Wellesley High School "Ecomagination" at former Neenas (made possible by Linear Retail)

Art and Community Club

Wellesley High School

Art & Community Club is a student-run club that focuses on creating and exhibiting artworks around specific themes that bring awareness to essential elements of a healthy community. This year’s exhibit, “Ecomagination”, is centered on ecological concerns. Students dealt with issues of recycling, pollution, and reminding the community that we are part of nature.

Juyon Lee

Art and Community Club President

Class of 2014

The Green Way for Change

Juyon Lee, Eva Loh, Jin Kim, Monica Ong, Zahra Pirani, and Nicki Sizing

Mosaic - wooden board, newspaper, recycled paper, aluminum cans

Our art project was inspired by Vik Muniz, a Brazilian artist who uses trash to create mosaic art pieces. We made paper stars out of old newspaper and used paper. The stars represent individual's hope to make a green difference. Together, they portray nature scenery of trees, flowers, and leaves. The road is made out of pieces of aluminum cans and rolls of newspaper because we wanted to remind our community that if no one tries to make a green change, we would have to step on trash that we make every day. The newspaper rolls symbolize cigarettes, which are not only harmful to our environment, but also to one's health. In addition, the parts of aluminum cans at the bottom of the board have green messages to encourage the viewer to start making a small change. If we make a green difference little by little, there'll be a greater outcome like how the stars create this nature scenery. We hope that the Wellesley community will consider how we impact our environment every day and the importance of protecting our planet.  

Pin Cushion

Serena Benages

Sculpture - cookie cutter, pillowcase, newspaper bags, recycled box, yarn

Found Music

Serena Benages

Sculpture - sardine can, cigar box, coffee filter, nails, wire, newspaper bags, coke can

My artwork was made with all recycled materials. The message I portray through my art is how beauty and music can be found everywhere. These gifts are not limited to a few people, but rather the hope of the many. I was inspired to make these pieces when I first saw a musical instrument made from recycled materials. The creativity in which it was made inspired me to make it my own.

Untitled

Anonymous

Sculpture - wire, flowers, glass bottle

When Pigs Can Fly

Anonymous

Sculpture - scrap metal

Beachcombing

Cora Hersh

Painting

Trees in the Meadow

Laura Scott

Painting, acrylic

A Mirror

Chloe Kolbet

Painting, mixed media

Nature and the human spirit are deeply interconnected. The beauty and laws of one are mirrored in the other. With this knowledge one can learn deep truths about oneself through the observance and exploration of nature. Humanity, in this way, is called to immerse itself in and grow closer to nature. However, they are not one and the same. As with a mirror, the human and nature are reflections of each other, not a singular being. They differ in that the human mind sorts and classifies, while nature grows without order, making them opposites.

Humanity, therefore, is called not to become nature or even imitate it, but to morph in response to it. It is so easy to just study nature, but to grow with it is more difficult. In school, we study the wonders and beauty of nature throughout the grade levels. We are taught to respect its glory with a kind of reverence. Yet, this leaves a gap between nature and us that should not exist. Instead of living among and knowing nature with familiarity, we place it upon a pedestal, which isolates it from us. This twists and stretches the bond between humanity and nature in such a way that we grow distant from not only nature’s beauties, but also, as a result, our own. Our connection with nature in not intimate, but rather that of a distant relative. We choose to just exist in nature; instead we must interact with it, and, in this way, allow ourselves to grow and change in response.

Mother Nature

Juyon Lee

Tarot card illustration

 Where Is My Bamboo?

Eva Loh

Scratchboard illustration

Capture The Sun

Laurel Hennessee

Photograph

Paint the Sky

Laurel Hennessee

Photograph

Summer

Laurel Hennessee

Photograph

Forests of Steel

Katie Pedersen and Nicki Sizing

Photograph on Newspaper

We shot photographs in Boston and printed them on newspaper. The inspiration came from the idea that cities have replaced forests. When you look up you see concrete, not canopies, and when you look into the harbor you see trash instead of fish. We tried to show the coldness of being surrounded by metal rather than life, and we tried to choose visually interesting images.

