Saturday, August 22nd, 2020

Attleboro Arts Museum Lawn, 86 Park Street, Attleboro, MA

Two viewings: 7:00 – 7:45 p.m. and 8:00 – 8:45 p.m.

Free and open to all. Registration is required. Register online at https://charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/luminaria-on-the-lawn.  Optional donations to the American cancer society’s Relay for Life will be accepted at the time of registration.

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The Attleboro Arts Museum will continue its ongoing collaboration with the Greater Attleboro Relay For Life and the American Cancer Society with a first-time summer event designed to support the cancer society during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Luminaria on the Lawn” will be held on Saturday evening Aug. 22 outside of the downtown museum, which was closed for nearly four months due to the state government regulations imposed in mid-March.

The pandemic also forced the relay, scheduled for June 12-13 at Norton High School, to become a virtual event called Hope From Home. That event helped the Greater Attleboro Relay For Life raise about $60,000 despite having its fundraising efforts hampered by the pandemic.

Luminaria on the Lawn, a pop-up display, will be held in accordance with all state guidelines that have been imposed during the pandemic. That means, stresses Museum Executive Director and chief curator Mim Brooks Fawcett, that social distancing will be strictly enforced and that face coverings will be required by all who attend.

In addition, no walk-ons will be allowed as attendance will be permitted only by reservations, with people being urged to arrive no earlier than 5 minutes before their reserved start time.

Register online at https://charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/luminaria-on-the-lawn.  Optional donations to the cancer society’s Relay for Life will be accepted at the time of registration.

There will be two viewings to choose from: 7 to 7:45 p.m. and 8 to 8:45 p.m. Per state guidelines, a maximum of 50 people, including staff and volunteers, will be allowed during each viewing. Those guidelines are based on the current Massachusetts regulations and are subject to change.

In addition, Fawcett said, state and City of Attleboro health guidelines will allow 24 visitors who are already included within the 50 people allowed per outdoor viewing session to enter the gallery at one time that night. She said patrons will be welcome to view the museum’s “8 Visions” exhibit, featuring work from eight juried museum member artists, after spending time on the lawn.

Fawcett also cautioned that the Saturday evening event will not have a rain date.

Luminaria on the Lawn will be the second major joint effort between the Relay For Life and the museum to be held this year.

In February, a first-time exhibit in the museum’s gallery titled “Luminaria” empowered 19 area artists to create their original renditions of the luminaria – candles lit at relays in honor of cancer survivors and in memory of cancer victims. The week-long exhibit proved popular and drew hundreds of spectators during Attleboro’s downtown Winter Night Festival on Feb. 22.

Now, six months later, the local relay committee and museum plan to renew their mutually successful collaboration.

Fawcett is especially pleased that the new event will help publicize the mission of the cancer society during the ongoing health emergency. “This outdoor display of over 100 meandering paper bag luminaria will fill the museum’s lawn and honor those who have been touched by cancer,” Fawcett said. “Several of the artists who participated in the original exhibition have continued their involvement by decorating bags that will be on view.”

The Greater Attleboro Relay For Life, the oldest such event in the Attleboro area, began in 1999 at North Attleboro High School, where it was held until moving to Norton in 2018. It draws participants from most Attleboro area communities, including Attleboro, North Attleboro, Norton, Plainville and Rehoboth.

Register online for Luminaria on the Lawn at https://charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/luminaria-on-the-lawn.  Optional donations to the cancer society’s Relay for Life will be accepted at the time of registration.

A National Juried Exhibition

Attleboro Arts Museum – 2021

Real or imagined?  One might wonder these days.  These challenging times are complicated, unfamiliar and defying our norms. 

As we make our way forward, the Attleboro Arts Museum invites artists throughout the US to submit works of original art in any medium, size or concept that respond to the theme of Real or Imagined. For instance, artists can reflect on the nature or quality of this moment, spotlight the authentic, explore the unreal or depict items that contain some/all of the above. 

Consider a representational still life or a surrealist scene … the phenomenon of phantom pain … AstroTurf landscapes …

Plastic surgery

Ghosts

World Wrestling Foundation

Love

No homework

Historical fiction

Beauty

Gold bullion

Costume jewelry

Santa Claus

Fat-free foods

The Emperor’s new clothes

A tested vaccine in 2021

Other

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Key dates

• Real or Imagined prospectus released: January 2021
• Submission deadline: April 2021 via callforentry.org (Café)
• Exhibition: June – July 2021

Image: Suspended Beauty by Robin Wessman, oil.

