Quilts are tangible records of American life, a tactile method of storytelling. Anna Von Mertens’ bold conceptual quilts tell more than stories: they’re hand-dyed, hand-stitched reflections on existential questions about time and space. “Time plays a key role in my work,” she says. “I’m drawn to existential or time-based scientific data. Looking, observing, quantifying and naming—it’s not dissimilar to the artistic process of looking and seeing.”

Originally a printmaker, Von Mertens, who lives and works in Peterborough, New Hampshire, received a bachelor’s degree from Brown University. She stitched her first quilt in college and was transformed. “I just fell in love with the medium,” she says. “There are all these associations with quilts and if you take an idea, then translate it through quilting, you see things in a different way.” Von Mertens explored her passion in the textile department at the California College of the Arts, receiving a master’s degree in fine art.

Marriage and family eventually brought her back to Peterborough and the east coast. She explored the dichotomy between her east coast roots and west coast sensibilities in an early quilt series called North, South, East, West, depicting each region as energy patterns; the east coast was portrayed as a black hole. “I saw the east coast as an introverted landscape and the west coast as extroverted,“ she says, “but it wasn’t meant to be a definitive statement.”

Jupiter Rising, January 7, 1610, Padua, Italy, 2008, hand-stitched, hand-dyed cotton, 54 x 100 in. Photo courtesy of the artist and Elizabeth Leach Gallery; photo by Don Tuttle.

Her studio, in a former textile mill in Harrisville, New Hampshire, helps create a sense of place. “It’s a wonderful place to work and the history feels very present,“ she says. “I’m in a section where the textile looms were.”

Von Mertens uses scientific phenomena to interpret events, thorougly researching and immersing herself in a subject before, and while, creating her work. She designs her patterns on a computer, then uses a projector to transfer the patterns to hand-dyed fabric, outlining them in chalk; then she stitches the outlines. Her favorite body of work mapped stars above violent historic events in U.S. history, such as September 11, 2001 and the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War. “It links these questions of time and our place and perspective to it,” she says. “I sited the viewer at the act of violence in a way you’re removed from it but in the moment.”

Bacchus’ aura, after Caravaggio, 2009, hand-dyed, hand-stitched cotton, 39 3/4 x 33 in. Photo courtesy of the artist and Elizabeth Leach Gallery. Don Tuttle photo

Her next project is inspired by her daughter’s fascination with phone emojis. “I’m looking at emojis and how they’ve become a language we’re making together,” she says. “My daughter thinks they’re amazing. It’s like a visual art language.”

Von Mertens’ work is in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the RISD Museum; and the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery, among others. Upcoming shows include Shape/View, the Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, Oregon, September 6-30, 2017; and Another Time, Handwerker Gallery at Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York, November 1-December 17, 2017.

Anna Von Mertens–Artist
Peterborough, New Hampshire
Website

Top image: The Duke and Duchess of Urbino’s auras, after Piero della Francesca, 2009, hand-dyed, hand-stitched cotton, 18 x 13 in. (each). Photo courtesy of the artist and Elizabeth Leach Gallery; photo credit Don Tuttle.

The post A Stitch in Time appeared first on Take Magazine.

Don’t touch

What is it: “Thorny Bowl.” Bronze bowl with a base of porcupine quills. 5 in. wide, 3 in. tall. Price: $395.

Who makes it: Joy Raskin, Concord, New Hampshire. “I’m fascinated by porcupines,” says Raskin, “and their quills are quite challenging. Making the porcupine bowl was a different step for me. The longer quills add drama, which is what I was going for.”

Why we love it: The play between the lustrous, new-penny glow of the copper bowl and the organic wreath of spikes it’s nestled in. Use it to present something with the same unexpected dichotomy, like cayenne chocolates or fleur de sel caramels.

Metro Pendant. Photo courtesy of Vermont Modern

Hang it up

What is it: Metro pendant. Adjustable from 37.5 to 42.4 in. long. Available in several finishes. Price: $1,050.

