22 Aug 2014

DownStreet Art Thursday! North Adams, MA - Aug. 28, 6-9PM

Thursday, August 28, marks the third DownStreet Art Thursday of the 2014 Summer Season. There will be new exhibitions openings, open studios by local artists, the unveiling of site-specific installations, musical performances and community events from 4-9 p.m.

A Trolley will be running on an art loop downtown North Adams connecting all art venues, from MASS MoCA, where Independent Art Projects is located, to Main Street galleries, and the Rudd Art Museum.

Installations and performative happenings include:
• Jarvis Rockwell -the eldest son of famed illustrator Norman Rockwell- will unveil his new 3-dimensional wall drawings outside CONcourse Gallery at 85 Main Street.

• Michael Chapman will be creating a window installation at 109 Main Street including music, clowns and other oddities.

• Art About Town will be hosting their Crosswalk About Project starting at 4 p.m. They will be providing paint and brushes and invite one and all to participate in painting the crosswalks on Main Street.

Exhibitions receptions held in different venues downtown North Adams include:
• Sara Farrell Okamura and Hideyo Okamura will present 'Things You See' at Gallery 51. They will be exhibiting prints and large-scale paintings.

• Press Gallery will features the work of eighteen printmakers who live within 40 miles radius of Bennington, Vt, and Troy, NY. The exhibition is the culmination of six-month print exchange between the artists.

• Independent Art Projects at 1315 MASS MoCA Way will show new work by ceramic artist Robin Best. Best's is joining the current group exhibition of contemporary artists working in different media around the themes of still life, natural elements, and landscape.

• Local artist William Oberst will be showing new paintings at Discourse Gallery.

• John Michael Byrd and Leah Grimaldi O'Ryan come together for the first time in a joint exhibition at CONcourse Gallery. The exhibition will be a combination of paintings and floor sculptures in an exploration of shared human emotions and perceptions.

• Gallery 107 will showcase the 2014 MFA graduating class of the Vermont College of Fine Arts, curated by Julia Dixon.

• Martha Flood will be opening her private studio to the public, debuting 'King Alfred's Cake' her newest Woodland fabric.

• Adams Community Bank Gallery will be exhibiting the work of Dublin born painter, Karl Mullen. Painting largely with his hands, Mullen creates distinctive, poetic figures that float on fields of color.

• Photographer and digital artist, Dale Levitz will be exhibiting at the MountanOne Bank Gallery.

• The lower galleries of the Rudd Art Museum will have their grand opening, showcasing a retrospective of Eric Rudd's abstract paintings and sculptures from 1966-1980.

Musical performances:
An iconoclastic quartet defined by their eclectic form of rock, Polysonic Joy will be playing under the Mohawk Marquee. Eternal Crimes from upstate New York will also be performing an opening set.


ABOUT DOWNSTREET ART
DownStreet Art is a public art project designed to revitalize downtown North Adams. By harnessing existing art organizations and events and transforming vacant and open spaces into art destinations, DownStreet Art defines North Adams as a cultural haven, driving tourists and community members.

DownStreet Art is a project of MCLA's Berkshire Culture Resource Center, partnering with the City of North Adams, Develop North Adams, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and Orbit Visual Graphic Design. The program is made possible through lead sponsorship support provided by Excelsior and Greylock Federal Credit Union.

For more information about DownStreet Art events and the Berkshire Cultural Resource Center, go to www.downstreetart.org, www.mcla.edu/bcrc and www.facebook.com/downstreetart.