 2024
End Date: April 12, 2024
Reception Date: April 6, 11am-1pm
Location: Amy H. Carberry Fine Arts Gallery, Springfield Technical Community College (STCC)
Hours: Mon 10am-2pm, Tue 11am-4pm, Wed 10am-5pm, Thu 11am-3pm, Fri 10am-3pm
Address: 1 Armory Street, B28
City/Town: Springfield
Website: stcc.io/carberry

137 years ago, the small wooden box camera called Kodak No. 1 was invented by George Eastman. This historic 1888 invention marked the beginning of the democratization of image-making allowing anyone to capture 100 simple round photographs without understanding the intricacies of photochemistry. This exquisite photography exhibit juxtaposes vintage cameras and photographs from the late 1880s by unknown photographers with contemporary work created in 2020s by Leverett photographer James Gehrt.

Contact: Sondra Peron
[email protected]
413-695-3196

DEFINING SPACE

Artists: Karen Iglehart, Janet W. Winston
Start Date: April 4, 2024
End Date: April 27, 2024
Reception Date: Thursday, April 4, 5-7pm
Location: Gallery A3
Hours: Thur-Sun 2-7pm
Address: 28 Amity Street 1D
City/Town: Amherst
Website: gallerya3.com

DEFINING SPACE displays abstract paintings by Karen Iglehart and loosely interpreted New England landscapes by Janet W. Winston. The artists will discuss their working process, online, on Thursday, April 18, at 7:30pm. Image Left: Karen Iglehart, Allowing Space #5, oil on canvas; Right: Janet W. Winston, Hadley Fields, oil on canvas.

Contact: Karen Iglehart
[email protected]

Beginning Stained Glass at Dragonfly Stained Glass Studio

Date & Time: April 6, 10am-3:30pm
Fee: $125
Location: Dragonfly Stained Glass Studio
Address: Eastworks, 116 Pleasant Street, suite 229
City/Town: Easthampton
Website: DragonflyStainedGlassStudio.com

Create a beautiful sun catcher or ornaments to grace your home or give as gifts. We will cover the skills and techniques to build a unique piece of stained glass art. The perfect class for students with no experience or intermediate students with some experience who may want a refresher course. All levels welcome. Glass and supplies are included in the tuition and the use of all tools. Dates for same class: April 7, 20, and 21, and more.

Contact: Heather McLean
[email protected]
413-559-1010

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Condensed listings below. See full listings with images at: valleyartsnewsletter.com

Amherst Exhibits/Events

Pieces of Us

Artists: Pelham Elementary Students
Start Date: March 30, 2024
End Date: April 27, 2024
Location: The Mill District Local Art Gallery
Address: 91 Cowls Road
City/Town: Amherst
Website: generalstorelocalgallery.com

Artworks by Pelham Elementary School students, aged 5 to 12, exploring identity themes. Each piece reflects discussions on diversity and individuality, with students choosing to represent a single aspect of themselves. With full creative control, they used various mediums to craft their authentic expressions. Organized by Emily Stewart, the art teacher at Pelham Elementary. Students and their families are invited to an open house at the Mill District Local Art Gallery the weekend of April 6 & 7, 10am-3pm.

Contact: Shannon Borrell
[email protected]
413-835-0966

Keith Haring Pyramid Party

Date: Thursday, April 4, 4:30-6pm
Location: University Museum of Contemporary Art
Address: UMass Fine Arts Center / 151 Presidents Drive
City/Town: Amherst
Website: artlink.click/baa969

Join us for our pop-up party celebrating the beloved sculpture's new home in South College! Join us for music, Keith Haring-themed goodies, and some limited-edition stickers.

DEFINING SPACE

Artists: Karen Iglehart, Janet W. Winston
Start Date: April 4, 2024
End Date: April 27, 2024
Reception Date: Thursday, April 4, 5-7pm
Location: Gallery A3
Hours: Thur-Sun 2-7pm
Address: 28 Amity Street 1D
City/Town: Amherst
Website: gallerya3.com

DEFINING SPACE displays abstract paintings by Karen Iglehart and loosely interpreted New England landscapes by Janet W. Winston. The artists will discuss their working process, online, on Thursday, April 18, at 7:30pm. Image Left: Karen Iglehart, Allowing Space #5, oil on canvas; Right: Janet W. Winston, Hadley Fields, oil on canvas.

