“Playscapes” exhibit at STCC to feature local female artists
Springfield, Mass. – The Amy H. Carberry Fine Arts Gallery, located on the Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) campus, will showcase the artwork of four local female artists in the exhibit “Playscapes,” set to run Tuesday, March 8 through Saturday, April 9. A reception for the exhibiting artists and the curator will be held on Tuesday, March 22 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. A curator’s talk will be held on Saturday, April 2 from 11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. All events are free and open to the public.
“Playscapes” is the curatorial project of STCC alumna Shelby Miner (‘13). The exhibit plays with the traditional idea of landscape by showcasing abstract artwork with an emphasis on the artists’ processes and different materials. Featured artists include Angela Zammarelli, of Easthampton; Nancy Winship Milliken, of Vermont; Joanne Holtje, of Holyoke; and Lauren Parent, of Easthampton.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Angela Zammarelli likes to work with cardboard and textiles for their ubiquity and versatility, while they also call back to childhood. She creates imaginative structures that highlight the intersection of fantasy and reality. Her structures are used to house idiosyncratic objects and imagery pertinent to characters within her studio narrative. Zammarelli was named one of the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s fellowship recipients in sculpture/installation in 2011.
Nancy Winship Milliken is a sculptor whose work is heavily influenced by rural landscapes and often invites animal and human interaction. Her structures and two-dimensional work incorporate ephemeral, organic materials such as wool, manure, and honey and often pair with industrial components such as steel. The effects of wind, rain, sun, and time transform her sculptures. Milliken is represented by the Boston Sculptors Gallery.
Joanne Holtje is an abstract painter whose artwork is informed by the natural landscape, as well as the role of emotion and memory in the perception of the world around us. Holtje uses her colorful paintings to explore her experiences and surroundings with hope that they allow viewers to embrace the power of art to transform and open up new perceptual possibilities. She is represented at the Oxbow Gallery in Northampton and the Surroundings Gallery in Gardner.
Lauren Parent’s artwork is inspired by the overview effect on landscape and our changing relationship with Earth. Her process starts largely unplanned and left to chance when making prints from layers of foam mound, but as she paints on top of her prints, she simultaneously creates and discovers the landscape. She lives and works in Easthampton.
ABOUT THE CURATOR: Shelby Miner is a 2013 graduate of STCC. While she was a student, Miner was president of the Art Club and actively involved with the Fine Arts Department. Miner continued her studies in Art History and Studio Arts at the University of Massachusetts Amherst where she co-curated the exhibition “The Art of Collecting: Contemporary Prints from the Risa Gerrig Collection” at the University Museum of Contemporary Art in Amherst.
ABOUT THE GALLERY: The Amy H. Carberry Fine Arts Gallery at Springfield Technical Community College presents six exhibits each academic year, featuring works by artists of local and national repute as well as STCC student work. The gallery is open Tuesday through Friday 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The exhibition is free, open to the public, and handicapped accessible.
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