Who makes it: Vermont Modern, Castleton, Vermont. “It delivers a design impact that doesn’t overpower a space,” says Sean Ruck of Hubbardton Forge, the company behind the VM lighting line. “Depending on how the tubes of the pendant are adjusted, it’s possible to have a very visually intriguing piece that still allows for open lines of sight within a space.”

Why we love it: The chic, urban styling and mass-transit-map inspiration created in the land of green mountains and covered bridges. The ability to change up the look with a twist here, a turn there, or a different bulb style assuages our design commitment issues.

Schon DSGN Pens. Photo by John Polak

Write tastefully

What is it: Schon DSGN Pens, Classic Collection. 4 in. long when closed, 5.75 in. long with cap posted on the back. Price: $58–$178.

Who makes it: Ian Schon of Schon DSGN, Boston, Massachusetts. “Materials like leather wear in, rather than out,” says Schon. “I think the raw metals used in these pens have a similar effect of wearing in, making them reflect the amount of use and care that one would have for an object that travels with you all the time.”

Why we love it: A sleek, modern addition to our bordering-on-obsessive collection of beautiful writing supplies. The varying weights of the metals—from 1 oz. for aluminum to 3.3 oz. for bronze—create different writing experiences for the user.

Joy Raskin – Silversmith
Concord, New Hampshire
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Vermont Modern – Lighting
Castleton, Vermont
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Schon DSGN – Pen Makers
Boston, Massachusetts
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Top Image: Thorny Bowl by Joy Raskin | Photo by John Polak

The post Take It Home: Sleek, Spiny, Shiny appeared first on Take Magazine.

While painting a self-portrait as both a monk and a nun in the Middle Ages, Boston-area queer artist Ria Brodell got to thinking, “What would I have done if I had been born in a different era? What did people do? How did they get by?”

That’s how the project Butch Heroes was born. Painted in the style of Catholic holy cards, Butch Heroes tells the true stories of people assigned female at birth who rejected traditional gender roles and—in many cases—assumed a male identity. There’s D. Catalina “Antonio” de Erauso (1592–1650), a military captain and devout Catholic who got permission from the pope to dress as a man; Biawacheeitche or Woman Chief (1800–1854), an adept hunter and warrior known for her bravery; and Jeanne or Jean Bonnet (1849–1876), who was arrested multiple times for wearing men’s clothing and led a shoplifting gang of ex-prostitutes.

Katherina Hetzeldorfer (c. 1477), who was convicted of passing as a man (including the use of a phallic “instrument”) and sentenced to drown. By Ria Brodell

Brodell spent countless days combing the queer aisles of libraries, learning to search primary sources for archaic terms such as “female husbands.” Just like the stories found on holy cards, the histories that accompany each image can be funny, sad, grotesque, or inspiring.

Though the first 25 heroes have been immortalized in a book, Brodell continues to search for more—now investigating stories from underrepresented parts of the world, such as the Middle East, China, and India. “I want to find people from these regions that are difficult,” explains Brodell, “and I’m still really excited by all these stories. Each story is new, each process is new—so it keeps you going.”

Ria Brodell – artist
Boston, MA
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Top images by Ria Brodell; courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, from the Davis Museum at Wellesley College permanent collection
Right: Clara aka “Big Ben” c. 1926 United States | gouache on paper, 11 x 7 inches, 2014
Left: Captain Wright c. 1834 England | gouache on paper, 11 x 7 inches, 2016

The post Quick Takes: Rebel Angels appeared first on Take Magazine.

The idea for Mobile Incubator, Lucas Spivey’s winning submission for the Public Art Residency on the Boston Center for the Arts Plaza, came as he was traveling to different regions of the U.S. for consulting projects. “I manage the Services Invisible network of over 30 consultants, and I connect entrepreneurs with these folks to scale their business,” says Spivey.

At first glance, Spivey’s Mobile Incubator is a vintage camper turned mobile office. In reality, it has a lot of facets. “It’s a public artwork, podcast studio, consultation office, and selfie destination,” Spivey says. “The point is to get arts and business together in a fun way, in whatever place that makes sense.” The residency in Boston goes through October 21st.

