The whimsical alabaster dancing sculptures that are synonymous with the Field Gallery in West Tisbury now have a firmly-cemented place in the town’s future.

The West Tisbury selectmen signed the final papers yesterday morning to buy 1.4 acres of the gallery and sculpture garden in the village center from Tim and Eileen Maley. The purchase price was $625,000; a sale agreement was signed last spring and approved by voters at the annual town meeting.

MONSTER SPECTACLE

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

Public spectacles like the annual monster shark tournament have much in common with the gladiator games conducted in the Coliseum during ancient Roman festivals. Large, adoring crowds immersed in a circuslike atmosphere amid unbridled commercial activity, awaiting the extravaganza of torture, execution and the eventual display of victims.

It could be a walk in the park, or rather the sculpture garden, for West Tisbury residents at the annual town meeting, after selectmen signed the final purchase and sale agreement for acquiring the Field Gallery on Wednesday.

“It needs to be understood,” selectman Cynthia Mitchell said, “the purchase and sale agreement is essentially keeping the deal in place so the town can vote on it. It’s not the selectmen agreeing to go forward without the support of the town.”

West Tisbury is one step closer to owning and preserving the Field Gallery and sculpture garden this week, after the community preservation committee agreed to fund a large part of its acquisition.

Sisters Marlee Brewster Brockmann and Patience Brewster will be feted with an artists’ reception for their new exhibition on Sunday, August 1 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Field Gallery in West Tisbury.

Chris Morse fell in love with West Tisbury’s Granary Gallery as a teenager, when he worked summers there through high school. Fifteen years ago, he purchased the gallery with his wife, Sheila. Five years after that, they bought the Field Gallery, also in West Tisbury. And another five or so years later, they purchased what is now the North Water Gallery in Edgartown.

Beginning next year, the Field Gallery will be under new management.
Chris Morse and his wife, Sheila, owners of the Granary Gallery, will
manage the 31-year-old gallery across the street from Alley's
General Store in the heart of West Tisbury.