Is classical music dying? Not if John Page, music director of the Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, can help it.

Page wants to make classical music relevant to modern audiences. Since 2011, he’s led the PSO, a semi-professional orchestra comprised of lawyers, doctors, educators, students—even an elk farmer. Page believes the success of the PSO lies in building community, so orchestra members are almost exclusively from New Hampshire. Their performances draw attendees from southeast Maine, coastal New Hampshire, and down into northeastern Massachusetts.

“In an age where music education is being decimated, music must be linked closely to community and education,” Page says. “If you’re not touching those things as a musician, you’re not making the impact that you should. Symphony orchestras don’t have a God-given right to exist.”

Part of Page’s enthusiasm comes from personal experience. Music was “everywhere” when he was growing up in 1970s Northern Ireland, especially during “The Troubles,” when state-run social programs used music to bring children together. “It was one of the only places where Catholics and Protestants came together,” he remembers. “All schoolchildren were educated in music. That’s really where my music education started.”

John Page, Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra, photo by Virgil Mehalek

Page’s original passion was voice; he later started playing French horn, piano, and organ. It wasn’t until he was pursuing a masters degree at University College Dublin that he took up the baton. “I filled in for a conductor who was taking a sabbatical,” he says. “He asked if I had experience (I didn’t) and I said, ‘Yes.’ Then I told my friends in the orchestra that their job was to make me look good.”

Page has been conducting ever since. He came to the U.S. in 2003 to apprentice with Benjamin Zander, the charismatic conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (among the communication techniques Page learned from Zander are his lively pre-concert talks to audiences). He later taught at the New England Conservatory and Boston University. Married and a father of two, he balances Monday night rehearsals with the PSO with his day job conducting four orchestras a week as director of orchestral activities at Tufts University. That’s in addition to guest conducting orchestras in Ireland and around the U.S.

The PSO performs four major concerts annually at The Music Hall, Portsmouth, including two holiday concerts in December; they also present chamber music performances at the Kittery Dance Hall in Maine. The organization forges community partnerships (including a performance of Swan Lake with an area dance school during the Prescott Park Arts Festival), visits area schools, and participates in music education outreach whenever possible.

Among Page’s, and the PSO’s, greatest community triumphs were two sold-out performances this spring of Beethoven’s iconic Symphony No. 9, bringing together four area choruses and soloists at Portsmouth High School. It was a big moment: 1,600 people attended. Most had never seen a PSO performance.

Working with people, Page believes, is the key to being a successful conductor. “You really have to watch and listen,” he says. “Winning people over personally is half the battle.”

John Page–music director
Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Website
Facebook
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Photos by Virgil Mehalek

The post John Page: Building Community With Music appeared first on Take Magazine.

No matter your trade, Port City Makerspace in downtown Portsmouth has the resources and community atmosphere that make it a perfect incubator for creating, fixing, and tinkering. Whether you’re a seasoned veteran in your discipline or are looking to pick up a hobby, Port City Makerspace is “where we turn sticks into sawdust for the sake of art,” as their woodworking homepage candidly puts it. Break out the elbow grease and slap on a pair of closed-toe shoes you don’t mind getting covered with random debris, and go make something.

“The Makerspace was founded by Zak Robinson, Ross Beane, and Clint Crosbie in 2012. They heard the idea of a ‘shared workspace’ and thought about doing one for a long time,” says Alex Nunn, general manager of Port City Makerspace. “The rest is history.” PCM is a member- and volunteer-driven space with a friendly atmosphere. “Today there is only one regular staff member, and lots of members and volunteers that help run things. We have also grown in size, both member-wise and actual space. We have approximately 8,000 square feet of space.”

Photo courtesy of Port City Makerspace

No prior skills or prerequisites are needed to become a member at PCM except for a determined attitude and an openness to meeting good folks from diverse disciplines. This is not a hack-it-up, make-it-up situation—their philosophy is that it’s important to know how to use tools and they’ll help you get to that point safely and effectively. Seeing that the Apocalypse has never seemed more imminent than it does now, that standpoint is easy to agree with.