The story of Mobile Incubator begins in The Dalles, Oregon, where Spivey purchased the 1957 camper, covered in bullet holes and filled with yellow jacket nests. “The only original pieces are the aluminum skin, the windows and trim, the steel chassis, and the license plate light,” says Spivey. “I purposely picked a tear-down because I didn’t want to ruin a perfectly good interior when I put in the office.”

The walls are a 1,000-piece mosaic of reclaimed wood that has been glued and nailed together, stained, poly-ed and waxed. Spivey also installed a 200-watt solar system on the roof, a full kitchen, satellite internet, and podcasting, printing, and teleconferencing equipment. He purposefully avoided putting in a bathroom or sleeping quarters to maintain the space’s “get it done” atmosphere.

With this public art residency the BCA sought interaction and engagement with the community, and Spivey’s incubator has delivered. “When I open up in the morning and put out the lawn flamingos, the dogs start coming to say hello, the old couple who had a camper comes by to swap stories, a developer across the street tells his story of a $11 million loss, the daycare center comes by for a dance party,” Spivey says. “It’s sort of a clubhouse now in the South End.”

But between the day-to-day interactions, the incubator is brewing big things in Boston. On November 1st, Spivey’s podcast Culture Hustlers will premiere, featuring successful entrepreneurs and leaders in regionally strong industries like comedy, fashion, history, food, and sports.

So far podcast guests include Erin Robertson, who just won Project Runway; stand-up and comedy writer Alingon Mitra; Josh Luke and Meredith Kasabian from Best Dressed Signs; Alice Saunders from ForestBound; and Emily Isenberg of Isenberg Projects, among others.

Spivey, who earned his undergraduate degree in art at the University of Washington-Seattle and his graduate degree in finance at Endicott College, feels strongly about the value of learning practical business advice rather than just theory or terminology. A rare BFA/MBA hybrid, Spivey wants the Mobile Incubator project to help encourage the exchange of information between creative and business-minded individuals. “A lot of people think arts and culture need to be protected and stewarded,” he says. “I say we arm it with business principles and let it take over the world.”

Have a question you want answered? Send questions to @mobileincubator on Twitter and they’ll #askahustler for you. Artists can also sign up for free consultation services at Mobile Incubator.

Lucas Spivey–artist and consultant, Mobile Incubator
Boston, Massachusetts
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All images by Melissa Blackall

The post Lucas Spivey: Mobile Incubator for the Arts appeared first on Take Magazine.

At least three TV news crews were on the scene, along with a police detail, but the expected crowds did not materialize.

Yesterday, a cheerful and determined group of artists gathered to protest the current administration and, hopefully, strengthen Boston’s creative community. Due to a number of possible factors—the mid-week, just-after-work schedule; the unending barrage of news items that feel more pressing than anything related to the arts—the New England edition of the Artist March was sparsely attended. Those who were there, however, were unbowed and not discouraged. Those who weren’t should read the following quotes from attendees. They might inspire you to take action. . .next time.

Muhammad, a performer at the Boston Artist March

“As artists, I think we play the role of making resistance fun. Part of the problem is that it’s hard to attract people, especially when people are so busy, have to work so many hours just to make ends meet, it’s hard to get people together for something that feels so serious and depressing. We as artists have so much to offer, in terms of our creativity and inspiration—these are the things that make movements, and the things that will make a successful resistance to the policies we are now seeing from the Trump administration.” —Muhammad Seven, singer/songwriter

Leigh, a puppeteer/performer at the Boston Artist March

“I’m newly involved in politics, but I have been to more marches and rallies and meetings since November 9th than in my whole life. Making things relevant, but still fun—I think that’s the way to go in terms of getting a mass movement going. A lot of people don’t see themselves as political, but they see themselves as artists, or just people who like to sing and dance and have fun. I don’t see why we can’t have both. Tapping on people’s talents is a way to really build a movement. Everyone’s creative in some way or another, and it helps to bridge differences too. I was hoping there’d be more people, but it is just the first one. Sometimes things take a little bit of time to build. I’m happy the people that are here are here.” —Leigh Baltzer, puppeteer