Today’s Garden

Olivia Czubarow

Photograph

Mr. Clean Collection

Han Li

Sculpture - plastic water bottles and aluminum cans

Dancing Flowers 

Zahra Pirani

Sculpture - flexible garden tie, recycled magazines

"Dancing Flowers" exhibits the techniques of wheel throwing and collage combined into one sculpture. The artist's intent was to create artwork from recyclable materials, such as magazine cutouts, as well as to incorporate her own favorite sculpture techniques. In creating art from reusable materials, the artist hopes to convey the union of environmentalism and "green" artwork. "Dancing Flowers" was inspired by various displays of artificial flowers the artist had seen and the artist's desire to combine nature, recyclable materials, and sculpture into one artistic creation.

Ocean Chimes

Monica Ong

Jewelry - seashells

Crossroads

Nic Shepard

Digital Art

Taken in the outback of Australia, this was originally a picture of a river entangled by roots of surrounding trees. From these pixels, and heavy editing, this piece was created.

Patched

Kate Westenberg

Mosaic - bottle caps, old rug samples, reused Styrofoam board

The Cove

Connor Perry

Oil on Canvas

Paleolithic

Alexander Golob

Oil on Wood

Dear Hunt

Juyon Lee

Scratchboard Illustration

Grimm's Tale

Alexander Golob

Oil on Wood

Music of the Flowers

Alice Rocha

Mosaic – paper, aluminum cans

Retail Developer EDENS supports 4th Wellesley Community Art Project featuring Wellesley Women Artisans in Wellesley Square.

The Wellesley Women Artisans is now exhibiting original artwork in the windows of the former Rugged Bear storefront. The show features pottery, paintings, handmade plush toys, collage, and decoupage work by a diverse group of women artists who live and work in town.

Over the last year the members of the Wellesley Women Artisans have been meeting regularly to share progress, provide support, and create together. “It has been really wonderful to connect with other creative women who live here in Wellesley,” said Abby Glassenberg, a textile artist and founding member of the group. “We learn so much from one another. Making art can feel like a lonely endeavor at times. It’s inspiring to get to visit one another’s studios and see the new directions each person is undertaking with their work.”

Elizabeth Cohen, a potter and also a founding member of the group said, “When Laura Fragasso, director of the Wellesley Community Art Project, offered the former Rugged Bear storefront as display space for group members, we were thrilled! This is a our first show together and we are so pleased to be able to have our work on display right here in our own community.”

The works will be on display until June 25. Inquiries about individual pieces should be addressed to each artist. Members whose work is on exhibit include:

Elizabeth Cohen http://www.elizabethcohenpottery.com
Abby Glassenberg http://www.whileshenaps.typepad.com
Julie Vari-Nikolewski http://www.julievari.com
Jodie Poresky http://poresky.com
Jenny Schneider http://jennyschneiderillustrations.wordpress.com
Crystalle Lacouture http://crystallelacouture.com 
Carolyn Watson http://www.carolynmackin.com

Julie Vari-Nikolewski

Julie's paintings are visual paradoxes that exist interdependently and all-at-once. Executed with painstaking precision, they are built-up, layer after layer, with matte sign-makers paint. All evidence of the artist's hand is repressed. Shape becomes line. Figure turns into ground. Sour becomes sweet. The result is a powerful pictorial tension of seemingly irreconcilable visual contradictions that somehow seems to work in spite of themselves. 

A Wellesley resident of 5 years, Julie hails from Chicago, Illinois. When not painting in her home studio, she is busy helping her husband renovate a 19th century farmhouse. In the summer, she can often be seen wielding a lightsaber in her front yard or building a sand castle at Morses Pond with her two young boys. She is a member of both the Hunnewell and Schofield school communities where she serves as the school's PAC representative.

(Look through the glass to the back wall to see two additional works by Julie) 

Crystalle Lacouture

Crystalle is an artist and illustrator living in Wellesely. She received her degree in fine arts from Skidmore Collge and went on to work in several art related jobs in New York City before moving with her family to Wellesley in 2010. Crystalle is especially excited about finishing "The Moth and the Firefly" a children's picture book set to debut on the Barnes and Noble Nook in June.
 
Crystalle has twin baby-boys and a daughter who is currently attending the Wellesley Montessori School.

Jenny Schneider

Jenny is an artist, illustrator, writer and world traveler. She is also a mom of two wonderful boys who are currently attending the Sprague Elementary school in Wellesley. With them in her company, she never runs of of inspiration.