While Port City Makerspace is a great place to pursue personal projects or take woodworking classes, members have also been involved in more large-scale operations. “We have helped with community projects like the Prescott Park Green Room, and hosted open workspace days for costume-building for the Halloween Parade. Members have also built some amazing things; an interactive sandbox for Bewick Academy, humanoid sculptures for the Dover Children’s Museum, and a few tiny houses on trailers,” says Nunn.

Photo courtesy of Port City Makerspace

“I’ve lived in the seacoast area most of my life, and despite having moved around a lot in my younger days, it feels like home regardless of where I am in the area. The historical and natural appearance of everything is lovely, and makes life seem peaceful—and once you meet someone, you see them around a lot as though the whole state is a small town,” says Nunn. A community-oriented area such as Portsmouth is the ideal place for people to gather from varying areas of expertise into a breeding place of collaboration and learning, and Port City Makerspace seeks to be that hub. If there’s one thing we know about innovation in technology—it grows at an exponential rate.

So, summon upon your inner jewelry maker and craft that line of industrial bolo ties you’ve been fantasizing about, or make a modest but brag-worthy foot stool for the living room. Learn how to code or visit the 3D printing lab and make a memorial of your favorite deceased pop star. Explore microcontrollers and CNC routing with Alex Nunn. Come to repair your bicycle—hell, come to repair your car! The possibilities are limitless.

Port City Makerspace
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Website
Facebook
Twitter

Top photo courtesy Port City Makerspace

The post Turning Sticks Into Sawdust For The Sake Of Art 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.

Sense of place is key to understanding Hannah Phelps. Born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and raised north of Portland, Maine, New England roots dig deep into her life and art. “I’m a classic New Englander,” she says. “I’m really attached to this geographic place.”

Phelps’ work represents, as she describes it, “the world outside her window and the forces at work there.” Her award-winning plein air oil paintings and relief prints often depict the crashing waves and jagged rocks of the northern New England coast, where she spent summers as a child combing the rugged shore and nearby woods. “I think that’s what really inspired me to become an artist,” she says.

Initially, Phelps explored the natural world through science, studying physics at Mount Holyoke College. But that felt incomplete. “Drawing and painting from nature are not just like scientific study,” she says. “In some fields, drawing is the primary method of recording scientific discoveries.” Her knowledge of physics—for example, understanding the dynamics of water movement—informs her kinetic depictions of the ocean and waves crashing against rocks. “I know how water has to move because of physical laws,” Phelps says. “I think about my subject matter—water, rocks, snow, sand, trees, clouds—in scientific terms.”

Cutts Island Marsh | jigsaw reduction woodblock print

While living in Baltimore after college (and plotting a move back to New England), Phelps took painting classes at the Maryland Institute of Art. By the time she moved to New Boston, a small town in central New Hampshire, she was painting regularly.

Phelps considers herself a painter first, painting primarily in plein air. Printmaking evolved naturally. She employs different techniques, including jigsaw woodcuts and white-line woodcuts, a technique popularized by Provincetown artists in the early 20th century and characterized by a white outline surrounding each shape of color. “I love printmaking,” Phelps says. “You have to think about how to apply color and layer your work. You can work on an oil painting for years, but in printmaking there’s a finality to the process that I enjoy.”

Calm Day at Fort Stark | white-line woodcut print

Aspiring printmakers can take classes from Phelps, including a summer workshop on Appledore Island, off the coast of Portsmouth. Her work is also available through League of New Hampshire Craftsmen stores in Nashua, Meredith, and Littleton, New Hampshire, and she also has booths at the League’s annual fair and the December Button Factory Open Studios in Portsmouth.

Hannah Phelps – artist
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Website
Facebook
Instagram

Appledore Evening | jigsaw reduction woodblock print
All images courtesy the artist

The post Hannah Phelps Paints or Prints Her Natural World appeared first on Take Magazine.

In a former lifetime in which the person inhabiting the Oval Office had an actual vision based on facts, the arts were recognized as an integral measure of our society. President John F. Kennedy, for instance, said this about the arts: “We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda. It is a form of truth.”

Truth, of course, has taken a hit since 45 took office. That whole “alternative facts” bit. But numbers, or so the saying goes, don’t lie. So with that in mind, we took a quick look at the potential math implications of 45’s federal budget.

