PAPER: a Preview

The gallery was a pretty busy place last weekend, the first weekend First Anniversary: PAPER was on exhibit. One of  those visitors was Jim Welu, our juror, who stopped by to see 'what we'd done with the place', ie. to see how we'd curated the show. He selected roughly one quarter of the nearly 200 pieces that were submitted, and the challenge was to create one cohesive exhibit from a really disparate collection of work. He was delighted to see what had come from the chaos of what he had seen when he had come to jury the show.

 Exhibiting artist Roy Perkinson was manning the gallery on Saturday, when Jim dropped in. 

According to Roy,  Welu thought the show looked very good. "He really enjoyed himself, and made at least 3 attentive circuits looking quietly and with evident pleasure, looking leisurely at everything. He just was thrilled to see the way everything was displayed in such an interesting way. 

Lynne Damianos, Palm Leaf, photograph

Timothy Wilson, Portrait of Packing Paper, photograph

He very much liked the hanging of Lynne Damianos' "Palm Leaf" photograph beside the one of the end view of sheaves of paper, for example. Welu was also impressed with the range of inventiveness and skill in the works around the room, and especially amazed that sculptural objects of such substance could have been made from paper, among other materials."

J. Utting Schutter, Twining Flask, detail

"He also went to great lengths to remain unbiased", continued Roy."He enjoyed telling me of his anxiety over trying to make his judgments without identifying the artist; it was important to him NOT to see who had done what." Some of the names were familiar, like that of Worcester artist Susan Swinand, but he was surprised by other artists whose names and work he recognized only after the fact.

Susan Swinand, Falling Moon, watercolor

As Roy told us later,"He was a terrific guy! We had the nicest time talking about art, painting, museums (with all their characters and foibles), and so much more. I had heard so much about him from many of my friends, and it was all true."

The four pieces pictured here are just a taste of the eclectic yet cohesive, diverse yet complementary, collection of work on exhibit. 

We invite you to join us at the Reception, 

Saturday January 21st, from 5-7 pm, 

and see for yourself!

Many voices get us heard (and Seen!)

One of the most exciting things about curating a group show like First Anniversary: PAPER, is seeing the way the individual pieces, each strong in its own right, contributes to the whole, inevitably making the show somehow greater than the sum of its parts.

First Anniversary: PAPER

The quality and beauty of the work should speak for itself, and once you're in the gallery, it does. But how to get more visitors into the gallery to see for themselves what we have the privilege of seeing every day?
These days everyone is constantly bombarded with information- see this, buy that. Our blinkers are up, most of the time, simply to keep from being overloaded. There are ways to get past the 'noise filters'. One of the best ways is by personal communication. It's critical for each artist who exhibits his/her work to tell their family, friends, and fans. They are our cheerleaders. Tell them to pass the word onto their friends, and grow the web of contacts.

Another way, conversely, is to add MORE noise. The Harvard Business School Newsletter recently published an article called 'It's Not Nagging: Why Persistent, Redundant Communication Works'. The basic premise is that repetition penetrates the firewall of information overload, and gets attention to our message. Hearing a similar message from multiple sources (or multiple platforms- print media, e-newsletters, social media, word of mouth) makes that message stand out, and prompts us to take action- in this case, to come see the show!


The gallery takes its responsibility for generating traffic to this and all our shows very seriously. Postcards are printed and widely distributed; email blasts are sent regularly to our large and growing list. Press releases are sent to all local and regional publications. Personal invitations are sent out. We use facebook and tweet often. 


In this era of hyper-local news, however, some news media will only post news that is directly relevant to their community. For example, news about a gallery in Framingham may not be featured in Natick, or Sudbury. Unless, of course, the artist from that town contacts them directly.


Core Artist member and media-savvy artist Roy Perkinson prepared and sent a press release of his own to the local media outlets in his community, in addition to the one sent by the gallery. This is not duplication, or even addition, of efforts- it's multiplication. His press release has a good chance of being noticed because he's a town resident. Our press release will add a recognition factor, and reinforce his. The article that is written will be seen by readers who may also see the same information elsewhere. And so on.


An easy place for every artist to start promoting themselves online is the Patch, hyper-local e-news blasts in many communities in Massachusetts and all over the US. It's very easy to submit a news tip or post an event. 


If you have any suggestions or ideas on ways to spread the word, please share them with us. We think the gallery has a lot to offer, and we don't want to keep it a secret!


Oh yeah, and SHARE THIS BLOG!