Gloucester Daily Times
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Published: June 30, 2006 12:00 am         

Keeping the artistic spirit of Rocky Neck
Gloucester Daily Times

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If I tell you the single thing that really spurred me to open a gallery on Rocky Neck, I'll immediately give myself away as a completely clueless entrepreneur.

But the truth is, as a resident of Rocky Neck and an active member of the art colony, the main reason I did it was because many of us were afraid that if the vacant retail spaces on the Neck were not utilized, they would quickly get taken up for residential use.

This would have made a lousy explanation in a marketing plan, but, fortunately or unfortunately, I don't believe in marketing plans.

Last summer, there were empty galleries on the Neck, and a number of former galleries that had been recently converted to living (only) spaces. I love living in this art colony and don't want to see the art spaces disappear. It is, after all, people like me, who want to live here, who are pushing out the artists! So I had to do my part to keep art happening here.

The Rocky Neck Art Colony organization rented one space - the Avery-Mann Gallery, named for Ward Mann and Milton Avery - for the colony's Residency Program (started in 2005 and funded in part by seARTS through its Massachusetts Cultural Council John and Abigail Adams Grant), and I took the space formerly occupied by Bananas, Richard Leonard's vintage clothing store (which, of course, still thrives at its location on Main Street).

Happily, all of the other gallery spaces on the "alley" leading to the Madfish Grill wound up being rented by other artists. In fact, there are two spaces that are being used by artists who hadn't previously exhibited on the Neck before, and both - Mike Savlen and Loft Priya - are doing work that is terrific for the art colony, expanding the range of artwork that can be seen here. This was my purpose as well.

The 19 artists whose work I'm exhibiting at Penumbra are nearly all from Massachusetts, but not from the immediate area. The art colony, including me, is working to bring new material and new ideas to Rocky Neck. This is not to say we don't value the artists who have been here for years - they're Rocky Neck's best assets. But we want to broaden the scope, so there's something to interest everyone who comes to the Neck and wants to see art.

The work at Penumbra includes modern art furniture and wild and wooly sculptures; night light photography in vibrant colors as well as moody, mystical black-and-whites and monochromes; art jewelry to wear or just display; multilayered acrylic abstract paintings and pastel animation stills; all kinds of prints - monoprints, monotypes, aquatints, solarplate etchings - and stained glass hangings. I'm particularly happy to be able to present the work of Marilyn Ranker, a resident of Cambridge and Essex, who was one of the art colony's first artists-in-residence last year, and whose wood and rope sculpture, On Hold, was named Best of Show in the RNAC's spring show this year.

Now, having exposed myself as a backward kind of an entrepreneur, I would like to add that I did always want to have an art gallery. As a former art critic for Boston 'zines and publisher of an art and fiction magazine in Cambridge, I've worked with artists for years. Although I don't create art myself, I like being in a position to present and promote the work of others who generally prefer to create than market. For years, I considered starting a gallery in Boston, but felt put off by the "gallery-speak" and formalism of city galleries. Gloucester in general and Rocky Neck specifically is, to me, the perfect place for a gallery, because no one is putting on any airs here; the atmosphere is always fun and welcoming, and art is not just a commodity or a status symbol, it's something to live with and enjoy.

Amanda Nash is the president of Gloucester's Rocky Neck Art Colony. "Seeing seARTS" is an occasional Times feature featuring the work of seARTS members or those who participate in seARTS events. The Society for the Encouragement of the Arts is a nonprofit organization the mission of which is to re-establish Cape Ann as a world-class center for working artists in balance with the unique character of Cape Ann as a maritime community.

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