2017 Fall – 2018 Spring Exhibit

Featuring Frank Poor

A Mythical American Vernacular Journey

It is with great pleasure we present the work of Frank Poor, entitled, From the Road.

From the Road invites us to take a meandering journey, to consider/reconsider places we have been, the amazing sights we have seen, and stories we have read. Frank Poor’s thoughtful, studied, and crafted works are deployed in an elegant mélange of materials. The basswood structure reinvigorates the vestiges of buildings we have seen. The photographic skins refresh our memories, which may refer to the days of Tom, Huck, and Becky (Adventures of Tom Sawyer). The southern roadways are home to Frank Poor, he has transformed memory and feeling of the vernacular architecture into objects of wonder. Through his most recent prints, which combine etching and chine-collé, he’s able to further investigate form, memory, and meaning.

Returning to a place of memory is a human/animal trait. Animals return to their places of birth to regenerate their kind. We return, perhaps, for love, memory, and other nostalgic wants. On our return, we want to reclaim, or re-write our histories, for our redemption. Perhaps, what seems to be most valuable is the pursuit of memory and meaning. Frank Poor is genuinely pursuing and mining his mythical American vernacular journey.

Catalog Available

Featuring Esther Solondz

Nature-world

It is with great pleasure we present the work of Esther Solondz, entitled, So Lightly Here.

Close your eyes, imagine yourself sitting in a meadow on a late, warm summer day, absorbing the rays of the sun – then you feel a feather-like brush across your cheek, then your forehead, then your arms, on up-turned palms – open your eyes and you are blinded by and covered under a storm of milkweed. We have crossed the threshold into the nature-world of Esther Solondz. Nature-world is at once ephemeral and resilient, it is light and dark, it is soft and hard, it owns sweet and pungent aromas. It is clear that Solondz’s discourse with the natural world is personal, intimate, and rooted in desire.

The work, which appears as sculptural and two-dimensional pieces, are of variable scale, and are shown somewhat like specimens or collections. The exhibition reflects the 19th-century Victorian practice to collect, categorize, and fetishize. The inherent beauty of the works presented – specimens in glass jars, tower forms presented on display tables, rust portraits of men and women from an era past, and the collaborative nature works hold fast to consciousness and memory. Solondz whispers aloud, to remind us to look with care, to see differently, and treasure our nature-world.

Catalog Available

Featuring Joe Chirchirillo, James Kitchen, Elizabeth Keithline, and Michael Yefko

The Department of Art & Design at Anna Maria College announces a new outdoor exhibition: Art in the Park, Worcester at Anna Maria College.

The exhibition features four sculptures on display from September 15, 2017 – May 13, 2018. The exhibiting artists hail from Vermont, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Their works are viewed in the following order when entering the Paxton, MA campus: Joe Chirchirillo, Spinning Wheel; James Kitchen, Stumbling Blocks; Elizabeth Keithline, Two Boats, One for You, One for Me; and Michael Yefko, Suburban Slip No. 3.

This collaborative effort between Art in the Park of Worcester and Anna Maria College introduces public art to the college campus. A spacious venue known for its natural beauty, the display becomes a highlight of the visual landscape. This biennial exhibit proposes to explore the diverse use materials and duplication of forms that build the individual work. Each sculpture has distinctive characteristics that lend to the seasonal calendar of Central Massachusetts: on snowy surfaces, in rusty fall colors, and throughout verdant spring, morning mist and lively sunshine mark the intervals and testament of their quotidian presence.

The Worcester Cultural Council, under the direction and leadership of Gloria Hall, began Art in the Park in 2008. Ms. Hall, currently the Executive Director of Art in the Park, with the Department of Art & Design at Anna Maria College, initiated this partnership to provide the campus and community with occasions to interact more intimately with the work, enriching daily life and deepening the beholders’ relationship to the art and surrounding space.

The public, students, and staff are invited to explore and enjoy these sculptures throughout the academic year. Join Anna Maria College as various programs, and sculpture walks celebrate this new partnership. Materials and information about the sculptures are available by visiting the Office of Admissions or the Art Center in Miriam Hall.

Featuring Dyan Gulovsen, Alice Lambert, Timmary Leary, Darrell Matsumoto, Joseph Ray, Sumiyo Toribe, Jason Travers, David Wackell, and Michael Yefko

Featuring Kristen Bruno, Rebecca Foti, Kathryn Rendock, Justin Senus, and Hannah Trudo

Featuring Daniel Jodrey, Shannon Latour, Matthew Mitera, Suzanne Pekar, and Michelle St. Denis