Kelly Murphy, "The Alchemist"

Montserrat illustration faculty member and author Kelly Murphy (Fiona’s Luck) will have her work included in a prestigious exhibition at the Brush Gallery, 256 Market St., Lowell, which will feature the work of several Caldecott Medal winners. The Caldecott Award is the highest award achievable in children’s book illustration. The exhibition will be on display Sept. 19 to Oct. 24. Other artists in the exhibition include David Macauley, (Cathedral, The Way Things Work), Christopher Bing (Casey at the Bat, Lincoln Shot), Matt Tavares (Zachary’s Ball), Chris Van Allsburg (The Polar Express, Jumanji), David Wiesner (Tuesday, The Three Pigs, Flotsam), and an opening reception will be held Saturday, Oct. 2 from 12-2 pm, including a 1-4 p.m. meet the authors session in which some of the illustrators will be on hand to sign copies of their books. Admission is free.

Kelly Murphy is an award-winning illustrator and animator working predominantly with traditional and mixed media. A graduate of Rhode Island School of Design, Kelly has been actively freelancing across the various fields of editorial illustration, picture books and poster illustration as well as character design for both the film and toy industry. An accomplished children’s book author and illustrator, Kelly’s books have been published by America’s leading publishing houses and her tenth children’s book was released in Fall 2009

Kelly’s work has been featured in curated shows, gallery exhibitions and international magazines specializing in illustration. She has been a member of the illustration faculty at Montserrat College of Art since 2002, Massachusetts College of Art and Design since Fall 2008 and Rhode Island School of Design since Spring of 2009.

Gallery hours are Tuesday-Saturday., 11 am – 4 pm, Sunday noon-4 pm. www.thebrush.org

Galleries usually show finished products, but you can watch the artist create her installation through Sept. 3 at “Subtle: An Intervention by Alison Owen.’’ By focusing on everyday stuff including dust and scraps, Owen brings our attention to ordinary objects we look at but don’t really see (we could supply the artist with a lifetime of material). The exhibit is presented by Montserrat College of Art. Today from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. (through Sept. 25; reception Sept. 8 from 6-8 p.m.; artist talk Sept. 8 at 11:30 a.m. at 22 Essex St., Beverly). Free. 301 Gallery, 301 Cabot St., Beverly. 978-867-9623. www.montserrat.edu/galleries

© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.

Diane Ayott, "Floater", acrylic on panel, 12 x 12 in., 2008

Montserrat College of Art Professor Diane Ayott is one of four artists in the exhibit “Pattern and Repetition,” at the Simmons College Trustman Art Gallery, fourth floor, Main College Building, 300 The Fenway, in Boston, Sept. 1-30. The other artists are Kristina Bell DiTullo, Candy Nartonis, and Sarah Sutro.

A reception with the artists will be held Tuesday, September 7, from 5:00-6:30 p.m. The exhibit and reception are free and open to the public.

Curated by Trustman Gallery Director Michele Cohen, the exhibition brings together the work of four artists, who despite stylistic and conceptual differences, all intuitively employ pattern and repetition as a formal device. Using a variety of techniques and materials that range from painted wood panels to collaged Band-Aids these artists share a fascination with structure derived from repetitive shapes and color: the whole is the sum of its parts. Each artist generates myriad visual solutions using a limited palette of color and form to test their ingenuity and delight the viewer with subtle variations of texture, pattern, and color. As Cohen observed, the exhibition is fundamentally about “careful looking.”

"Table", mixed media collage, 24” x 18”, 2010

Professor Tim Harney has an exhibit of his collages and paintings from his series “The View from Andrew’s Room” on display at the George Marshall Store Gallery, through Oct. 3. The gallery is located at 140 Lindsay Rd., York, Maine. Gallery hours are Wednesday-Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm and Sunday, 1-5 pm.

See www.georgemarshallstoregallery.com.

Season for living and color
Works show off prisms where nature, art meet

By Cate McQuaid
Globe Correspondent / July 28, 2010

Summer gathering
Group shows are a staple in summertime. A light-hearted one at Boston Sculptors Gallery, “On/Of/Like/About Paper,’’ offers artists who usually work in three dimensions an opportunity to delve into paper and all its qualities: flatness, translucence, texture, pulpiness, ability to fold and take up space.