First the overview:

• Number of programs and agencies due for elimination: 62
• Number of programs within the Environmental Protection Agency alone: 50

Other programs due for funding cuts—or outright elimination—focus on everything from literacy to low-income home energy improvements to investigating chemical accidents. The enormous breadth and scope of impact on those least able to manage without these programs is breathtaking.

But since we’re an arts and culture magazine, we’re going to focus our hyperventilation on the potential impact of these devastating cuts to art and culture in New England. The proposed budget calls for eliminating all funding for the National Endowment for the Arts ($152 million) and the National Endowment for the Humanities ($155 million).

What NEA funding means to New England:

For fiscal year 2017, New England states received $2.591 million in NEA grants overall, according to the NEA website. Here’s who got what:

• Connecticut: 15 organizations, $310,000
• Massachusetts: 62 organizations, $1,672,000
• Maine: 11 organizations, $242,000
• New Hampshire: 6 organizations, $120,000
• Rhode Island: 9 organizations, $152,500
• Vermont: 4 organizations, $95,000

But the math adds up even less when you look beyond straight grants. Ann Wicks, communications manager for the New England Foundation on the Arts (NEFA)—one of six regional arts organizations funded by the NEA and private donations—explains. Arts organizations can potentially receive NEA dollars in three ways:

• an outright allocation of a grant the organization applies for itself
• an allocation from NEFA through NEA dollars provided to NEFA
• from NEA dollars given to state arts organizations, such as the Massachusetts Cultural Council

Wicks says about 15 percent of NEFA’s annual budget comes from NEA dollars. Beyond grants, NEFA uses those dollars to support artists in other, less direct ways, Wicks says. The Creative Ground Directory, for instance, is a free resource that lists artists and other creators around New England so that it’s easier to find appropriate collaborators for projects. In FY2016, NEFA made a total of 462 grants equaling $3.4 million. New England states received $829,947 of those NEFA grants.

In other words, the loss of funding to New England arts and humanities organizations could be even larger. “NEA support is very important to New England and the creative sector,” she says.

It’s a point that is echoed nationally. The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA), a national nonprofit that assists state arts agencies, offers this math about how NEA dollars improve the economy at large:

• The arts return $22.3 billion in tax revenue to federal, state, county, and municipal governments.
• Rural areas, low-income communities, and schools would feel the effects of this funding loss disproportionately from reductions. State arts agencies (using state and federal funds) award more than 25% of their grants to rural areas, 54% to low-income communities, and 45% to arts education projects.
• Every NEA dollar leverages more than $9 in matching funds, meaning that the impact of the NEA loss is just the beginning of the potential financial loss for arts organizations.

Cutting the NEA and NEH seem especially confusing given this math offered by NASAA: The NEA receives 0.004% of the total Federal budget, which is less than ½ of one hundredth of a percent.

That math also doesn’t add up when you consider the numbers presented by The Guardian. The British paper reports the following expenses incurred by taxpayers less than 50 days into 45’s residency:

• $56.6 million (or a cool $500,000 a day) to protect Trump Tower. That was through March 1. Assuming that Mrs. 45 stays until June for Mini-45 to finish school, that dollar amount could add another $46 million, bringing the total to $102 million.
• $3+million estimated cost for EACH weekend jaunt to golf work at his Mar-a-Lago Resort (a place where he doubled entry fees from $100,000 to $200,000 the day after he was elected).
• $97,380 for hotels for Secret Service to protect Eric Trump (that would be his son on those business interests 45 still hasn’t divested himself of) while he visited a condominium development in Uruguay. This is just one trip.

And finally this statistic: 45’s proposed military spending increase in his federal budget? $54 billion.

Something definitely doesn’t add up.

Does this irritate you as much as it does us? Here are a few links if you want to #TakeAction. See you on the streets.

Pen.org
artsactionfund.org
Change.org
The Official White House Petition to Save Arts Funding
Contact Your Representative
Arts Advocacy Day – Washington, DC
#SaveTheNEA

Top image courtesy Royal Talens

The post #TakeAction: Doing the NEA Defunding Math appeared first on Take Magazine.