Contact: Karen Iglehart
[email protected]

Other islands originated in the ocean, but the island is also the origin, radical and absolute

Artist: nibia pastrana santiago
Date: April 3, 5-7pm
Location: Mead Art Museum
Address: 41 Quadrangle Drive
City/Town: Amherst
Website: amherst.edu/news/events/calendar/node/909376

A one-time, site-specific performance, inspired by the installation of Trópico es Político at the Mead. Due to the unique nature of the event, the audience will cycle through in 15-minute increments. Trained in dance and improvisation, writer/performer/artist nibia pastrana santiago develops "choreographic events" to experiment with time, fiction and notions of territory. In 2022, "Choreopolitics: Brendan Fernandes & nibia pastrana santiago" was presented at MASS MoCa. REGISTRATION REQUIRED.

Contact: Charlotte Murtishaw
[email protected]

FAINT/HIDDEN/SHROUDED: Contemplating Obscurity

Start Date: March 27, 2024
End Date: May 10, 2024
Location: University Museum of Contemporary Art
Hours: Tue-Fri 11am-4:30pm, Sat & Sun 12-4pm, first Thursdays until 8pm
Address: Randolph W. Bromery Center for the Arts, 151 Presidents Drive
City/Town: Amherst
Website: artlink.click/abd9c7

Annual Eva Fierst Graduate Curatorial Exhibition. Pulling work from the UMCA’s permanent collection, our extraordinary graduate curatorial fellows have assembled pieces from often overlooked artists such as Chakaia Booker, Elliott Erwitt, Ralph Gibson, Rashid Johnson, and Jefferson Pinder. Curated by UMass graduate students Ruthie Baker, Simone Cambridge, and Olivia Haynes. A talk during the opening event features independent curator and educator nico w. okoro in conversation with the curators.

Rendered from the Void; A Brief but Eternal Moment

Artists: Beau Guenther, Luka Eriksens
Start Date: March 10, 2024
End Date: May 14, 2024
Location: AIRSpace Gallery
Hours: Wed-Fri 12-6pm Sat 12-5pm
Address: 534 Main Street
City/Town: Amherst
Website: airspacegallery.net

At its core, our artistic practice is an act of total submission to the collective and individual subconscious. By subverting intellect and intent we create pieces which, upon completion, are baffling even to ourselves. This action tears us apart and bares all from the Sublime, Divine, and Beautiful, to the ignorant, Dark, and shameful. Each piece serves as a visual language for that which cannot be otherwise described, implying varying degrees of narrative, allegory, or personal theology.

Contact: Yaning Xing
[email protected]
413-835-5072

Black Art Matters Festival

Start Date: February 27, 2024
End Date: July 7, 2024
Location: Mead Art Museum
Address: Amherst College
City/Town: Amherst
Website: amherst.edu/museums/mead/events/BAM-Fest

The annual Black Art Matters Festival affirms and celebrates Black student artists and creators at Amherst College. Initiated by Zoe Akoto AC '21, the Festival has blossomed over the past seven years under the care of student artists and organizers. This year's visual arts exhibition will feature sculpture, ceramics, photography, painting, and more from current students.

Boundless (pt 2)

Start Date: February 27, 2024
End Date: July 7, 2024
Location: Mead Art Museum
Hours: Tue-Sun 9am-5pm, Thur 9am-10pm
Address: 41 Quadrangle Drive
City/Town: Amherst
Website: amherst.edu/museums/mead

The second Boundless installation (curated by Heid E. Erdrich) roots itself in the shared aesthetic, intellectual, & spiritual traditions that connect Indigenous peoples across the globe. Bringing together the works of artists and writers like Brian D. Tripp, Enrique Chagoya, Kohar Avakian, Maggie Napangardi Watson Warlukurlangu, and Kaya Agari, the exhibition establishes the abundance and resilience of the artists' respective cultural traditions across time and into the future.

