Gloucester Daily Times
Front page –Friday, June 2, 2006
http://www.gloucestertimes.com/

Painter-in-residence aims to connect art colony, Portuguese community


By Gail McCarthy
Staff writer

Growing up in Taunton, landscape painter Stephen Soitos was well aware of the Portuguese and Azorean heritage on the coast of Massachusetts, from Fall River to Gloucester.

He knew the stories about St. Peter's Fiesta, the summer festival dedicated to the patron saint of fishermen, many of them with roots in Portugal and the Azores Islands.

Now Soitos will experience the flavor of life here as the first of four artists chosen to participate in this year's artist-in-residency program of Rocky Neck Art Colony.

On his second day here last week, Soitos visited Our Lady of Good Voyage Church, where atop the church stands a statue of the Virgin Mary overlooking the inner harbor and cradling a vessel in her arms. Decades ago Mass was celebrated there in Portuguese. The following day, he took his sketch pad to the Fitz Henry Lane house, where he made some drawings.

Soitos, who lives in Northampton, said he wants to learn about and connect with the Portuguese community in Gloucester. He hopes to execute a series of oil paintings of Gloucester motifs in his own style, which infuses bold colors into the composition. His large oil paintings of New England landscapes owe a debt to such artists as Marsden Hartley, Arthur Dove and John Sloan, he said.

The artist is eager to begin his work. Taking a break on his first day here, he sat barefoot on a wharf soaking up the colorful images of the waterfront, from men working on the nearby pilings to the passing of fishing boats.

"I've always had it in my mind that I wanted to get up to Gloucester," he said. "It is common knowledge among the Portuguese community that there was a large Portuguese fishing community and we heard about the great sailing tradition of the Portuguese explorers.

"During this residency I want to make contact with the Azorean Portuguese community and try to establish a link between them and the Rocky Neck Art Colony."

Soitos, who is also a writer, harbors an almost genetic affinity for the ocean.

"I've been interested in sea-related motifs, and Gloucester is famous for its art colony and its motifs," he said. "I have a connection with the natural world, the earth, the ocean through my heritage. It's sort of in my blood."

The artist traveled to the Azores with his grandfather in the 1970s and was inspired by island group's landscapes and seascapes.

"There you are surrounded by volcanic mountains and high dramatic hills with ocean vistas all around," Soitos recalled.

Soitos relishes the idea of following the path of famous American painters of past generations who traveled to Cape Ann to work.

"A lot of the early modernists came here, like Robert Henri, the founder of the Ashcan School," he said.

"In the process of my research, I learned John Sloan spent eight summers at the turn of the century here, when he did a lot of Gloucester paintings, and he did them in a bright, vibrant, unleashed sort of style. I want to go see the house he lived in and I want to try to do the same thing in pursuing my art, and I'm actually doing it and it's really exciting."

The artists-in-residence program is now in its second year.

Rocky Neck artist Gordon Goetemann, a painter and art professor emeritus, spearheaded the program as part of an effort to reinvigorate the famed enclave that has been home to artists for at least two centuries.

He worked with the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts to initiate the program, which also aims to broaden the range of artistic styles on Cape Ann at the same time it exposes artists from outside the region to the cape's particular artistic opportunities.

"I came to Gloucester because artist Umberto Romano gave me an opportunity to work and study here, and it changed my life," Goetemann said. "And I thought it would be wonderful to offer that opportunity to others, and perhaps it would change their lives too."

The quality of the artists chosen in the program's first year became evident when Rocky Neck held its second annual juried art show last month. First place went to Marilyn Ranker, who was the first artist-in-residence last year.

"The residency was a very important time for me," Ranker said. "It gave me an opportunity to be immersed in that working marine environment ... There was a whole visual experience of things to look at and think about in such a fertile landscape. This is a dynamic place."

Goetemann said Soitos has an impressive resume. He holds a master's degree in fine arts from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and a teaching certificate from Smith College. He has studied at Oxford University in England, Coimbra University in Portugal and the University of Tours in France. He has exhibited and studied in Germany, Italy and Puerto Rico.

Tom Robinson-Cox, a local photographer, attended Soitos' first lecture last week.

"Both he and his work are very energetic and spontaneous" he said. "His presentation was colorful and forceful. He approaches his work intuitively and very passionately. I think everyone looks forward to seeing the results of his residency and how he interprets the Cape Ann environment."

At the end of the month-long term, Soitos will exhibit paintings at the Avery-Mann Gallery at 77 Rocky Neck Ave. and talk about his experience.

Soitos invited members of the community to contact him at 413-320-7393 or stephensoitos@yahoo.com.


About artists in residence

Artists are selected based on a demonstrated high-level accomplishment, originality and seriousness of purpose.

The residency includes use of a studio-gallery-living space in Rocky Neck, opportunities to lecture and exhibit work and access to the cultural community. A grant to seARTS from the Massachusetts Cultural Council helped fund the program.

Stephen Soitos is the first of four artists who will take up residency this summer. The others awarded 2006 residencies are:

* Aithan Shapira of Allston, an abstract painter and first-generation American who has lived in Jerusalem. His work "explores the symbol of the American dream, the romantic landscape, imbued with concepts of infinity, opportunity and fantasy." He starts June 25.

* Sarah Hardesty of Tucson, Ariz., a sculptor who investigates skin as a metaphor for protection, comfort, containment and the fragility and resilience of life. The artist, from Tucson, Arizona, starts July 30.

* Alexandra Rozenman, a bilingual artist who emigrated to America from the Soviet Union and now lives in St. Paul, Minn. Her mixed-media paintings are influenced through her experience of immigration, multiculturalism and travel. Her work has been described as having a nostalgic fairy tale quality. She starts Sept. 3.