Recently, it’s been the cultural trend to rope off the beginning of the year to catch up on all the moments, movies, music, and writings we missed last year. So, once you’ve caught up with Moonlight and/or finally get around to listening to the newest And The Kids album (released summer ’16), consider looking ahead to our Artists to Watch for 2017.

Though we do have favorites of our own, we could not adequately survey the region for artists to watch without consulting a few of our many trusted curators and friends: Abigail Ogilvy, Owner of Abigail Ogilvy Gallery in Boston’s South End; Randi Hopkins, Director of Visual Arts at Boston Center for the Arts; and Ian Alden Russell, Curator at Brown University’s David Winton Bell Gallery.

All of these artists sculpt, paint, record, and perform works worth following, especially considering our current social and political climate. Since we’ve recently been reminded that we cannot rely on the centralized leadership of our democracy to defend our integrity as human beings, or the integrity of thought through the defense of facts and mutual respect, we look to artists like these as our true cultural gatekeepers. The artists on our list are people we can trust to use bold expression, tenderness, and knowing imagery to question the status quo. Sometimes they hold up a mirror to our culture. Other times, they hold up a loudspeaker or a puppet mask, a paintbrush, a bouncy ball, or a digital camera.

These cathartic, sarcastic, pointed, paradoxical, and, most of all, inimitable artists are who we’re watching in 2017.

Nabeela Vega, Visiting Thahab (series, ongoing) | Photo courtesy Robin Allen LaPlante

Nabeela Vega | Boston, MA

Using photography, performance, and video, Boston-based artist Nabeela Vega creates immersive works that examine elements of our individual experiences of the social world as it intersects with identity, personal politics, and queerness. Oftentimes, the work calls into question our taken-for-granted notions about bodies, media, and gender. As Hopkins points out, “Vega’s rich exploration of the contemporary presence and experience of the Muslim femme takes forms that are performative, collaborative, generous, vulnerable, and exquisitely beautiful. The artist takes risks with their own body to think about our greater body as citizens and humans, work that feels vital and particularly brave today.”

Tanja Hollander | Auburn, ME

“This month sees the premiere of the entirety of Tanja Hollander‘s Are you really my friend? at MASS MoCA, the Maine-based photographer’s epic endeavor to photograph all 626 of her Facebook friends,” says Russell. “Bringing her across the nation and around the globe, the work probes the issue of friendship and connection in our digitally mediated age. Questioning the boundaries between personal, public, and online life, the project presents us with intimate portraits she took of the personal spaces and environments of the people she is connected to via social media.”

Teatime, 2016, Acrylic and mixed media on steel 18 x 12 in. | Photo courtesy Abigail Ogilvy

Katie Wild | Pawtucket, RI

“Wild’s striking, cinematic paintings transform the tradition of figure and portraiture to achieve a contemporary understanding of the human condition,” says Ogilvy. “In her most recent series, Steampunk, Wild references photographs she took of real people at a steampunk festivals. In 2016 she was a recipient of the Fay Chandler Emerging Artist Award in Boston, MA.”

Kai Franz | Providence, RI

“Originally from Cologne, Germany, Kai Franz makes sculptures and drawings that confront and complicate the relationships between process and artifact,” says Russell. “Testing and questioning the potential of computer-aided design while appearing as formal aesthetic statements in their own rights, Franz’s works and projects are strong examples of the tradition of critically and technologically-engaged art making in Providence.”

Mutsu Crispin, Mapping the Day, 2015, bouncy balls, plexiglass, stainless steel, 41″h x 41″w x 2.25″d | Photo courtesy Mitchell Giddings Fine Arts

Mutsu Crispin | Brattleboro, VT

Atlanta, Georgia transplant turned Southern Vermonter mutsu crispin (aka John DiGeorge) is a performance artist, filmmaker and. . .bouncy-ball sculptor? Last year, DiGeorge found a way to make those familiar, seemingly childish forms simultaneously fun and subversive. We’re sure we can find some comfort in these delightfully bright pieces as the year turns potentially darker. “. . . the balls float forward and back within their designs or wanderings, rhyming with their cast shadows, ghostly glows, nearby hardware and reflections,” says the artist. “These dear objects from our childhood are animated and transmogrified, speaking in a chorus at once lighthearted, humorous, mysterious, and ecstatic.