Donation Collection Period: August 11th – September 12th, 2020

• In-gallery preview exhibition: October 6^th – November 6^th
• Online bidding: October 6^th – November 7^th
• Live stream of auctioneer Chris Barber: Friday, November 6^th at 7pm

Dear Friends,

I invite you to join a group of prestigious artists, collectors and organizations in supporting the Attleboro Arts Museum by donating to our 29th Benefit Art Auction. The Auction is regarded as a powerful opportunity to contribute to a vital cultural resource and for donors to gain valuable exposure for their artwork and business.

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Each donor of one or two items will receive:

• A one-year Museum Artist or Individual Membership ($35 value)*

• Revenue sharing up to 20% on the sale of items valued at $300 or more

• International exposure through this year’s expanded online auction

• Artist or business biography/profile within the online auction and digital auction catalog

* Visit www.attleboroartsmuseum.org for a list of member benefits.

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Collection Period: August 11^th – September 12^th

Donations of framed or gallery-finished original art (all media), handmade gifts, crafts and objects created for the home from artists or collectors – as well as specialty items will be collected from August 11^th – September 12^th, 10am – 3pm.  Specialty items, for example, may include a one-on-one virtual art-making workshop, e-tickets to an online cultural performance or gift certificates to a frame shop.  Artists are encouraged to contribute artwork that best represents their current style and standard, as this year’s online site will touch an expanded audience of international collectors and buyers.

There are a range of delivery options this year, including scheduled curbside drop-off, that are available for your safety and convenience. You can select what works best for you within our Auction donation form.

The Familiar and the New

As you may expect, this year brings inevitable changes to the Auction. Organizers have been “Zooming” through the past months, strategizing and planning for the most user-friendly, engaging and careful way to hold one of the Museum’s largest fundraising events.

2020’s Benefit Art Auction Donation Details

• An online donation form replaces its paper predecessor. Note that each donation requires the completion of a separate form.  Fill out a donation form here.
• All donated pieces will continue to be part of an in-gallery Preview Exhibition offering potential bidders a chance to see and familiarize themselves with each item. 
• Donations will simultaneously be found online through our new Benefit Art Auction platform – Bidsquare.  Our partners at Bidsquare have worked with over 100 top-tier auction houses and antique dealers to promote and sell original art through their virtual bidding site. Bidsquare’s many attractive features include the opportunity for donating artists to have their work seen by over 180,000 national and international bidders. With Bidsquare, global, targeted art buyers can now view all Attleboro Arts Museum Auction items.  Add this exposure to the Museum’s established base of bidders and our audience for art has substantially increased!      
• Our customary, ticketed, in-gallery auction event will convert to two virtual bidding sessions with “free admission.” These include a live-streamed auction conducted by auctioneer Chris Barber of Skinner on Friday, November 6th at 7pm.  One “timed” auction (formerly known as the “silent” auction) will close the day after the live-streamed session concludes.
• As in previous years, bidders will be able to place online advance bids for all auction items.

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Fill out the online Auction donation form now.

Note: The form must be filled out in one sitting. You cannot save and return to the text that you have entered.

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Feel free to contact the Museum at 508-222-2644 x13 or office@attleboroartsmuseum.org with any questions.

Please accept my sincere thanks for your support, generosity and much appreciated partnership. I’m grateful for your participation and look forward to receiving your donation(s)!

Warm regards,

Mim Brooks Fawcett

Executive Director & Chief Curator

P.S. Auction organizers were quite taken with 2019’s impressive donations and record advance bidding. Please honor us with your fine work and keep the standard of this year’s Auction just as strong.

An Exhibition Inspired by Madeline Miller’s novel Circe

The Attleboro Arts Museum is pleased to present an invitational of original artwork responding the novel, Circe, by Madeline Miller. Circe is an award-winning story that reimagines the life of Circe, sorceress of The Odyssey. Since 2007 the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Big Read has awarded funding to Attleboro’s 1ABC Committee for its engaging city-wide reading programs.

Attleboro is one of 84 national cities or towns selected to receive an NEA Big Read grant to support a community reading program in 2020.

