Chris Kennedy, Martha’s Vineyard superintendent for The Trustees of Reservations, has spent the past 25 years touring Trustees properties on the Island. He’s seen Wasque, Mytoi, Norton Point and Long Point in all seasons and all types of weather, watching the landscapes shift and transform over time.
As long as Gigi Horr Liverant has been visiting the Island she has been painting it. For 30 years, she has studied the landscape, the archetypal and the commonplace of the Vineyard, and committed it to canvas with pastels, acrylics and oils. While she’s here she takes photographs, makes sketches and brainstorms ideas about what to paint.
How often in nature do we see a single standing beetlebung tree? Not often, thinks Kara Taylor.
“A beetlebung alone is a really unique sight to see,” Ms. Taylor said last week in her new Chilmark gallery space. “Alone, the tree takes this amazing shape. I can only remember one place where I’ve seen this.”
So she decided to paint it.
The wood panel oil painting with 23-karat gold leaf, entitled West Tisbury Beetlebung, is one of 13 paintings in Deciduous, Ms. Taylor’s first show in her new location.
The Old Sculpin Gallery begins their summer season with a new manager, Jennifer Kowal, fresh out of a museum studies masters program at Johns Hopkins. Ms. Kowal, a native of Canterbury, Connecticut, began her post in April.
The previous manager, Kat Cope, resigned last winter as her own artistic career has begun to consume more of her time. The manager position is an “extremely demanding job,” which is suited to a young person, said Sara Aibel, president of the board of directors of the Martha’s Vineyard Art Association, which is housed at the gallery.
For many years artist Kara Taylor’s gallery was located on Main street in Vineyard Haven. But this past summer she needed to find a new place to show her work. At first she focused on finding another spot in Vineyard Haven. A deal was almost made and then collapsed at the last minute. She widened her gaze to include up-Island, which would mean her gallery would have to be a destination spot rather than a place people might encounter on a casual stroll through town. Added pressure, of course, but over the years Ms.
On Sunday Featherstone Center for the Arts celebrated Lucy Vincent Beach with its own art reception. The party marked the opening of an exhibit that runs through May 8.
The show came into being after artist Linda Ziegler surveyed the damage done to the beach by Hurricane Sandy and wanted to find a way to honor what has long been a favorite Vineyard destination.
Enjoy the crisp August weather outdoors or stay indoors and visit one of the many art galleries on the Island? Thanks to Vineyard Gardens’ Gallery in the Garden events, held each Friday evening in August, the decision became a simple one: do both.
Art and nature are more closely tied than ever at the Gay Head Gallery on State Road in Aquinnah. A current show features art across a variety of mediums with special goals — to relay the beauty of the natural world and contribute to conservation efforts. A dozen artists have work on exhibit for sale, and anywhere from 10 per cent to 100 per cent of the proceeds from sales will benefit the Vineyard Conservation Society and the Moshup Trail Project.
November is an unusual time to open an art gallery on Martha’s Vineyard. The summer crowds, with their disposable incomes and endless leisure time, have been replaced by the year-round residents with their bills and 40-hour work weeks. And in this economic climate, with art markets large and small starting to feel the trickle-down effect from the crisis on Wall Street, artists and dealers alike might find themselves seeking shelter from the storm with other pursuits, or even abandoning ship all together.
A deep connection with the senses is synonymous with artists, those tactile beings who crave materials in their hands. The resting of a paintbrush in the palm of a painter, the click of a shutter in the hands of a photographer, the composition of a scene, the satisfaction of capturing the perfect Vineyard light.