Matt Neckers, Crash Site, 2015, 72 H x 24 W x 24 in | Photo courtesy the artist

Matt Neckers | Eden, VT

“Neckers’ Portals hidden in forests, a rocket in a tree, a parachute caught in branches—Matt Neckers’ installations interrupt the serenity of the woods,” says Russell. “Fascinated by the impact of mechanization on our imagination, Neckers opens up earnest, generous, and sustained conversations about the world we inhabit, the others that may exist, and the precarious journeys between.”

Arien Wilkerson | Hartford, CT

“I am Arien aka TNMOT AZTRO aka ARI AZTRO.”

Wilkerson is one of Hartford’s many young Renaissance Men. His list of current projects is too long to add here; suffice it to say that Wilkerson, at age 25, is an uber-accomplished dancer, film artist, activist, artistic director, and overall creative mastermind. In the words of our dear friends at Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner, “He’s too black, too vocal, and too flagrant. He’s also one of the few indispensable figures in Hartford’s ever-continuous push to art and cultural prominence. Say hello to the city’s new brash monarch.”

Toby Sisson, 2015 Black Tears, Ink and beeswax on paper 7″x5.5″ each, approx. 6.5’x16′ overall | Photo courtesy the artist

Toby Sisson | Providence, RI

“Toby Sisson‘s encaustic paintings and drawings rigorously explore the metaphoric potential of abstract form,” points out Russell. “Often contrasting shades of black with shades of white, Sisson’s works are informed by personal narrative and her mixed race heritage. Her images and forms offer open-ended prompts for poetic reflection on the assumed oppositions and conflicts with which we struggle—personally, emotionally, and socially.”

Michael Stasiuk, Marco the Magician, 2012, 25″ x 24″ x 10″ metal crumber pan, darning egg, rhythm stick fragments, assorted wood fragments | Photo courtesy Abigail Ogilvy

Michael Stasiuk | Portsmouth, NH

“His multimedia sculptures assemble found objects into playfully illustrated characters,” says Ogilvy, “each with a unique personality. His choice of material imparts a sense of nostalgia and memory, imaginatively re-purposing everyday objects that accompany us throughout our lives.”

J.R. Uretsky and Scott the cat | Photo courtesy the artist

J.R. Uretsky | Providence, RI

If you read Take, you already know we’ve had a crush on J.R.’s awkwardly signature brand of brave, big-feeling, truth-telling performance for a long time. Yet it’s not only her magically strange, emo-queer performances to watch out for in 2017. Specifically, it’s J.R.’s puppets that will lend you space to emote and bring us all solace as 2017’s social and political climate sags and twists. “The characters that emerge through her performances are relatable yet also alien and non-specific,” says Hopkins, “forging an ambiguous space where emotion is the remaining constant.”

Titus Kaphar, Space to Forget, 2014, oil on canvas, 64 x 64 x 2 3/4 inches | Photo courtesy Jack Shainman Gallery

Titus Kaphar | New Haven, CT

Kaphar creates new histories with each work he paints and sculpts. It’s through his careful reinterpretation of the past, mixed with artful exclusion and deconstruction of specific images that makes his work powerful, “In my work I explore the materiality of reconstructive history. I paint and I sculpt, often borrowing from the historical canon, and then alter the work in some way.” says Kaphar “I cut, crumple, shroud, shred, stitch, tar, twist, bind, erase, break, tear, and turn the paintings and sculptures I create, reconfiguring them into works that nod to hidden narratives and begin to reveal unspoken truths about the nature of history.”

Inside shot of Love Shack instillation featuring video loop of “Waking Up And Getting Up Has Never Been Easy”, instillation and video by Coe Lapossy | Photo courtesy the artist’s website

Coe Lapossy | Boston, MA

Ever wonder what it’d be like to wake up in a super-cozy, literally endless bed? Well, Lapossy has theorized it, and has many more other immersive, speculative works ready for the upcoming year. “Lapossy brings feminist sass and romantic charm to smart sculptural and installation work,” says Hopkins. “Pop culture seeps into her artistic vocabulary with ease, for example weaving 20th-century art history together with early 90s romantic-fantasy film in a setting that evokes the vaudeville vibe of the magician’s trick.”