She has earned a MA in Art Therapy at Lesley University and took many classes at the SMFA (School of Museum of Fine Arts) in Boston.

Jenny loves children's books and is currently writing and illustrating her own. Her paintings are mostly done in watercolor, she always likes to add little collage pieces thus turning into mixed media. She is happiest with lot's of paint on her hands.

People say that her work makes them smile and she hopes it does the same for you too.
 

Jodie Poresky

Jodie is a self-taught decoupage artist. She primarily specializes in using family photographs to create beautiful and distinctive home decor. Being a very nostalgic and sentimental person, she first became interested in decoupage once she had children. Jodie believes photographs are meant to be seen and loves creating functional home accessories to help bring those special memories back to life. She lives in Wellesley with her husband and two kids.

Carolyn Mackin Watson

Recently I redirected my creative energy toward acrylic painting, though I have been a photo-based artist for 2 decades. I enjoy the spontaneity and freedom of building my paintings with many layers and allowing them to develop from a place a intuition and mystery. My influences include the glowing illumination of a city at night, patterns that suggest exotic locales, peeled layers of paint on old buildings or furniture, and cultivating equanimity through yoga and my art practice. In 1996 I earned a BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts) from Syracuse University, and in 2003 a MFA (Master of Fine Arts) from the California College of the Arts.

My husband and I moved to Wellesley from the San Francisco bay area in 2009, and have 2 young boys. My older son attends P.A.W.S. and will enter kindergarten at Hardy in the fall. I have also served on the membership committee of the Wellesley Mothers Forum for the past 2 years. 

(Look through the glass to the back wall to see two additional works by Carolyn) 

 

Elizabeth Cohen

Elizabeth Cohen is a self-taught independent studio potter living in Wellesley. She works in porcelain clay, altering wheel thrown forms while still pliable. Inspired by botanical forms, Japanese arts and mid-century design, she is interested in making work that can be used for daily rituals such favorite foods, flowers, and cup of coffee or tea, as well as sculptural work. 

She earned a B.A. in English from Tufts University and an M.A.T. from Simmons College. After teaching high school English, she began her ceramics career, while raising three children who attend Wellesley Public Schools.

Abby Glassenberg

Abby Glassenberg creates unique patterns for stuffed animals from her home studio in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Abby has a master’s degree in education from Harvard and taught middle school social studies in Mississippi and Massachusetts before becoming a textile artist and the mother of three girls. 

Today Abby enjoys teaching people to sew and opening their eyes to the joy of designing their own stuffed animals.Abby’s first book, The Artful Bird: Feathered Friends To Make and Sew, was an ALA Booklist top ten craft book of 2011. Her new book about soft toy design will be published by Lark in May of 2013. Abby has also licensed toy designs to Simplicity. 

 
Abby has lived in Wellesley for eight years and she and her husband, Charlie, have three daughters. Their eight-year-old is a second grader at Sprague, their six-year-old is a kindergartener at Sprague, and they have an 18-month-old who spends her time at home, playing with mommy and fabric.

Wellesley Society of Artists in Wellesley Square

With the generous support of Linear Retail, WCAP celebrates fourth exhibit at 93 Central Street (former Neena's) in Wellesley Square.

This display represents artwork created by artists who are members of the Wellesley Society of Artists. Artists include Sharon Cohen, Joan Griswold, Nina Jordan, Dottie Laughlin, Sue Lingeman, Yale Nicolls, Nan Rumpf and Bobbie Suratt.

If you would like to see more, please come to the Wellesley Community Center to see our on-going art exhibit!  

The Wellesley Society of Artists (WSA) is a community of artists, founded in 1933 for the purpose of encouraging and supporting local artists, and for promoting fine arts in Wellesley.

WSA objectives are to give members an opportunity to exhibit their work, provide a supportive environment that will stimulate personal creativity, and encourage the sharing of ideas, knowledge and skills.

Three times a year, the WSA accepts new Exhibiting Artist Members, through a juried process. The WSA also welcomes, as Non-Exhibiting Members, those interested in supporting the aims and activities of the Society.

For membership information, please look at our website, www.wellesleysocietyofartists.org.

The Wellesley Society of Artists invites everyone to come to the Wellesley Community Center, from 2 to 4, on Sunday, May 6th, 2012.  We will have an awards presentation for our present exhibit, as well as a reception and Mini art in Bloom with the Wellesley Garden Club. Eleven floral designers will interpret paintings from the exhibit, and there will be refreshments and music, with Doris Gardner on the piano.  There will be a silent auction for the flowers. It is free and open to everyone!

