This art show is a walk in the park
By Deborah Viapiana-Ricci
[email protected]
The Nashua Area Artists’ Association presents the Greeley Park Art Show in Nashua on Saturday, Aug. 19, and Sunday, Aug. 20, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with this year’s event marking the show’s 70th anniversary.
Each year thousands of visitors attend the show. Here is a sampling of some of the talented artists who will be exhibiting this year under tents in the park.
• Tina Gagnon uses colored pencils to make vivid drawings. It started about 16 years ago when she unearthed a long-forgotten box of colored pencils in a desk drawer and decided to try her hand at using them. She has a penchant for detail, she said, and the pencils can deliver the outcome she desires.
Although Gagnon’s art is extremely time-consuming, taking approximately one hour to cover an inch of space, she loves the results. She has dubbed herself a “hyper-realistic artist” and one could surely attest to that after viewing some of her pieces, especially two of her patrons’ favorites, her owls and onions. They have been quoted as saying her work evokes emotions of wonder. Gagnon will be doing “Art in Action” at the show, so visitors can watch her work.
• Tracy Levesque is passionate about her lifelong journey of creating luminous works of art that echo a kind of stained glass look. She enjoys integrating texture with color to produce what she calls “fairy tale realism.” She gains a lot of her inspiration from “nature, itself … the changing light, the sparkling water” and calls nature “purely a gift.” She said that “when we open our eyes, and use our senses, there is an endless fountain of inspiration to draw from.” She enjoys using acrylics with a pallet knife or brush to create texture that enhances her work.
Levesque has participated in the Greeley Show for approximately 10 years and has shown her work up and down the East Coast for more than 20 years.
• Lisa Ciaccia has the ability to take what we think of as fall décor and transform it into a variety of incredible creations. Yes, we are talking about gourds! Growing them on a friend’s land, she harvests her Apple, Martin and Bottleneck gourds, and takes them back to her studio. They sit in her space until they speak to her with their wish for what they would like to be turned into, she said. Ciaccia renders them into vases, birdhouses or bowls. She hollows them out, saving the seeds for another year of planting, and gets to work on the final product.
She has participated at the Greeley four times and has been an artist since she was 8 years old. Her claim to fame was In September 2021, when a good friend who was part of the SpaceX Inspiration4 orbital space flight took along one of Ciaccia’s pieces with her. Stop by Ciaccia’s booth to see her piece floating in space.
• Sandra Peters, a mixed media artist, will tell you that the more materials she uses the more inspiration she gains. Her work can have a kind of “collage” effect that comes from an emotional exchange and could perhaps be the result of being given a beautiful bouquet of flowers from her special friends. Peters spoke of her first time participating at the Greely Show in the mid 1970s, when she sold her first work of art. She has been active in the fundraising aspect of the show and enjoys connecting with local patrons to gain support that ultimately benefits high school students who are pursuing art education.
The show also features a art competition — one for adults and one for ages 6 to 18 — as well as a raffle and silent auctions that raise funds for scholarships for local high schools, according to the event’s website. The day will also feature a coloring tent, instrument petting zoo and more kid-friendly activities, the website said.
Greeley Park Art Show
Where: Greeley Park, 100 Concord St. in Nashua
When: Saturday, Aug. 19, and Sunday, Aug. 20, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Admission: Free
More info: nashuaarts.org