Nino speaks at the Boston Artist March held on the steps of the Massachusetts State House

“I was very inspired by artists growing up, particularly Paul Robeson, folks like Lupe Fiasco, Mos Def… During the Algerian Revolution, they said the most dangerous revolutionary was the poet, because the poet was able to distill all these complex ideas about war and colonialism, imperialism, into poetry, so that everyday folks could understand and be armed with their own experiences.” —Nino Brown, speaker

Nino, a speaker at the Boston Artist March

“We’re facing a lot of arts cutbacks. I teach fourth grade at a public school in Mattapan, and public schools are under attack. You see all of this technology going into schools, but they’re taking out all the arts and music and dance, which is actually taking out the humanity, you know? Artists have a role in society, and it’s to not just reflect that society truthfully, but to deconstruct it, and to build a new society. I’ve been to marches of ten people, fifteen. . .so you know, I’m not discouraged. It’s like okay, well, we’ll do better next time. The message is correct; we just have to get it out there.” —Nino Brown, speaker

Tom, a speaker at the Boston Artist March

“Artists are some of the first people to be gone after in a totalitarian type of government. [Art] causes people to become aware of what’s going on around them. Sometimes social change can happen very quickly, sometimes it takes a long time. Sometimes it might take forever, but you don’t stop. You keep at it. You keep trying to make that change happen.” —Tom Tipton, speaker and gallery owner

Virginia, a protester at the Boston Artist March

“Well, I’m an artist, and I believe what I’ve been reading, that artists are among the first to be repressed when repression comes. I just saw a very moving piece at the ART in Cambridge, Arrabal, a tango ballet about the dirty war in Argentina. I lived in Argentina ten years before the dirty war, and it was the most democratic, progressive, highly educated, liberal place. If you had told me they would be dropping my classmates out of helicopters into the river ten years later, I never would have believed it. As an artist, I feel it is important that we organize and stand up because as [the other speakers] said, artists are about making change, and are about being on the forefront of social change, and therefore we are more subject to repression. So we need to get more organized.” —Virginia Zanger, protester

Boston Artist March, June 14

“I’m an activist, so I’m so busy—I do a lot of work. Like Nino, I’m involved with PSL, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a socialist party here in the city. I do a lot of work with COMBAT [Coalition to Organize and Mobilize Boston Against Trump] too.” —Kristin Turgeon, protest singer and chant leader

Betsy, a protester at the Boston Artist March

“I’m a craft store owner, and I support 140 local artists. I think that’s the best answer to the question [of why I’m here]. I had three choices tonight: I could go to a party, get free food and beer; I could go hear live music; or I could come here, where, who knows what could happen! And I watched Wonder Woman last night, and so I said, I gotta do what my conscience says, and that’s why I chose to come here.” —Betsy, protester  

Dan, a protester and documentarian of the Boston Artist March

“I’m an artist, and I’ve been sketching all the protests I can get to. It’s my way of dealing with the current political climate.” —Dan Jay, protester

Harmony, the Boston Artist March’s fearless organizer

“I’m a cofounder of Massachusetts Artists for Change. We’ve had a few fundraisers and art shows. We raised over $1,200 for the Boston Center for Refugee Health and Human Rights; we had an art show based on the Women’s March protest, with posters and photos; and we had an event for International Women’s Day in which we had poetry and collaborative art. This march happened because I stumbled upon a Facebook post where they were looking for people to organize Artist Marches across the country. This wasn’t the only march tonight—there was a march in Miami, Mar-a-Lago, Fort Lauderdale, San Francisco, New York City, and Wichita. So I saw that and said, Ooh, I’d like to try to organize that, that seems like something I could do.”—Harmony Witte, event organizer