From September 11th – 18th the Museum presents “Scylla – The Ugly Truth Revealed,” an exhibition of visual art interpretations of six-headed, ravenous monsters based on the themes from the best-selling book. The exhibition will appear in-gallery and online.

Exhibiting Artists

• Laura White Carpenter
• Monica DeSalvo
• Liz Sibley Fletcher
• Ann-Marie Gillett
• Ellie Huntress
• Gwendolyn Lanier
• Madeleine Lord
• Susan Medyn
• Emily Oliveira
• Theresa Pedrotti
• Ellen Shattuck Pierce
• Nora Rabins
• Lisa Redburn
• Linda Rodgers
• Abby Rovaldi
• Heather Stivison
• Kerry St. Pierre
• Jess Tracey

The Attleboro Arts Museum has reopened to the public. We’re so grateful to welcome visitors back to our galleries and to offer in-person experiences with art. That said, we will continue to provide virtual exhibitions whenever possible to allow for online companion viewing.

Thank you for your great support and commitment to “Arts for Everyone” during our closure.

To ensure the health and safety of museum visitors, art students and staff members, all guests are being asked to adhere to the following guidelines:

• Masks are required for entry and will be provided if needed

• Temperature checks are required for entry

• Visitors will be asked to provide information for contact tracing

• A social distance of 6-feet must be maintained

• Guests visiting the gift shop will be given gloves

• A limited number of visitors will be allowed in the Museum at any given time

Feel free to contact the Museum with any questions: 508-222-2644 x10.

Looking forward to seeing you,

Mim Brooks Fawcett

Executive Director and Chief Curator

August 4th – 28th, 2020

In-gallery and online viewing

View the Online Exhibition

Exhibiting Artists

• Nancy Beams – Cambridge, MA
• Linda DiFrenna – Swansea, MA
• Michael Evans – Taunton, MA
• Linda Pearlman Karlsberg – Newton, MA
• Meghan Murray – Norton, MA
• Carolann Tebbetts – Shrewsbury, MA
• Jess Tracey – Attleboro, MA
• Steven Wiseman – Norton, MA

Since 2002 the Attleboro Arts Museum has presented a late summer “Visions” group exhibition featuring the work of juried member artists.

The exhibiting artist review process for 8 Visions begins during the Museum’s annual Members’ Exhibition in December.  All exhibiting member artists are eligible to apply for this premiere exhibition opportunity.  Three separate jurors are involved in the selection process. 

This year’s jurors were:

Currently the Associate Curator at Skye Gallery in Providence, RI, Annabelle Grimes came to New England from New Orleans, where after earning a degree in Art History from Louisiana State University, managed Martine Chaisson Gallery and was active with Arts District New Orleans, among other endeavors.  Growing up in working class Memphis, Grimes’ particular interest is contemporary art that crosses boundaries and pushes society to be more just and joyful.

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Catherine Graffam is an artist, educator and curator. She was named one of 2017’s “Remarkable Women” by NH Magazine, profiled in The Jealous Curator’s new book A Big Important Art Book (Now With Women!), interviewed in TIME magazine on transgender issues, and had her work accepted intothe permanent collection of the Library of Congress.

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Gillian Ross, along with her husband John, is the owner and operator of gallery twist in Lexington, MA, opened in 2015. They stage exhibits in their beautiful historic house, promoting the work of an eclectic mix of regional artists in a unique and charming way – and offering a new kind of “art experience” Gillian has juried, curated and presented many art exhibitions both at gallery twist, and while concurrently serving as Gallery Director at Lexington’s Grace Art Gallery for the past ten years.  Previously a member of the Depot Square Gallery, also in Lexington, MA, she has in addition served on the boards of Lexington Open Studios and the Monotype Guild of New England. Trained at the University of London and formerly an art teacher in the UK, Gillian is herself still a practicing printmaker and painter. 

8 Visions is on view from August 4^th – August 28^th, 2020. The show is presented in-gallery, with a companion online exhibition. View the online exhibition now.

We’ve been taping a series of free art demos featuring projects that are great to make at home using readily available household items.  These are easy and colorful projects to work on with kids – and adults will also enjoy the art-making experience.

At least one video will be added each week. Keep checking back for new episodes.

We encourage you to share these demos with your friends!

Thanks for watching. Consider making a donation of any size to support the Attleboro Arts Museum today.