Here are some of the exciting shows and events CAA Members are taking part in. If you have an exhibit, open studio, class, or call for art coming up – click here to fill out our form!
CAA MEMBER NEWS
CLARE ASCH
Round Dances and Convergences
At Galatea Fine Art
Coming March 5 – 28, 2021
First Friday Reception: March 5, 6-8pm
For more information: https://www.galateafineart.com
About |In this series of paintings, I continue to explore the interaction of gestural abstraction and geometry, with the circle being my main focus. I find the implied motion and fluidity of the circle fascinating. For me, circles bring to mind wheels. They are also associated with the universal symbol of wholeness as can be seen in mandalas and medicine wheels.
Part of my interest in circles stems from my desire to break free of the rectangular shape of the traditional canvas yet still hold on to the structure that a geometric shape provides. I associate rectangles with constructed spaces in opposition to natural forms. Though a circle is also a geometric shape, to my mind it appears closer to nature.
In my shaped canvases, I paint directly on the unprimed canvas with fluid, acrylic paint. The paint is poured and brushed, emphasizing the interactions of the materials and of my hand. This series of paintings includes large shaped canvases and watercolors on arches paper. The watercolors, like the shaped canvases explore the motif of the overlapping and intersecting circles only on a more intimate scale.
Transparency is an important element in both the watercolors and the acrylic shaped canvases. The transparency, together with the shaded and toned areas of color gives a sense of spatial depth that I find magical and dream-like. It is this feeling of being enveloped in a dream that I aim for in my abstract paintings”. – Clare Asch
Zhonghe (Elena) Li
Grant Recipient
From Cambridge Arts Council
About | The Cambridge artist Zhonghe (Elena) Li has received a grant of $4600. As part of the grant program of the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, this funding was awarded through the Cambridge Arts Council.
The grant will support the proposed project to tell stories of species extinction, the interconnectivity of various life forms, and the art of living together through multi-media presentation, a combination of traditional Chinese papercut, watercolor, poetry, video and digital animation.
Grants are awarded through a competitive process and receiving funds signified that the artist provides a high level of quality in its programs, community service, and administrative ability.
Li’s program will involve collaborations with Cambridge Public Library, Cambridge Community TV, Cambridge Art Association, Mount Auburn Cemetery, and Cambridge’s Buckingham Brown & Nichols School, and poet Chun Yu in California. The program will offer workshops to reach diverse groups to tell the stories together. An estimated 400-600 local individuals will be served.
The Cambridge Arts Council grant program is funded by the City of Cambridge and an allocation from the Mass Cultural Council. The mission of the Mass Cultural Council is to promote excellence, inclusion, education, and diversity in the arts, humanities and sciences to foster a rich cultural life for all Massachusetts residents and contributes to the vitality of our communities and economy. The not-for-profit cultural industry has a $2.56 billion economic impact in the state and generates $24.4 billion in federal, state and local tax revenues annually.
About the artist: Zhonghe (Elena) Li is a multi-media artist. The motivation behind her creativity has consistently been her love for nature’s diversity and her profound concern about the environment, species extinction and humanity’s future. Li is deeply influenced by the Taoist philosophy of “being one with nature” (天人合一) and hopes to promote the art of living together through her artwork.
Learn more at wildcraneblog.wordpress.com, Wildcrane on Vimeo, and “Wildcrane Art” on YouTube
ROBIN MACDONALD-FOLEY
Seeing Stone
At Galatea Fine Art
Coming March 5 – 28, 2021
First Friday Reception: March 5, 6-8pm
For more information: https://www.galateafineart.com
About | Seeing Stone is a journey of exploration represented as a body of work inspired by forms and shapes found in nature. Uniting stone and stone’s relationships within the natural environment is my focus. Pairing sculpture and photography, these stone carvings and images play upon spatial relationships, intending to draw the viewer in. This work is a personal narrative, depicting the power, calm, and permanence of stone.
In my recent work, visualizing places becomes part of my sculpture. A carving of a vessel takes me on an inward journey navigating oceans and eroded facades etched in lichen stories noting the passage of time. Studying stone as an object, thoughts are captured as photographic impressions of rocks against a blue sky. Bound together by fate, they stand on their own, each central to my theme.