Nabeela Vega – Boston, Massachusetts
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

Tanja Hollander – Auburn, Maine
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

Katie Wild – Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Website
Facebook

Kai Franz – Providence, Rhode Island
Website

Mutsu Crispin – Brattleboro, Vermont
Website
Facebook

Matt Neckers – Eden, Vermont
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

Arien Wilkerson – Hartford, Connecticut
Website
Facebook
Twitter

Toby Sisson – Providence, Rhode Island
Website

Michael Stasiuk – Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Website

J.R. Uretsky – Providence, Rhode Island
Website
Twitter

Titus Kaphar – New Haven, Connecticut
Website

Coe Lapossy – Boston, Massachusetts
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

VISITING THAHAB AT SUPERNOVA PERFORMANCE ART FESTIVAL | PHOTO COURTESY THE ARTIST

The post Artists to Watch 2017 appeared first on Take Magazine.

Our hearts sank, listening to Trump’s inaugural speech. It was dark and bleak, not-so-subtly dissing Obama as he spoke of the current “carnage” in our country, while offering nothing remotely inspirational or unifying in return. But the massive outpouring of strength and hope across the world, and our little corner of it, has truly bolstered us. Montpelier, Vermont? Your march doubled the population of your entire city! Portsmouth, New Hampshire held two rallies, and the state hosted four more: Concord, Keene, Francestown, and Wilton. Thousands came together in front of the Rhode Island statehouse—they will not. be. silenced—and PVD’s Mayor Jorge O. Elorza took his talents and constituents to DC itself. There aren’t too many people out there tougher than Mainers; they gathered up and down the rocky coast in powerful numbers. A plentitude of pussy hats were seen across Connecticut, from Hartford to Stamford. In addition, 80 buses packed with Nutmeggers headed down to the nation’s capital to be heard. New England had at least 200,000 people get out for Women’s Marches in our big cities alone. Bravo!

Boston Women’s March, 10:30am | Photo by Henry Amistadi

What a sight—what an inspiring day! We all needed that. Take made the trip to Boston to witness and capture some of our most creative voices, which we’ll bring to you shortly. The enormity of this march can not be understated; it’s reaffirmed our commitment to featuring and amplifying, our cultural response to the political climate we now find ourselves in.

Optimism is billowing, strength is gathering, the artists are coming. . .and we’re listening.

Time to get to work.

Boston Women’s March | Photo by Henry Amistadi

All images by Henry Amistadi

The post #TakeAction New England Numbers appeared first on Take Magazine.

An orange sociopath was elected president, David Bowie AND Prince passed away, and Kimmy K may or may not have staged her own assault and robbery to stay relevant. Grab some hand warmers and booze, we’re closing the book on this collapsing star of a year and never looking back.

First Night Hartford, CT
2:00 PM – 12:00AM
Wristband: Adults: $12.00, Kids (3-5): $3
Downtown Hartford

This year will mark the 28th anniversary of First Night Hartford, and, as always, it’s promised to be a multicultural celebration with not one, but TWO fireworks displays—one slated for 6pm for you early birds out there. There will be a vintage 1914 carousel in Bushnell Park, with 48 hand-carved horses and two lovers chariots to revolve you and your boo into the new year. Enjoy ice skating, an Irish sing-along, and visit Butler McCook House to make your very own mask for the crowd-sourced Grand Procession.

First Night Portsmouth, NH
2:00PM – 12:00AM
Buttons: Adults: $15 ahead of time, $25 night of, Kids: $2
Downtown Portsmouth

Be sure to mosey on over to North Church to check out the ice sculptures, which sculptors have been meticulously working on since one o’clock. Starting at 5:00PM, Portsmouth community radio will be providing tunes for you to dance your 2016 sorrows away ‘til the ball drops. But don’t forget to take a break to visit the NH Astronomical Society for some star gazing—2016 was confusing as hell and I think we all deserve answers from the universe.

First Night Boston, MA
10:00AM – 12:00AM
Free and open to the public
Copley Square

Boston is celebrating over 40 years of First Night, an alternative to the traditional booze driven raucous debauchery of NYE. This year, First Night Boston will continue to be an inclusive, family oriented, art-centered celebration to mark the passage of time. Is one night enough to celebrate the end of a consistently backwards year? Hell No. The party don’t stop at midnight—reconvene on “First Day” for even more fun. Whether it be ice skating, taking ballroom dance lessons, or joining the People’s Parade in Boston Common, you’re sure to have a good time in First Night’s birthplace.