The small but sincere crowd at the Boston Artist March

“Yeah, I’m a little disappointed in the turnout. It seemed on Facebook that more people would be coming. . .but you never know, it’s so hard to tell. I’m still kind of new to Boston and to the organizing scene, so I don’t have the connections that would have come in handy. But, first time for everything. I think it’s just that people don’t want to get off work and go to a march. If it were up to me, I would’ve had it on a Saturday. I’m probably going to take a little break [from organizing], because I put a lot into this. But I’d like to keep organizing, for sure. It seemed like people were having a good time.” —Harmony Witte, event organizer

Harmony speaks on the steps of the Massachusetts State House for the Boston Artist March

“It’s so easy [as artists] to turn inward and focus only on yourself all the time. It’s important to focus on the world around us. Arts funding is potentially going to be cut; there’s so many things that artists SHOULD be banding together to fight for. So if you can get them out of their houses and focus on something, that’s really good!” —Harmony Witte, event organizer

Boston Artist March
Boston, Massachusetts
Website
Top Image: Kristin Turgeon at the Boston Artist March
All images by Debbie Way

The post (Some) Artists #TakeAction in Boston appeared first on Take Magazine.

ArtWeek Boston is expanding beyond the obvious celebration of the arts this year with the Art of Food, a celebration of all things gustatory. Participating restaurants will serve special menus inspired by particular works of art, while others will focus on liquid inspiration. In that last category, Privateer Rum will host an event on May 6th devoted to all things rum. Celebrity bartender Tenzin Samdo from Tavern Road restaurant and bar in Boston will be leading the festivities.

But first a little booze backstory. While craft cocktails and small batch distilleries are currently all the rage, this growing industry actually has a deep history that stretches back to the end of the Middle Ages, when mariners and explorers around the world were forced to dilute harsh liquors to ease the burn of early distilling processes. As liquor was carried on ships across long voyages, rough-and-tumble sailors realized that aging various liquors assuaged the burn, and that these otherwise harsh drinks could become even tastier when mixed with various oils such as vanilla and fruit juices.

Tenzin Samdo, The Art of the Garnish, ArtWeek Boston

During the 1600s, sailors began to create various types of punches to ward off scurvy. Since transporting water was often unsafe and unsanitary, travelers turned to liquor to quench their thirst. Fast forward to 1862, and the first published cocktail manual in America, The Bon Vivant’s Companion. This collection of cocktails pays homage to a history of craft cocktailing, from the ship decks of sailors to the high courts of European royals and debutantes, to the saloons of the American Wild West.

The Private Distillery event will teach guests about the history of rum in Massachusetts, while Samdo will show how to elevate the art of bartending with beautifully crafted garnishes that turn cocktails into consumable pieces of art. (This is ArtWeek after all.) “Since elementary school, I’ve always enjoyed drawing and painting,” Samdo says. When I start to paint or draw a piece, I get in the zone, and my thought process starts where I try to envision the result. I set myself a high standard goal of that piece of art to be as close as to my expectation, which is similar when it comes to creating drinks to me.”

Privateer Rum prides itself on carrying on the tradition of Andrew Cabot, a privateer and master rum distiller during the 1700s whose namesake runs the family business today. “The philosophy of Privateer is best ingredients, best practice, and best product,” says company spokesman Kevin Martin. “We live and die by this philosophy, and it is everything we do.”

Martin is particularly excited about The Art of the Garnish on May 6th. “Tenzin is a master maker. It can be a lemon peel, a watermelon rind—everything he touches, he turns into a beautiful piece of art,” he says. “We are excited to bring the best of what we do, with the pure genius of his abilities, and show people that drinking a cocktail can move beyond just a two-ingredient concoction to something that is actually delicious and beautifully presented.”

Privateer Rum
Ipswich, Massachusetts
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Tenzin Samdo – Beverage Director, Tavern Road
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Top photo courtesy ArtWeek Boston

The post The Art of the Garnish with Privateer Rum appeared first on Take Magazine.