My work is carved by hand in a steady rhythm of tool to stone, a challenging technique that enables me to bond with a piece over long periods of time. When its form emerges, history begins anew. Working with multiple pieces, I imagine how they connect in color and texture, allowing the placement of objects to redefine permanent qualities. Sometimes a polished finish brings the coloration of an alabaster carving to life, or a self-portrait becomes part of my setting. Sitting by the ocean, or sheltering in cave-like stone structures, my feet intuitively absorb Earth’s undulating destinations. I sit quietly sharing time and space with the stone.” – Robin MacDonald-Foley
PANDEMIC LENS
Pandemic Lens created by CAA Member, Steve Bennett features artwork by artists that express their reaction to these surreal times and their vision of what the days and years ahead might look like.
Featured CAA Members so far:
- Nilou Moochhala
https://pandemiclens.com/2020/09/16/the-virus-series/ - Susan Kottler (3 posts)
https://pandemiclens.com/author/skottler/ - Tanya Hayes Lee (4 posts)
https://pandemiclens.com/author/thlee/ - Anne Beinecke (2 posts)
https://pandemiclens.com/author/abeinecke/ - Nancy Crasco
https://pandemiclens.com/2020/08/17/reimaged/ - Steve Edson (3 posts)
https://pandemiclens.com/author/sedson/ - Jaina Cipriano
https://pandemiclens.com/2020/09/25/empty-spaces/ - Susan Seifer
https://pandemiclens.com/2020/10/02/shelters/ - Kathryn Geismar
https://pandemiclens.com/2020/10/19/socially-distanced-painting/ - C. J. Lori (5 posts)
https://pandemiclens.com/author/cjlori/ - Adriana Prat (3 posts)
https://pandemiclens.com/author/aprat/ - Jim Kociuba
https://pandemiclens.com/2020/10/27/new-normal/ - Kim Triedman
https://pandemiclens.com/2021/01/21/life-on-the-inside/
EXTERNAL OPPORTUNITIES & NEWS
These may be opportunities from outside organizations. Please look at the information links to see who to contact.
MASS CULTURAL COUNCIL’S AVAILABLE GRANTS:
Festivals Program provides $500 grants to help festival programmers meet the needs of producing, promoting, and developing audiences. Application opens: Jan 27. Deadline: Mar. 15.
Projects grants provide either $1,000 or $2,500 to support a cultural organization’s specific project. Deadline: Mar. 2.
The U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Shuttered Venue Operators Grant offers emergency assistance for eligible venues affected by the COVID pandemic.
Equity4Cambridge! Podcast
Podcast
Listen here: https://anchor.fm/jackie-jones10
Read more here: https://equity4cambridge.squarespace.com
Equity4Cambridge is a space to feature diverse voices in Cambridge, Massachusetts and beyond to dismantle racism and promote equity.
Boston LGBTQIA+ Artist Alliance
Call For Art & Monthly Portfolio Reviews
Read more about the call for art, here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1s_JIb_36UTxObrVDk422qQziCkkoS2yr8sGs11NT9us/viewform?edit_requested=true
Read more about the Portfolio Reviews, here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1RgTzh42m-Mku8NVzeOPHTPFVN9vbIzTLX4mj6gK8Bzw/viewform?edit_requested=true
CALL FOR ART: Gallery 263 – FLORA
Call For Art
Submission Deadline: April 22 at 11:59 PM
Exhibition Dates: May 20 – June 19, 2021
More information: https://www.gallery263.com/artist-opportunities/flora/
The botanical world is woven into the realms of art and science, providing materials for artmaking, a muse for inspiration, a reminder of our mortality, evidence of a complicated history—including colonization, and, perhaps even a way to decenter our human perspective. Beyond the simple beauty of plants lives contemporary solutions for sustenance and global sustainability. Gardening, foraging, and spending time outdoors can serve as solitary acts of escapism and also foster connections to both the bounty and precariousness of the plant world. Gallery 263 invites artists based in the United States to submit artwork that evokes the wonder of plants or questions our preconceived notions. The exhibition is juried by artist Mark Dion.
ARTISANSXRESIDENCY
Residency
More information: https://artisansasylum.com/artisansxresidency-begins/
CALL FOR ART: Fuller Craft
Peacework 2020: Racial Justice Through Protest and Handwork
Deadline: March 1, 2021
More information: https://fullercraft.org/exhibitions/proposals/open-call-artists/?fbclid=IwAR23bH0zvDuCAAY_zdu34W43kqpXs4zs9-t2GAin5__bDOeDOvq1X7xblVc