First Night Northampton, MA
12:00PM – 12:00AM
Buttons: Adult $16 ahead of time, $20 day of, Seniors $10, Kids 2-10 $8

If you missed the A2Z yoyo team last year, you have another shot at seeing them do a little more than just walk the dog. Not your cup of hot chocolate? Join the folks from Mad Science at John M. Greene Hall and learn how to make potions that explode. Looking for a more sonic experience? Catch the Northamptones, a high school a cappella troupe. Northampton often likes to take the path less traveled. Oh no, they don’t dare let the ball drop, they would rather see it rise. This year gather around the Hotel Northampton for the ceremonial ascent. You might not be able to tell when the ball gets to the top, but hey, that’s what iPhones are for. Smooch.

Sardine Drop | Tides Institute & Museum of Art, Eastport Maine | Photograph by Hugh French

New Year’s Eve Sardine & Maple Leaf Drop, Eastport, ME
11:00PM – 12:00AM
Free and open to the public
Eastport

Who needs a First Night when you can have a Sardine and Maple Leaf Drop?! Eastport, Maine celebrates the coming of the new year with two “balls,” so to speak. On the third floor of Tides Institute & Museum of Art, a giant maple leaf will drop at 11PM (Midnight, Atlantic Time) to honor the Canadian new year. Following the first finale will be a second, appropriately with the descent of an 8-foot long sardine at midnight ET, as a nod to neighboring New Brunswick, home to a booming sardine industry.  A maple leaf and a sardine—an unlikely, but decidedly merry, love affair. Prior to the “droppings,” pop in to Studioworks to make paper party hats and hit the photo booth in style or stop at the Eastport Gallery for hot cider and cookies. Oh, and don’t forget to kiss the Sardine for good luck in 2017…we’re gonna need it.

Polar Bear Plunge Newport, RI
12:00PM Sharp
Donations to benefit A Wish Come True
Easton Beach

The people of this port city don’t retire their swim trunks when the temperature drops. In fact, on the first day of the year, it’s all these folks wear. This chilly tradition calls on adventurous locals to submerge into the freezing waves in the name of charity, and of course, a particularly *extra* year. If you have too much sense to charge into sub-40 degree water that will surely lead to your demise, pop on a funny hat and support the brave ones…and be sure to donate! Everyone is invited to the Atlantic Beach Club post plunge for an after party and—pun intended—a cold one.

First Night Burlington, VT

11:00AM – 12:00AM
Buttons: Adults: $18, day of $22, Child Button (ages 3 to 12): $5, Student Button (age 13+ with valid ID): $10, Family Pack: $42
Burlington

In 1983, Burlington hopped on the First Night bandwagon and become the fifth city to join the tradition. The main event of this family-friendly celebration is the Dancing Dragons parade, in which locals march down Church Street in traditional, Chinese-style parade dragons. In addition to the carnival rhythms, First Night Burlington offers a bountiful lineup of local artists, a screening of animated short films by Vermont International Film Festival, and an instrument petting zoo for people, especially children, to explore lesser known folk instruments from around the world.

Top image by Hugh French

The post First Night New England appeared first on Take Magazine.

Image courtesy of Michael Winters Photography

It’s not that Michael Winters found photography but more rather, that it found him. It all began 10 years ago with a trip to Budapest and a point and shoot camera. Prior to this landmark event in an “addiction”-to-fester, Winters had never owned a camera. After much experimentation and an ever-challenging relationship with light, Winters settled on portraiture. And so would commence the birth of a creepy, ethereal, and down-right elvish assemblage of images from this Portsmouth, NH based photographer.

“As long as I can remember I have had a love affair with cinema, especially the silent era through the 1950’s. The lighting, sets and costuming have always mesmerized me. I particularly like the Films Noir of the late 30’s through the early 50’s and I’m partial to black and white versus color.” An influence of the practical effects of 20th-century film is unmistakeable in Winter’s work. Portraits of heavily costumed and made-up women from a past era that hasn’t happened yet create a distinctly cinematic vibe.  His subjects are ghostly and incredibly alive – of a different realm but also very present. Just like the people in films, his subjects are carefully placed on display in a shadowbox. Every frame seems to have an interesting and possibly sinister backstory involving a coy woman with a closet full of secrets.