CREATE Boston launched five years ago, just around when Fort Point, New England’s oldest and largest artist community, started to lose its identity to redevelopment. “With no city plan to assist the now-displaced artists, we wanted to find a way to foster them back into the community,” says CREATE’s founding chef, Louis DiBiccari.

DiBiccari and his partners decided to pair artists with chefs, creating an installation for a one-day event designed to bridge the gap between visual and culinary arts in the city of Boston. Now in its sixth year, CREATE remains a celebration of art, food, drink, and music, but it has also broadened since its inception. The event now pairs bartenders with artists and chefs, and the organizers have added DJs, live music performances, merchants, live installations, performance art, and more.

“It’s becoming more of a festival of sorts,” says DiBiccari. But while New England has lots of art events, food events, and plenty of music festivals, CREATE is unique because it establishes a level playing field for art, food, music, and drink. CREATE returns on April 7th as a part of BESPOKE, a weekend-long celebration of food, art, culture, and ideas in Boston’s historic SoWa neighborhood.

CREATE Boston, 2016 | Photo courtesy Natasha Moustache Photography

Boston is now years into the redevelopment of Fort Point, and, thankfully, more and more restaurants are trying to support local artisans—whether it’s through purchasing their pottery, art or photography, or by using local products specifically in the kitchen. “We’re seeing lots of chefs moving toward using small local producers for ingredients,” DiBiccari says. “That all falls under the umbrella of CREATE.”

DiBiccari led the way in this mindset with his restaurant Tavern Road, which he opened in 2013 with his brother Michael. Now, most of what you see at Tavern Road has a tie back to CREATE. “I don’t know what Tavern Road would look like without CREATE,” says DiBiccari. “Lots of our space is characterized by our relationships with CREATE artists.”CREATE’s long-term mission is to develop more opportunities for Boston’s artists. “I’m a lucky guy,” says DiBiccari. “I discovered I loved to cook and there were plenty of opportunities to make it my career. Artists need more opportunities here.”

Tickets to CREATE can be purchased here.

Chef Louis DiBiccari – founding chef, CREATE Boston
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All images courtesy of Natasha Moustache Photography

The post CREATE-ing a Better Boston appeared first on Take Magazine.

Western-Massachusetts-native-turned-fake-judge John Hodgman always says, “Specificity is the soul of narrative.” In other words, the more precise a story is, or the more unique the subject matter, the better. Through specificity of content and approach, artists can present audiences with unique characters, stories, and experiences.

The same logic applies to film festivals and the cinema they celebrate. In addition to the dozens of big film fests across the region, film junkies and industry folks alike have privileged access to niche New England film festivals in every state. Movie lovers can see everything from queer romance to cinema written, produced, starring, and directed by folks with hearing impairment. Some of these festivals are right around the corner, while others are still accepting submissions. All reveal subjects that are unique and satisfyingly specific.

AIP Film Festival
April 2 – April 8
Cinestudio
Hartford, CT

Hartford’s beautifully designed 1930s-era movie theater continues its yearly film fest for Francophiles, April in Paris, which goes beyond the French New Wave and into the realm of contemporary cinema. Prospective moviegoers have nine opportunities to see French films produced from 1982 to 2016, all of which examine the exceedingly relevant, “effects of crossing borders, from the political to the personal.”

Wicked Queer Film Festival
March 30 – April 9
Various venues
Boston, MA

Laverne Cox in Free CeCe! | Director Jac Gares, 2016

The 33rd incarnation of Boston’s film festival revealing and unpacking the queer experience through documentary, comedy, and drama will feature internationally renowned voices of the queer community and emerging artists alike. Queer film enthusiasts of all kinds have dozens of chances to see films across the city in a new neighborhood each night.

Maine Deaf Film Festival
April 28 – 29
University of Southern Maine
Portland, ME

The 15th annual Maine Deaf Film Festival is the longest-running and perhaps the only film festival of its type in the nation. Programmed and planned in collaboration with students and boasting content exclusively created by deaf folks across the region, MDFF skillfully solves some of the problems of underrepresentation of people with hearing impairments both in front of and behind the camera.