Walnut Hill School for the Arts at former Rugged Bear

With the support of retail developer EDENS, there's an exciting new art exhibit in Wellesley Square.

Richard Schwartz, Visual Arts Faculty, curated the student exhibit.

SCULPTURE

 

Students in sculpture have been using wood as the primary material for creating artwork this semester at Walnut Hill. This recent assignment asked students to create a “bird” using only broken fir/spruce strips, which were glued into place. A simple paper and tape structure was used as the “core” for support on these sculptures. This technique (without precise measuring) forced students to work in a more intuitive manner, making many decisions about their work and forms. The surface variety and scale differences of these pieces are really impressive. Additionally, some students used a thinned tempera paint wash to add color, while still retaining the natural quality of the wood.  It is great to see some of the work displayed in Wellesley and share with the larger community! 

Richard Schwartz, Visual Art Department, Walnut Hill School for the Arts 

 

ACTION PAINTING or GESTURAL ABSTRACTION

These student paintings are the result of an assignment based on the Action Painting or Gestural Abstraction, and Abstract Expressionist movements in American painting of the 1940's through the 1960's. It is a style of painting that is spontaneously dribbled, splashed, or smeared onto the canvas, rather than being carefully applied. The resulting work often emphasizes the physical act of painting itself as an essential aspect of the finished work or concern of the artist. Some of the more well known artists that expressed themselves through these methods were Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline, and Willem de Kooning.

The art critic Harold Rosenberg described the importance of this painting style as "the physical manifestation, a kind of residue, of the actual work of art, which was the act or process of the paintings’ creation". Personally, I like Clement Greenberg's description: "It is the paintings’ clotted and oil caked surfaces that are the key to understanding them as documents of the artist's existential struggle".

Whichever you prefer, I think these student explorations of this school of painting are vibrant, energetic, and just fascinating to view. Thanks for looking!

Ken Tighe,Visual Art Department,Walnut Hill School for the Arts 

 

Located in Natick, MA, Walnut Hill School for the Arts offers a powerful combination of academic rigor and artistic excellence. The School allows talented high school students to advance their training in ballet, music, theater, visual art, or creative writing, while engaging in challenging college-preparatory curriculum. This integrated approach creates a high-performing culture that prepares students for success as they matriculate to some of the world's best colleges and conservatories. Walnut Hill is proud to collaborate with the Wellesley Community Art Project to share their Visual Artists' work with the greater community.

For more information on the School and upcoming events visit www.walnuthillarts.org

Save the date for Walnut Hill's Spring Visual Art Show on May 29, 5pm

Wellesley Middle School Illustrations at 100 Central Street

Illustration Art & Creative Writing

Students from Wellesley Middle School’s 7^th grade English Department, Cluster WMS, worked in teams of two to create illustrated books after reading The Greatest by Walter Dean Myers.

Students explored one of two questions in their work:

Is Muhammad Ali a legend?

Is it right to allow young men to risk their health and future for the prizes found in a boxing career?

Illustrators often make observational statements about contemporary society, sports and culture that go beyond caricature and visual representation.

Natasha Padilla-Goddard
Wellesley Middle School Teacher

Claire J. Lee
Wellesley College, Class of 2012
Wellesley Middle School Student Teacher

Made possible by the artists and Linear Retail

"The Figure" at 93 Central St. (Former Neena's)

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/wellesley/2012/03/the_figure_in_the_window.html

Merrilyn Delano Marsh is a Wellesley artist and resident of 57 years. Elizabeth A. Visvis is a Wellesley artist and resident of 52 years. Both are members of the Wellesley Society of Artists. (Made possible by the artists and Linear Retail.) 

Merrilyn Delano Marsh

Butterfly Garden (Left), Bather (Center), Swimmer (Right)

 

Marsh (Left), WCAP Volunteer, Raina McManus (Right)

In 1946 Marsh was an art student at The School of the Museum Of Fine Arts, Boston. Her class took a field trip to a North Shore, Massachusetts beach. At the time Marsh was inspired by the figure. She found a large piece of driftwood from which she carved Bather. Her unfinished Bather was subsequently selected to appear in a performance at the Boston Opera House. Marsh completed Bather in the early 1970s.