Image courtesy of Michael Winters photography

Winters photography is heavily collaborative. Makeup artists, hair-dressers, and a flower crown craftsman are central to the other-worldly and refined look of many of his portraits. A trove of very creative friends makes for a portfolio of photographs that you just can’t stop exploring. One three-part project, “Flower Crown Series” is particularly rich with contributors. “That shoot was the brain child of MUAs Laurie Hoey and Erik Wochholz who is the historical horticulturist at Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, NH. Erik wanted to make flower crowns using the flowers and plants that come from the various gardens he curates on the grounds of the museum. He spent a lot of time coming up with plant and flower combinations, dried them and created some really amazing works of art.” The nymphs of the three series project look as if they have risen from a particularly beautiful sect of Norse mythology mixed with an elvish culture you’d expect to find holed up deep in an Icelandic forest.

“Flower Crown #1” | Image courtesy of Michael Winters Photography

“Flower Crown #2” | Image courtesy of Michael Winters Photography

“Flower Crown #3” Image courtesy of Michael Winters Photography

As for his next project… “I have a dozen 36 inch round white balloons waiting to be filled with helium. That’s all I’ll say about that!” Picturing it, I’m intrigued.

Michael Winters’ photography book “Friends and Muses” is available on his website.

Image courtesy of Michael Winters photography

The post Winters is on an Otherwordly Wavelength appeared first on Take Magazine.

About ten years ago, after finding his niche in the woodworking world, Oedel focused on a certain organization up in New Hampshire. Oedel fit right in at The New Hampshire Furniture Masters Association, a group of exceedingly skilled craftspeople in the New England area. He started there as a member then became the chairman of the association for a few years starting in 2012. When asked about Furniture Masters, his pride and respect for the people involved is evident in his voice, “The [Furniture Masters] who do the work are really stellar artists”, he told me right off the bat. “Once a year we get together and we all bring pieces with us and we all sit there and say ‘I hope my piece is good enough. I hope it stands up to everyone else’s.’ It really keeps us all on our toes.”

Furniture Masters puts on an annual gala and auction to bring together fellow craftspeople, interact with the community and clients, and showcase the tremendous work being done in the field. “There are so many ways to think about design, to think about furniture,” said Oedel “…the group is so good because we get together, we talk about it, and our discussions inform everyone’s work. In doing that, we all get better.” It’s clear how the creation of a community like Furniture Masters has enabled craftspeople from across New England to network and support each other, and in doing so, raise the level of skill and excellence being produced all around us.

Table by Richard Oedel | Macassar ebony, corner detail | Image courtesy of Richard Oedel

Indeed, this time Portsmouth NH shared in the success of the affair. Oedel pointed out that the event has moved around, from Concord and other parts of New Hampshire, but Portsmouth and its people in nature are particularly “friendly to the arts”. Held for the first time this year in the stunning 3S Artspace, Oedel explained how “it was an interesting space visually, our pieces fit in there well, and it brought people in to see what kinds of things were happening there”.

With the triumph of their 2016 gala back in September, Oedel looks toward the bright future of his craft. With Furniture Masters receiving positive attention and praise each year from the Portsmouth community, and with the new interest in handmade furniture coming from young people, he is excited to be doing work like this in this moment. The trend towards authenticity and handmade quality, over the cookie-cutter, IKEA-styles of recent years, has Oedel and fellow makers looking forward to brand new collaborations, and younger clients than ever, “It’s all happening on a younger level now,” Oedel described, “there was a time when we were all sitting there saying ‘does anybody under 50 appreciate anything that we’re doing?’”

The answer to that, as seen by the Furniture Masters and the outpouring of interest from the Portsmouth community, is an enthusiastic, yes.

Top image Fort Point Cabinetmakers, Richard Oedel center | Courtesy Richard Oedel

The post A Master of His Craft: Richard Oedel and the Joy of Design appeared first on Take Magazine.