Exeter, New Hampshire, is only ten miles, yet seemingly worlds away, from Portsmouth—long considered the Seacoast’s creative hub. A picturesque town best known for being home to Phillips Exeter Academy and the state capital during the American Revolution, Exeter is now a destination for artists, musicians, and other creatives priced out of Portsmouth.

“There are people here making a living as artists and musicians, and residents who have never seen or heard their work,” says Scott Ruffner, an Exeter native and local realtor who’s also a musician and an ardent advocate for the town’s artistic culture. The founder of the Arts Industry Alliance and its community initiative TEAM (Town Exeter Arts Music)—nonprofits supporting local independent and emerging artists—Ruffner helps organize the town’s First Friday art and music walks and the Exeter Arts & Music Fest, gathering local talent to perform on Swasey Parkway, a downtown park.

On the west side of town, visitors are discovering Art Up Front Street, an artists’ collective owned by Rose Bryant and her husband, Mal Argondizza. Combining studio and gallery space, it’s the first venture of its kind in the area. “I think creative people in Exeter are starved for someplace to land,” Bryant states.

Not far away, Alan and Joanie Mason are transforming a former turn-of-the-century dance shoe factory into artist studios and industrial workspaces. Painter Bradley Castellanos, who relocated to Exeter from New York City last year, is one of two artists currently renting space.

Established local venues are using art to build community, including Phillips Exeter Academy, whose new center for theater and dance is slated to open in 2018. The school’s Lamont Gallery spotlighted regional artists this summer with the exhibition Neighboring in a temporary space downtown. Audiences are also flocking to live music and spoken-word events at the Word Barn, an intimate performance space inside an antique barn on the outskirts of town.

As the creative community grows, so does downtown Exeter, with its quaint nineteenth-century storefronts and restaurants. Dining options run the gamut, including savory quinoa bowls at Laney & Lu Café; lattes at D2 Java; burgers and pizza at Station 19; and local seafood at Otis, located in a former jewelry store.

To Ruffner, the changes confirm his sense that the town is on the edge of something big. “Exeter is on the cusp of something. We’re ready to shake things up a bit.”

Exeter, New Hampshire
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Top illustration by Rachel Sumpter

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Bradley Castellanos’ meticulously layered, cinematic landscapes are comparable to the romantic images painted by famed Hudson River School artists—with a twist. Like the 19th century painters whose landscapes reflected concepts of sublime and beauty, Castellanos is fascinated by people’s effect on the landscape. But his thought-provoking, collaged landscapes are more abstract than idyllic. “My work is about celebrating the landscape and what’s unique about it,” he says.

Nature has always been part of Castellanos’ identity so it’s no surprise that the natural world is reflected in his art. Born in Connecticut, he grew up on Florida’s east coast. He trained as a painter, first at Skidmore College and later he received a master’s in fine art from New York City’s School of Visual Arts. In 2016, after living and working in Brooklyn for many years, he and his wife, artist Allison Hawkins, moved with their two daughters to Exeter, New Hampshire. His white-walled, spacious studio, located in a low-slung industrial building, is less distracting than the hustle-bustle of New York City. “The quiet and focus I have here is new,” he says.

Blue Moon, 2016, Acrylic and photo collage on paper mounted on panel 45” x 36”, photo courtesy of the artist and RYAN LEE NY 2017.

Castellanos researches and photographs landscapes and structures that interest him; he stages his scene and shoots with a digital camera, using it like a sketching tool. The images are digitally manipulated and collaged, then artfully cut with an X-Acto blade and glued on wood. He then further re-works the image with oil or acrylic paint. The result is a series of highly textured and layered abstractions, both familiar and imagined. “My images may be inspired by the neighborhood, or coming upon something bizarre in the landscape,” Castellanos says. “They’re a play between abstraction and landscape.”

Castellanos’ early work captures desolate, even apocalyptic, images of New York City and the Northeast United States. His urban cityscapes and industrial landscapes were shot using a large format camera. He’s since transitioned to creating more lush, evocative landscapes, reflected in his most recent solo exhibition, Sunshine State, at Manhattan’s Ryan Lee Gallery this past June.

Hunting is Painting, 2017, Oil, acrylic, and photo collage on panel, 47.25” x 60.25”, photo courtesy of the artist and RYAN LEE NY, 2017

Although he’s only been in New Hampshire a year, the state’s forested landscape and historic architecture has already impacted his work. Castellanos’ family has vacationed on Lake Winnipesaukee for generations and their lakeside cabin has inspired several paintings. He’s currently creating a series of figurative works. “I think I’m producing the tightest and most technical work now,” he says. “My latest work is always, to me, my most exciting work.”

Bradley Castellanos–artist
Exeter, New Hampshire
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Top image installation view of Sunshine State at RYAN LEE, NY, 2017. All images courtesy the artist and RYAN LEE, NY.

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