Mosaic Art Collective holds a show focused on mini
Founder and Volunteer Executive Director of Mosaic Art Collective (66 Hanover St., Suite 201, Manchester) Liz Pieroni spoke to the Hippo about their “Small Wonders: Miniature Art Show,” which runs until Sunday, Dec. 22, and contains lots of nifty tiny gifts for the upcoming holidays, and how an exhibit comes together. Visit mosaicartcollective.com.
How do you and Mosaic come up with a theme for an exhibit?
At the beginning it was just really myself. Now we have a board of directors that we brainstorm ideas with. I think this year we’re going to cut back a little bit in 2025 and do a show pretty much every other month now. Just needing a little bit of a breather in between getting everything out there and making sure we’re advertising properly. But we come up with a big list of ideas and then from there narrow those down and we think about what we haven’t done in a while, what ideas are kind of trending. Sometimes it’s just an open concept and really open to any kind of medium or theme.
What is the ‘Small Wonders’ exhibit?
It’s an art exhibit that is taking to mind holiday gift buying, so keeping the prices on the lower side, small art for small budgets kind of a thing. We did this last year and the year before and both shows were pretty high-selling shows. I think the smaller size, most people don’t have huge walls to show art or showcase art, but also because the majority of our budgets are pretty pretty tight right now and we’re doing what we can to still get our artwork out there and be able to give gifts of art.
What’s considered miniature for the exhibit?
So for this show, everything is 12 by 12 [inches] or smaller. I think there’s like a 3 by 5. It’s pretty tiny. But for the most part things are around like 6 by 8-ish. It’s not super miniature, but small enough that you can find a little nook in your house to showcase. We do have a couple of sculptures. One of them is a bird made out of recycled materials that you could hang on a tree. So a little ornament. And then we also have a necklace created by Hannah Cole Dahar that I think is mother of pearl and another kind of teal stone.
How do you decide what gets in the exhibit?
All the calls are open calls. Some of the calls are more juried than others. For this show, we try to be as inclusive as possible, so this one has probably a wider range of experience levels and different styles and media. For the most part, this show we’ve just brought everyone in that we could just to bring a huge range.
What made you interested in starting an art gallery?
I moved back to New Hampshire after living away for almost 15 years. Got here, there was nowhere that really was showing contemporary art, and my art is all contemporary art. I don’t do super traditional work. My goal with opening Mosaic was really to make a place that anyone could come and show their work and have a platform to be showcased and be seen.
What does the gallery space look like?
The gallery is one room. We have five art studios off the main room. Those are rented to artists. And then one other gallerist, Amy Regan, who runs a small boutique gallery out of her studio called See Saw Art on Hanover. The gallery itself is one room, we have high ceilings, big windows, lots of natural light, and a kitchen where we have our opening reception food.
—Zachary Lewis
“Small Wonders: Miniature Art Show”
Mosaic Art Collective
66 Hanover St., Suite 201, Manchester
Runs until Sunday, Dec. 22
Wednesday from 2 to 6 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m.; closed Monday and Tuesday
mosaicartcollective.com
Featured image: “Moths and Mountains” by Mariah Sample.