SENE Film Festival
April 25 – 29
Various venues
Rhode Island

With dozens of films ranging from experimental shorts to feature-length animated dramas, SENE provides attendees nearly endless opportunities to pick their vast or small corner of the world to explore. The Wednesday night screenings of experimental films and documentary features is both a can’t-miss evening and an excellent example of the range and specificity of topics explored throughout the festival.

New Hampshire Film Festival
October
Various venues
Portsmouth, NH

Still from All The President’s Heads | Director Adam Roffman, 2016

With the time for submissions still open, we can’t say for sure what niches the New Hampshire Film Festival will investigate. However, if last year’s programming is any indication, cinephiles will delve into some strange and specific topics. For example, All the President’s Heads, a film about a history devotee who saves two dozen, massive presidential busts from destruction after being displaced by the building of an Enterprise Rent-a-Car.

Independent Television Festival
October 11 – 17
Various Venues
Manchester, VT

Okay. . .this isn’t technically a “film festival.” However, was True Detective (the charcoal dark, riveting serialized HBO murder mystery disguised as a police procedural) a television show or more of a seven-and-a-half-hour movie split into manageable 54-minute chunks? As the line between prestige television and film blurs more each day, so will our categorizations for the sake of this list. Anyway, ITVFest still counts because it’s a moving image festival celebrating a niche part of a hulking industry, a section of the industry that often gets ignored in cinema as well; the independents.

Global Roots Film Festival
April 7 – 9
Contois Auditorium
Burlington, VT

Still from Ladies & Gentlemen… Mr. Leonard Cohen |
Directors Donald Brittain & Don Owen, 1965 | Presented by VT PBS and RETN

This niche film festival is brought to us by the Vermont International Film Foundation which also presents the yearly Vermont International Film Festival. The Global Roots Film Festival endeavors to bring Vermonters, “great films from the countries of many of the New American communities. . .to foster a greater understanding of our diverse cultures.” This year, Global Roots turns the lens towards contemporary films coming from Quebec.

Top image, still from Signature Move | Director Jennifer Reeder (2017)

The post 7 New England Niche Film Festivals You Can’t Miss appeared first on Take Magazine.

Three years ago, Jerry Beck took a drive with his young daughter through New Hampshire and passed a sign for Ruggles Mine in Grafton. His daughter shrugged, but Beck convinced her to check it out. Armed with a pail and hammer for rock collecting, they emerged from a tunnel into the expansive cavern of the now-defunct mica mine. “We just thought this was the coolest place we had ever seen,” he says today.

Beck, who specializes in bringing art to unique and forgotten spaces, immediately envisioned a show there. Ruggles Mine has since closed and gone up for sale. In November, Beck got permission to stage an exhibition of musicians, sculpture, light and sound installations, video, poetry-readings and performances throughout the rock-framed environment.

He now hopes The Revolving Museum, the artistic-event organization he founded in 1984, will purchase the mine and turn it into a destination—an experimental and interactive theme park of visual creations woven together “so that your imagination is exploding wherever you look,” he says. To that end, he and TRM are planning another Ruggles Mine exhibition and fundraiser in late summer or fall.

But that’s not all Beck has planned for New Hampshire. He also has partnered with City Arts Nashua to help revitalize its downtown with public art. The “Comeback Kitchen Table” show will launch in May to call attention to the vanishing custom of families gathering for meals and conversation—“what used to be the heart and soul of family life,” Beck says.

Comeback Kitchen Table | Revolving Museum Director Jerry Beck and City Arts Nashua Board President Kathy Hersh

More than 1,000 artists are working on 10 projects for the show. An alternative high school has created a Jean-Michel Basquiat-themed installation with an anti-drug message. “It will hopefully be a catalyst for people to explore the tables, sitting down, talking,” Beck says of the show.

