Category: Art & Theater

The Currier Museum of Art holds its annual Block Party

By Zachary Lewis
zlewis@hippopress.com

The Currier Museum of Art will be hosting its annual Summer Block Party on Sunday, July 14, from 3 to 7 p.m. The entire community is invited to take part in this fun and free celebration of art and Manchester.

“Hopefully those that have not been to the museum before or for a long time can come and get to enjoy the museum for free,” said Karen Graham, interim director & chief operating officer of the Currier Museum of Art. She expects a good turnout.

“We typically get upwards of 2,500 people,” she said. Usually the building and the whole grounds are full of people enjoying the event.”

Guests can enjoy the fun inside or outside the museum.

“The first year we did it we weren’t sure if people would be interested in going into the galleries or if they would just stay outside because there are so many activities outside,” Graham said, “but the galleries … they were the most crowded of any day during the year during the Block Party.”

Some activities at the Block Party will be inspired by the museum’s new Daniel Otero Torres exhibition, “Sonidos del Crepúsculo (Twilight Sounds).” This is the first exhibition at a U.S. institution of the work of Colombian-born and Paris-based artist Torres. Activities will include a clay leaf project as well as a chance to “create watercolor seascapes inspired by the Stories of the Sea show,” according to the Currier’s website.

There will be a stamp printmaking station set up to mimic abstract patterns like the ones in Elisabeth Kley’s installation in the museum’s Welcome Gallery.

Outdoor activities are held in the Museum’s courtyard, some under tents. The event is held rain or shine.

“We close part of Ash Street on the side of the building and all of Prospect in front of the building … between Ash and Beech,” Graham said. This is where you’ll find food vendors including Deadproof Pizza, Consuelo’s, Arnie’s Place ice cream, Don Quijote, Chez Rafiki and the Gyro Spot as well as ice cream from Ben & Jerry’s.

Beer and wine will be plentiful; the Currier typically crafts specialty cocktails based on its current exhibitions.

“We close off the parking lot, obviously, and that’s where the wine and beer tent, the musicians, and all the art activities are, throughout the whole grounds of the museum,” Graham said.

Live music will be performed outdoors by Joey Clark and The Big Hearts, and Party of the Sun. “We had both of them play here on different occasions in the past and the crowd loved them both,” Graham said. Laura Boyce from Rock 101’s Greg & the Morning Buzz will act as emcee.

It’s a good time to sign up for a Museum membership, if you haven’t already.

“New members that join as a member that day, they’ll get a discount. We’ll have some of our staff walking through the crowds inviting people to become members at a discounted rate,” Graham said.

And, as Graham noted, there’s always face painting. It’s one of the most popular activities at the Block Party. “We make it our biggest tent … when we used to leave it up to requests the line would circle the building, so now we pick and give them a few options to pick from … so there’ll probably be a fish, a mermaid, things like that.” The face painting will be themed to go with the current “Stories from the Sea” exhibit. Central High School’s Art Department volunteers with the face painting and are led by museum staff.

That combination of art and the community brings joy to Graham.

“I just love an opportunity to have so much of our community come together in the summer and enjoy art. We always hear the best comments from people that say, ‘Oh, I haven’t been here since I was a kid taking an art class and now I’m coming back with my own kids…. People really, really love the opportunity to come in and see the art.”

The Currier’s Summer Block Party
When: Sunday, July 14, from 3 to 7 p.m.
Where: 150 Ash St., Manchester
Admission: free
More: currier.org, 669-6144

Concord art gallery welcomes NH artists

To understand the business philosophy of Meme Exum, owner of The Glimpse Gallery in Concord, the story of how she acquired her first piece of art is instructive. At age 20 she studied political science at Georgia State, waiting tables to support herself. Her only roommate was Angelina, an angelfish from the Amazon River.

Exum had an emotional connection with the fish, who’d nibble her finger when she fed it. One day she rushed off to work worried her aquarium’s pH balance wasn’t right, and when she returned from her shift her beloved companion had passed. Heartbroken, she asked a friend, a student at Georgia State’s art school, to paint her portrait.

She paid $50 for the small painting of Angelina in a spray of river silk with tiny bubbles escaping from her mouth. The image now greets visitors to Glimpse; it’s both a logo and the source of the gallery’s name. With the bubbles, “you’re getting a glimpse of her in her native habitat,” Exum said.

What does this have to do with running an art gallery located on the alley side of a building across the street from the Statehouse? First of all, Glimpse isn’t a moneymaker. Exum breaks even on costs, and her web design company pays the bills. She charges a wall space fee sufficient to cover maintenance but doesn’t take a commission when something sells.

She mounts six exhibitions a year, relying on word of mouth to draw people in. The current show offers works from seven artists whose works range from surreal images of stair-climbing fish to watercolor horizons, colorful canvas sculptures that echo Van Gogh, and portraits of players on the NBA Champion Boston Celtics.

It opens July 9, preceded by four Friday evening receptions; the final one is June 28 at 5 p.m. It will include works from Julie Daniels, Mark Ruddy, Kevin Kintner, Rose Culver, Paul Gilmore, Cheryl Mitchell and Christina Landry-Boullion. Art prices can range from under $100 to a few thousand dollars.

“I simply am in it to get the art out,” she said, adding that she eschews social media. “That’s not the vibe, it’s more an underground following. You hear about it from other artists, you hear about it from people who truly love art. Then you come here, have a glass of wine or a non-alcoholic beverage and you simply see new art. If you don’t buy anything, you’re still supporting the artist.”

There’s another reason for her altruism, however.

After being bit by the collector bug in college, Exum got a job at an Atlanta architect’s office. There she ran a side hustle connecting her artist pals with interior designers.

“When I sold a piece from a struggling student who just graduated to an interior designer, that feeling of being the intermediary was my goal,” not money, she said. “It was a power for good.”

Her reward was being able to snag pieces she liked before they ended up on the wall of a million-dollar condo. “You know where I made bank?” she asked. “I get dibs on all the first art … I get to see all these artists and pick what I like.” In other words, she’s in business for reasons very similar to those of people who run used record stores or antique shops.

This explains the ancient Toyota pickup truck parked in front of Glimpse. “We’re never selling this, and our other car is a 10-year old station wagon,” Exum said. “Why buy a fancy car when we could have that cash available for when we see the right piece? We can buy it if we don’t have a car payment.”

Glimpse’s first exhibit in February had works from the online gallery Exum ran out of Atlanta before she and her husband moved north, along with pieces from her brother in Vermont and a few from a Bow artist. Since then she’s managed to fill the walls with mostly New Hampshire artists.

Choosing what to display doesn’t come down to her personal preferences; Exum tries to keep an open mind and find work outside of her comfort zone.

“I really look at pieces that I’m not necessarily drawn to, because we all like our own taste,” she said. “If I’m not really drawn to it let me see if I can understand it more and if that will give me a connection.”

Exum also knows there’s always more to glean.

“I am learning so much from the artists that Glimpse represents, like when they’ll mention an artist that I’ve never heard of,” she said. “It’s a very humbling place to be a gallery owner, and everyone’s telling you stuff you don’t know, but I’m just trying to absorb it as much as I can.”

First Glimpse Art Show
When: Friday, June 28, 5 p.m.
Where: The Glimpse Gallery, 4 Park St. (Patriot Building), Concord
More: theglimpsegallery.com