Leslie Wilcox’s wonderful lineup of 2-foot-tall sculptures made of heavyweight paper, each painted a buzzing tone, reminded me of deciding whom to talk to at a party: the carefully pleated one, the audaciously twisted one, the one that appears on the verge of toppling over? (Maybe not the last.)

Another party is evoked in Mary Sherman’s “At Heart, Spike Jones,’’ a Rube Goldberg-type contraption made of boxes suspended at different heights. Push a big blue button and a jaunty Jones tune plays. In one box, a turntable spins a cocktail glass; in another, a splatter painting rotates to a blur. Text encourages visitors to take a paper coaster with them and pass it on, sharing the art, sharing the party.

Hannah Verlin’s “Soak’’ installation looks like a ritual site. Wax bowls hang over a sheet of salt-covered paper. Ink in each bowl eats through the bottom and begins to drip out, splattering the paper and getting absorbed by the salt. The piece is all pristine white except for the ink, and beautifully conveys erosion and time passing. Caroline Bagenal has elegantly pieced together concentric paper circles in the simple “Cut Tree Rings.’’ Julia Shepley’s drawings in thread, shadow, and ink sandwiched between arcs of glass and mylar pull you in with delicate intimacy.

M–F 10–4:30; Closed September 6

Michele Cohen, Director. Images on front, clockwise from top left (all are details): Diane Ayott, Floater, acrylic on panel, 12 x 12 in., 2008; Sarah Sutro, Molecular Music #6, natural color on paper, 31 x 22 in., 2009; Candy Nartonis, Repeat Performance, plaster, pigment, wax on panels, size variable, 2010; Kristina Bell DiTullo, Bandages, Pattern 1: CVS, sheer adhesive bandages on paper , 37 x 29 ¡/TM in., 2008

From the left: "Cardinal, Drake" carved in basswood and painted in acrylics. "Woodcock" carved in basswood and painted in acrylics.

Carving Expert Demonstrates

Larry Scanlon of Wenham, renowned bird carver, will be demonstrating his step-by-step techniques for carving, detailing, and final painting of his signature shore bird decoys and song birds at Gallery Della-Piana on Wednesday, July 21 from 6-8 PM.  There will be time for Q&A after the demonstration.  There will be refreshments and a door prize! FREE and open to the public. The gallery is located at 152-R Main St on Route 1-A in Wenham. Call for more info at (978) 468-1944 or visit our blog at gallerydellapiana@blogspot.com

The Gallery Della-Piana is owned and curated by Illustration faculty member Elissa Della-Piana.

Amy Ruiter Adamowicz '02

Artist Reception with alumna
Amy Ruiter Adamowicz ’02

Date:
Thursday, July 29, 2010

Time:
5:00pm – 7:00pm

Location:
89 South Street Suite 101
Boston MA 02111

The Presenter Travel Fund provides monetary assistance to arts programmers or curatorial staff in New England so that they may investigate new or unfamiliar artists or ensembles.

Applicants may apply for funding to help cover the expense of attending festivals, showcases, conferences, or other cultural events where they can see artistic work that they may present in their own community. NEFA encourages applicants to seek out opportunities where multiple cultural events are taking place, so that they may experience as many performances and genres as possible.

The goals of Presenter Travel Fund are to…

• Broaden the experience and knowledge of New England arts programmers
• Increase the diversity of artists presented in the region

NEFA has been a significant cultural force since 1976, when it was created as one of six regional arts agencies nationwide, with funding through the National Endowment for the Arts and New England state arts agencies. Today’s NEFA has evolved considerably from the original regional model; as a 501(c)(3) public charity with additional funding from corporations, foundations, and individuals, NEFA operates with an annual budget of $6 million to develop and manage arts initiatives on local, regional, national and international levels.

NEFA’s mission is to creatively support the movement of people, ideas, and resources in the arts within New England and beyond, make vital connections between artists and communities, and build the strength, knowledge, and leadership of the region’s creative sector. Each program and project that is brought to life at NEFA is created with the underlying goal of building a stronger and more dynamic infrastructure for the arts.  Through research, documentation, and evaluation, NEFA works to demonstrate the economic impact of the arts, and to enhance public understanding of how the arts contribute to the vitality of communities.

As a grantmaker, program initiator, developer of resources, and builder of creative partnerships among artists, arts organizations and funders, NEFA celebrates New England and its characteristic values while playing a national role by distributing model programs, supporting international cultural exchange, and advocating access to the arts for everyone.