To be an art lover on Martha’s Vineyard during Memorial Day weekend is to be awash in color, hue, style and substance. Take a stroll almost anywhere on the Island and the sounds of art appreciation, not to mention wine and snacks, will lure you in for a bounty of riches. But why take a chance on missing out on any one artist? Check out the list below and start your motor running.
At first you can’t tell what the paintings are. Then you notice the gruesome red spot on one, the shape of a head on the second, the bodily form lying there on the third; three paintings playing with your perception of a man who has been shot in the head.
The artist is Walker Roman, 21, who is one of four featured artists at Shephard Fine ArtSpace’s show that opened last Saturday.
Fifteen artists for fifteen years. That’s what Featherstone Center for the Arts in Oak Bluffs is planning this Spring. No word yet on whether each artist will have to tackle a certain year. And how would you represent 1997, for example, anyway? Clinton started his second term, scientists cloned Dolly the sheep, Princess Diana died in a car crash trying to evade paparazzi, the possibilities are endless.
The Martha’s Vineyard Arts and Culture Collaborative is beginning a census in order to create an inventory of those involved in arts and culture on the Island. At the same time the collaborative is prospecting for ideas about what initiatives could offer the greatest benefit to the arts community of the Island.
Getting counted doesn’t hurt at all, either. Merely fill out a survey online at marthasvineyardarts.org.
The West Tisbury Public Library is hosting an opening reception for artist Debby Rosenthal on Sunday, April 3, at 3 p.m. Ms. Rosenthal’s work will continue to hang in the library for the month of April.
The exhibit is entitled Art and Nature and features Ms. Rosenthal’s work with pastels. She focuses on vibrant colors to bring alive her landscapes and other aspects of nature.
When discussing her art, Patricia Carlet speaks clearly about what she intends.
“My art is created to evoke smiles and encourage laughter. If it captures the pleasure and irony of the everyday for the viewer, then I feel that I have succeeded as an artist.”
As cabin fever sets in on the Island, and here comes February, Ms. Carlet’s art sounds like just the antidote for all those gray, wintry days.
Art in the Stacks presents an exhibit at the Vineyard Haven Public Library of acrylic paintings by Joan Walsh. The exhibit will be on display during the month of April.
Ms. Walsh was born in Ireland where she attended the National College of Art and Design in Dublin. Her work was exhibited in the Peoples Art Exhibition in Dublin and she participated in group shows in the Bank of Ireland Exhibition Center.
Chilmark Chocolates is open again just in time for Valentine’s Day. On your way to pick up sweets for your sweet, stop by the Chilmark outpost of Sovereign Bank to check out an art exhibit featuring work by Lisa Vanderhoop.
The wizard behind the Seadogs calendar, Ms. Vanderhoop will be showing and selling her work.
The major theme of the exhibit is Valentine’s cards - from a canine perspective, of course. Calendars will also be for sale at a discount.
March Madness is not confined to college basketball. Featherstone Gallery in Oak Bluffs is dedicating its month of madness to the arts. In particular, the art of Island students.
The series kicks off on Sunday, March 6 with a reception for Tova Katzman, a senior at the high school. The reception is from 4 to 6 p.m. and will feature Miss Katzman’s photography including digital, darkroom and video projects. There will also be pieces on display of work she did at the Art Institute of Chicago last summer.
The art of Marshall Pratt and Inas Al-soqi is now on display at the Vineyard Haven Public Library. The exhibit runs through April 1.
Mr. Pratt’s describes his photography as being about people, in particular the sort of in-between moments in everyone’s lives that may not make the headlines of one’s year but actually define one’s character indelibly.
“I capture these moments, magnify them and recontextualize them in order to evoke a feeling of ambient familiarity with the viewer,” says Mr. Pratt.
