Gloucester Daily Times
http://www.gloucestertimes.com/
Published: 03/24/2007
Discussion heats up at first artist Meltdown
By Gail McCarthy
Staff writer
As spring saunters in, a large group of artists also began the thaw at the first Monday Night Meltdown, which was designed to bring people together to discuss the fine arts at many levels.
The Meltdown is a new program, sponsored by the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts (seARTS), which will take place once a month at Cameron's on Main Street. The event is open to everyone.
No one knew what to expect on the inaugural night, which turned into a bit of a snow squall. But the artists turned up by the dozens.
They turned up for many reasons, to socialize, to present work, to listen, to learn and to just enjoy the presence of an artistic-minded crowd.
The artists came from Rockport, Gloucester, Manchester and even Hamilton. Many were painters, but some were writers and others were art enthusiasts.
"The first Meltdown was truly a melting pot of artists, and of different mediums and levels of experience - seeking to hear and be heard among their peers," said Jacqueline Ganim-DeFalco, president of seARTS. "The atmosphere was congenial and supportive. Our hope is that this type of gathering will sustain itself."
Following in the long history of artists seeking ways to come together, Ganim-DeFalco said the "Meltdowns" were conceived to encourage the informal side of professional growth by giving artists a chance to come together, open up, and share their thinking with others who are experiencing similar challenges, accomplishments, or epiphanies in their work.
The next Monday Night Meltdown will be April 16.
Ganim-DeFalco noted that one of the key components of the seARTS mission is to create opportunities for artists to grow in their work.
Leslie Bartlett, a well-known Cape Ann photographer, said the event provided a boost for the participants.
"I was greatly encouraged to see the number of artists and their willingness to share," he said in a recent interview. "It was an invigorating start. The forum provides ways for sharing that can last beyond the artists that are there. I'm looking forward to the next."
Marion Powers, an art teacher at Manchester Essex Regional High School, told the group that she enjoyed being with people who share similar interests. She later learned she had much in common with another artist, from their connection to the Massachusetts College of Art to their Greek ancestry.
Artist Rose-Marie Glen warmed to the idea of having a place where artists can drop in and bring their work.
"There's a lot of energy for art here," Glen said to the room full of participants. "Most of us work in a vacuum, and we slave away in our little studios and you're by yourself, so it's good to have input. I walked out of there with some new friends."
Rocky Neck artist Ruth Mordecai began the discussion, which quickly took off as others wanted to share their work, or introduce themselves to the group.
The theme for the evening was landscapes, though the conversation encompassed a broad vision of landscape, including a natural scene, or a scene that illustrated the hand of man on the landscape, whether through architecture or industrial development. The landscapes presented were both representational and abstract.
At one point, Susan Erony, who recently stepped down as seARTS' executive director, led the discussion into another realm when she posed the question to the group about how artists react to the ecological deterioration of the landscape, or what another artist dubbed "the epidemic of destruction."
Glen said she is drawn to Gloucester because of its mix of raw beauty and landscapes, whether a natural one embodied in the many scenic quarries or the scenes from the working waterfront.
Glen - who last year put together a show of 45 paintings for the Turner Center for the Arts in Georgia titled "From Gloucester and Back, an Artist's Journey" - began painting here decades ago.
"This area has a large number of people who are artists of all kinds, from artists to performers to writers and more," she said. "Gloucester is a great place for its artistic heritage that can be part of everyday life. Gloucester certainly has the opportunity to base part of its future on its historic artistic past. It would enhance the quality of life. There's so many people who have come here over the past 100 years and more, like Stuart Davis, Hopper, Homer and so many others."
Sarah Young, the new seARTS executive director, was thrilled at the success of the first Meltdown.
"I think seARTS hit on a need for artists to be able to have a forum to come together and discuss issues they are dealing with, or the logistic of creating their art or their personal connections," she said. "I think this is a program that will take on a life of its own, and I see each one being unique. We're providing the format, but we want the members to make it what they need."