The idea grew out of Beck’s nostalgia for his own family time spent around the kitchen table when he was a kid, laughing and telling stories. Today, trying to draw his 10-year-old daughter’s attention away from her digital screen is a challenge, he says.

An art major at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Beck spent a semester in London, charmed more by the punk rock scene than Renaissance painting. Back in Florida, he and some fellow art students launched a series of public art projects in empty buildings and other forsaken sites. They called themselves SARTists—Student Artists Reshaping Tallahassee.

In 1983, Beck started graduate school in Boston at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University. He founded The Revolving Museum soon after with “The Little Train That Could .. Show” in an abandoned city rail yard. The old train cars were turned into gallery space and performance stages. On “hobo night,” homeless participants told stories. Another early TRM show took over an old Civil War fort on Georges Island in Boston harbor.

Each of Beck’s efforts seeks to connect communities with the creative work in their midst, a goal all the more relevant during this time of upheaval, he says. “We’re in a cultural revolution right now,” Beck says. “And the arts—as they always have—need to be at the forefront.”

The Revolving Museum – Jerry Beck, founder and artistic director
Fitchburg, Massachusetts
Ruggles Mine –  Grafton, New Hampshire

Comeback Kitchen Table exhibition in Nashua, New Hampshire
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Top photo Ruggles Mine Show, Revolving Museum

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Curious about what it might be like to live in a smart home? Fascinated by wearable art? Interested in architecture and the future of design? Boston Design Week 2017 has something for everyone interested in exploring how design infuses our lives.

Actually 12 days long, Boston Design Week 2017 is in year four. Last year’s event had more than 70 participants, in 84 different events, in nine Boston neighborhoods, and 10 cities and towns in the greater Boston area. The intent of the “week”—March 29th-April 9th this year—is to explore and illustrate the vital role design plays in our lives.

Image from Coded Couture | Curated by Judith Hoos Fox

Tony Fusco, whose company, Fusco & Four/Ventures, LLC  Boston, is co-producing the event, says New England offers a unique design perspective. “I think there is a very interesting dichotomy going on in the world of design in New England,” he says. “On the one hand, we see an increasing number of artisans and craftspeople who are focused on creating individual works, fashion, furniture, and other design and decorative arts with a handmade aesthetic. Not only are we seeing a strong increase in custom-made design, but also, increasingly, that design is being done fully cognizant of the impact on the environment, sustainable or renewable resources, and the desire to create and do no harm.”

The well-conceived schedule of Boston Design Week 2017 is in keeping with the theme of form and function. The daily calendar makes planning your visit(s) easy. A few events that caught our eye include the four Kick-Off events on March 29th, one each in Back Bay, Fort Point, South End, and Metro West. The Fort Point Channel kick-off event features the non-profit Artists for Humanity hosting an open studio, showcasing the works of art and design by the teenagers hired to work in the design profession in their much-lauded organization.

10th Anniversary AD20/21: Art & Design of the 20th and 21st Centuries and the Boston Print Fair

The design-intensive week sticks the landing with AD20/21: Art & Design of the 20th & 21st Centuries and The Boston Print Fair held at The Cyclorama, Boston Center for the Arts, a ticketed gala to celebrate Boston Design Week and benefit Design Museum Boston. This curated show will feature nearly 50 vanguards in the fields of modern to contemporary fine art and design. Jonathan Leo Fairbanks, director of the contemporary Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, Massachusetts, will be honored as the 2017 Lifetime Achievement recipient. Down in Rockland at the Roomscapes Cabinetry and Design Center’s massive showroom, you can pair wine with chocolate as you cruise their high-quality interiors and dream about the perfect kitchen on April 3rd, 4:00-7:30 PM. They’ve also partnered with Brenda Taylor, art curator and consultant for Liquid Art House, with a gallery of her picks. Event is free, but an RSVP is requested.

Boston Design Week – art and design show and events
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Top image – Builder: FBN Construction | Architect: David Mullen

The post Boston Design Week 2017: Living by Design appeared first on Take Magazine.