“Creating” Community
The new exhibit in the Lamont Art Gallery, entitled Catalyst: Work from Community-Based Art Centers, opened last Monday, with the opening reception held on Friday. The exhibit has the tagline “Art for change. Art for social justice. Art for empowerment,” and showcases the work produced in three community-based arts centers: Arts in Reach, Community Access to the Arts and Mudflat Studio.Each community-based art center is different, but they all offer various support, training and opportunities for self-expression, which the exhibit ties together in what is described as the titular catalyst for “growth and positive change.”Arts in Reach in Portsmouth, N.H., empowers teenage girls through mentoring and the arts. Community Access to the Arts in Great Barrington, Mass., nurtures and celebrates the creativity of people with disabilities through shared experiences in the arts. Mudflat Studio in Somerville, Mass., promotes ceramic arts education and serves as a neighborhood anchor in urban revitalization efforts.The exhibition also showcases how Academy students are engaged in mentoring and teaching people in our communities about the arts.Kelsey, a 15-year-old in the program at Arts in Reach, said, “At AIR, girls are: free, confident, beautiful, united, learning, growing, inspired, loved, fun, focused, ambitious, treated like we matter, like we can change that world, like what we can be when we aspire to be.”
In her statement on the exhibit, Lamont Gallery director Lauren O’Neal said, “Each organization offers a safe, supportive environment where participants gain skills in the arts, develop self-confidence and build strong relationships with peers and community members.”
O’Neal also emphasized the unifying power of art. She said, “The settings may vary—programs can take place anywhere from church basements to parks—but what they have in common is an atmosphere of care and respect, access to exceptional teaching artist and the opportunity to share work with the wider public.”Most of the works featured in the exhibit are for sale, and all the money earned will directly benefit each of the the non-profit organizations featured in the exhibition. “The Gift! holiday Sale” will be held in Lamont Gallery on Wednesday, Dec. 11, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.In the exhibition, a client of the Community Access to the Arts said, “I am still part of CATA and I remember the first time I felt this way. It was the first time the staff talked to me. Not to my helper, but to me. I was new and they didn't know my abilities, but it didn’t matter because they knew I had abilities. They wanted me to be part of their community, and they still want me to grow as an artist, and that’s special and it makes me feel special. We are all special at CATA.”“The organizations in Catalyst raise important questions about what defines artistic excellence. Success is not just a matter of individual talent, drive and practice, but it arises from a collective effort to nurture artists at all levels of their development, ” O’Neal said.