By MacKenzie Brady
Student Life Editor
This past Tuesday, Feb. 4, the Art Department at Washington College invited Kyle Hackett, exhibiting artist at Sumner Hall and the Fredrick Douglass Visiting Fellow for 2019, to do a talk in Hynson Lounge as a precursor to his exhibition opening on Friday, Feb. 7.
“Manipulating the authority of representational portraiture, my work deconstructs historical ideas of secure identity and fixed-painting techniques through subtexts of staged, self-aware portrait,” Hackett said in his artist statement. “I highlight contingencies between self and the constructed image as I attempt to clarify my contemporary concerns about race, class, and social standing.”
Hackett’s solo exhibition, “Spirits Rejoice,” will be displayed in Sumner Hall for the duration of February as part of a celebration of Black History Month. Sumner Hall is located at 206 S. Queen Street, and is open on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Wednesday 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Hackett’s talk served as an unofficial kick-off to a month of art-based activities.
On Tuesday, Feb 18, Kohl Gallery will be hosting their opening reception for their current exhibition, “Intimate Generations.” The reception is from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
“[The reception] is going to include definitely one of the artists in the exhibition who’s going to introduce a new, interactive component to the piece she has on display in the gallery,” said Tara Gladden, gallery director and curator for Kohl Gallery.
“In addition to that, the reception is going to feature original dances made in response to several works on display in the gallery, created by WC dance composition students,” Gladden said.
Though the reception is on Feb. 18, “Intimate Generations” will be shown from Jan. 28 through Feb. 29 and features work by chanan delivuk, Rozana Alger Geffen, Aimee Filmoe, Khánh H. Lê, Kalen Na’il Roach, and Aaron Wax.
“This diverse collection of works brings forth re-imagined and re-constructed family narratives, relationships, and identities that communicate an array of contradictory emotions,” Gladden said of the exhibition. “Individual expressions of love, joy, longing, heartache, connection, and critique all live equally within these ‘Intimate Generations.’”
Massoni Art, a gallery located at 203 High Street in Chestertown, will be exhibiting a companion show to WC’s “Intimate Generations” called “Intimate Generations, Too.”
Gladden reached out to Carla Massoni, curator of the Massoni Gallery, about collaborating on a project. From there, “Intimate Generations, Too” was born.
“‘Intimate Generations, Too’ is our take on this provocative subject,” Massoni said on the exhibition statement.
“Intimate Generations, Too” will feature work by Simma Liebman, Blake Conroy, Nicole Fall, Eve Stockton, Emily Kalwaitis, Greg Mort, Joe Karlik, Katherine Cox, Anne Leighton Massoni, Elizabeth Casqueito, Kathryn O’Grady, Susan Hostetler, Grace Mitchell, Lisa Lebofsky, Stu Cawley, Ken Schiano, Karen Hubacher, and special guests. The exhibition will be open from Feb. 15 through March 15 with a First Friday reception on Friday, March 6 from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Regular gallery hours are Thursday and Friday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 and Sunday 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The collaboration between Gladden and Massoni does not end with their companion exhibitions — the two of them, along with many others, have put together an Art Crawl.
“I’m very excited about the companion exhibition, ‘Intimate Generations, Too’ at the Massoni Gallery because both the exhibition here at Kohl Gallery and her exhibition really have acted as a conceptual framework for the whole entire event—it’s a celebration of family,” Gladden said.
The Art Crawl will take place on Saturday, Feb. 22 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Participants include MassoniArt, River Arts (all locations), Sumner Hall, The Book Plate, Robert Ortiz Studios, Garfield Center for the Arts, The Artists’ Gallery, Tish Fine Arts Plus, Heron Point Art Gallery, Casa Carmen Wine House, and The Retriever. There will be two stops at WC: Kohl Gallery and Assistant Professor of Studio Art Julie Wills’s studio.
“The event will highlight the rich network of arts and cultural producers at work in Chestertown right now,” the Kohl Gallery webpage said. “The overarching theme of the event is ‘family,’ and stops along the crawl will feature special exhibitions exploring this theme.”
Wills’s studio, presenting her family-related series “Split Void,” will only be open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Her studio is located at 508 Washington Ave.
Heron Point’s “Shore Love Little Quilts!” exhibit will include art quilts, wall quilts, and other small works. Heron Point is located at 501 E. Campus Ave.
RiverArts will have work on display at their main gallery, located at 315 High Street, Ste. 106. The Arts Alive Education Center will have a family-themed pop-up exhibit with hands-on activities for all ages. Arts Alive is located at 200 High Street. The Clay Studio will have porcelain Easter figurines to paint, including bunnies, teddy bears, and eggs. The Clay Studio is located at 204 High Street.
The Book Plate will be hosting a lecture by Ezra Greenspan at 4 p.m. The Book Plate is located at 112 S. Cross Street.
The Garfield Center for the Arts will have a special exhibition in the lobby, featuring portraits of the family from their current show, “Greater Tuna.” The Garfield is located at 210 High Street.
Robert Ortiz Studios will feature Shaker and Japanese inspired furniture. Additional works by Latin American ceramic arts and metal artist Rob Glebe will also be on display. The studio is located at 207 S. Cross Street.
The Artists’ Gallery will have members’ works on display at 239 High Street.
Tish Fine Arts Plus will feature an exhibition of regional artists and a musical performance by Paul Santori from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Tish Fine Arts Plus is located at 343 High Street.
Casa Carmen Wine House will offer tapas from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. Photos of the owners’ family will be on display. Casa Carmen is located at 312 Cannon Street.
The Retriever will have cocktails and dinner with family portraits on display. The Retriever is located at 337 High Street.
“We’re exploring the idea of a completely integrated art community that includes the College,” Gladden said.
There will be a guide with a map provided to attendees so they can tailor their day to include what they are most interested in seeing, and while the crawl will last the majority of the day, Gladden suggested that it could easily be done in a few hours.
“It really is an over-arching celebration of family and art and culture and food and everything that Chestertown has to offer right now — everyone in Chestertown who are the cultural producers are participating, so I’m very excited about all those aspects,” Gladden said. “I hope that the art crawl event is something that will continue — and I think it will because a lot of people are excited about it and the collaboration has gone really smoothly,” she said. “It’s been wonderful to work with everyone that I’ve worked with both in town and everybody has pitched in and everyone is excited about it — it’s just been great and I’m really looking forward to it.”