ARHA Studio Faculty and Staff Exhibition

Artists: group show
Start Date: February 19, 2024
End Date: April 12, 2024
Location: Eli Marsh Gallery, Fayerweather Hall
Hours: Mon-Fri 10am-4pm, Sun 12-4pm
Address: Amherst College
City/Town: Amherst

The Department of Art and the History of Art Staff and Faculty at Amherst College are presenting their work in a gallery show at the Eli Marsh Gallery in Fayerweather Hall on campus. Free and open to the public!

BREACH: LOGBOOK 24 | STACCATO

Artist: Courtney M. Leonard
Start Date: February 22, 2024
End Date: May 10, 2024
Location: University Museum of Contemporary Art
Hours: Tue-Fri 11am-4:30pm, Sat & Sun 12-4pm, first Thursdays until 8pm
Address: Randolph W. Bromery Center for the Arts, 151 Presidents Drive
City/Town: Amherst
Website: artlink.click/543afd

Shinnecock artist Courtney M. Leonard explores marine biology, Indigenous food sovereignty, migration, and human environmental impact through visual logbooks. BREACH: LOGBOOK 24 | STACCATO, includes paintings, sculptures, and video based on the life and kinship ties of Staccato, a North Atlantic right whale killed by a ship strike in 1999, whose remains are housed in the UMass collections. On view: Feb 22 - May 10 & Sept 19 - Dec 6.

Contact: Lucy Norton
[email protected]

Like a Slow Walk with Trees

Artist: Alicia Grullón
Start Date: January 26, 2024
End Date: June 9, 2024
Location: Mead Art Museum
Hours: Tue-Sun 9am-5pm, Thur 9am-10pm
Address: 41 Quadrangle Drive
City/Town: Amherst
Website: amherst.edu/museums/mead/exhibitions/2024/like-a-slow-walk-with-trees-alicia-grullon

This exhibition presents new work by Alicia Grullón (including banners, photographs, + video) that explore ideas of land and labor. Reflecting research on recent protests in a range of industries such as mining, shipping, and entertainment, Grullón poetically knits together the direct language used to make demands with other references that layer and complicate associations while addressing current issues. Alicia Grullón is an artist and activist based in NYC.

Contact: Charlotte Murtishaw
[email protected]

Trópico es Político: Caribbean Art Under the Visitor Economy Regime

Start Date: January 26, 2024
End Date: May 5, 2024
Location: Mead Art Museum
Hours: Tue-Sun 9am-5pm, Thur 9am-10pm
Address: 41 Quadrangle Drive
City/Town: Amherst
Website: artlink.click/3b1cf4

Trópico es Político: Caribbean Art Under the Visitor Economy Regime considers notions of natural & fiscal paradise through the work of artists living in the Caribbean and its diaspora. Curated by Marina Reyes Franco, the show explores artists' responses to the "visitor economy regime" defined by the confluence of tourism + finance. Across mediums, artists center exchange, bodies + territories as part of a critical investigation of how the tropical is political. Img: Ricardo Cabret.

Contact: Charlotte Murtishaw
[email protected]

FABRICATIONS and DREAMS

Artist: Cynthia Guild
Start Date: February 14, 2024
End Date: May 3, 2024
Reception Date: April 5, 5-7pm
Location: Hampden Gallery
Hours: Mon-Tue & Thur-Fri 1-5pm, Wed 1-7pm
Address: Hampden Dining Commons, 131 Southwest Circle
City/Town: Amherst
Website: artlink.click/09bfc7

FABRICATIONS and DREAMS juxtaposes two series of oil paintings and drawings. In one body of work, Cynthia Guild presents industrial mechanical imagery representing logic. In the second body of work, she depicts dreamy, snowy alpine scenes of nature that represent escape and reverie. Guild will give an artist talk on Friday, April 5, 6-6:30pm, during Hampden Gallery's spring reception.

Contact: Lucy Norton
[email protected]
413-387-7466

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