Marsh's watercolors Swimmer and Butterfly Garden reflect her passion for the figure as well as for living things in nature, so often found in her work.

Two of Marsh's bronze sculptures are within short walking distance of the exhibit. Girl with the Butterfly is in Central Park at Central St. & Grove (between the Post Office and the Wellesley Congregational Church). Animal Lover is in the Cloister Garden at St. Andrews Episcopal Church on the corner of Denton Road and Washington Street.

Girl with the Butterfly

Animal Lover

Artist Bio 

Merrilyn Delano Marsh is a graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusettts, and studied at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris, France. Her works have been exhibited throughout New England and New York, and her work is contained in many private collections. Some examples of her commissioned works are: Seven Reliefs for the School for the Environment, Duke University; Bronze Statue for the Cloister Garden at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Wellesley, Massachusetts; Reliefs for the Houston and Sargent Awards of Tufts University of Medford, Massachusetts; a bronze portrait relief of Clarence "Pop" Houston, Houston Hall, Tufts University; and two large bronze reliefs for the Ellis Oval Athletic Field at Tufts University; also, a bronze portait relief of Rocco J. Carzo, for the Rocco J. Carzo Cage, Cousens Gymnasium, Tufts University.

Marsh was a teacher at the Choate School of Brookline, Massachusetts; the Brookline Community Center; the DeCordova Museum of Lincoln, Massachusetts, and has conducted private classes. She is a member of the Copley Society of Art, Boston, having achieved Copley Master status; a member of NESA (New England Sculptors Association) The Cambridge Art Association, and the Wellesley Society of Artists. Marsh is listed in Who's Who and Who's Who of American Woman.
 

Elizabeth A. Visvis

 

After graduating from Colby Junior College with a major in art, my painting was put aside for several years while raising a family and assuming other responsibilities.

Studying with King Coffin in 1975 using oils and acrylics renewed my interest and desire to paint. In 1977 I began working with Maxine Hegsted, and as a direct result of her encouragement began painting in watercolors, which is my primary medium to date adding gouache and pastels to some of the work. Also I enjoy experimenting with gesso and inks.

Elizabeth is well known for her still-life watercolors, often expressing the delicacy and fragility of flowers. Some years ago she became interested in the figure as well as incorporating elements of collage in her work.

"Elizabeth Visvis is not only a wonderful artist, but a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and friend. Her finished paintings have been shown throughout different places, but I have gotten to see the hard work and time that goes into them. There have been times when I've seen her finish a painting in a few hours, while other times it stays unfinished in her studio for years. No matter how long the paintings take to finish, I have been lucky enough to watch my grandmother through her artwork." 

Amanda Visvis 

Artist Bio 

Elizabeth is actively involved in several professional organizations and associations in Massachusetts and Florida. Her success has earned her the prestigious Designated Copley Society Artist title awarded by The Copley Society of Boston. She is an award winning member of the National League of American Pen Women (Arts), Washington, D.C. Elizabeth continues to build upon her impressive history of achievements, both locally and abroad. Over the past two decades, her water-medium still life paintings have been continuously recognized with the highest achievement awards from art association jurors. Select shows include a solo show at Regis College, and befitting to Elizabeth's subject, the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University exhibited her work.

"Full Bloom" at 100 Central Street

Full Bloom

Full Bloom

Chelsea Sebastian

Since becoming a new mom, I spend a tremendous amount of time outdoors exploring Wellesley’s trails and parks. I find the quiet beauty of our community to be the source of my artistic inspiration. People take good care of Wellesley. Shop owners and neighbors take pride in expressing beauty. Our community actively creates positive engagement. I feel very fortunate to live here and have the opportunity to contribute my art.

My work reflects the colorful way I see life and my paintings explore the themes of nature, seascape, and international streetscape. I work with acrylics on canvas from my home studio in Wellesley. I am primarily self-taught, but credit my parents for my training, as both are accomplished artists.

When people see my work, I would like them to be drawn to the vibrant colors and to feel compelled to journey down a foreign street. Painting enables me to interact with the world differently. I pay closer attention to the life around me. I see depth, color, line, and texture. I study gestures and explore how forms relate to each other. I hope that my art becomes a source of pleasure for those who welcome it into their life.