Sharon Arts Center Executive Director Keri Wiederspahn has announced that nine artists have been selected to participate in the non-profit art organization’s second Community Supported Art (CSArt) project, which will hold a Kick-Off Party at their downtown Exhibition Gallery, 30 Grove St., on Wednesday, May 23 from 6 to 8 pm.

The event is free and open to the public, who is invited to meet the artists, see some of their work, and consider buying shares in the project. Refreshments, along with wine and beer, will be served and live music will be provided by Girl and Piano.

“We have another particularly fine group of artists who will deliver specially created works of art to individual shareholders in the project,” Wiederspahn said. “This season we’re pleased to announce that our May artist-in-residence James Grashow has also agreed to participate.”

Grashow, a nationally renowned cardboard artist, will create a “Garden of the Imagination” at the Sharon Arts Exhibition Gallery during his residence from May 15 to 26. Born in Brooklyn in 1942, he has been creating works that address themes of man, nature, and mortality since the 1960s and is convinced that magical art can be made from the most mundane of materials. Constructing his pieces from cardboard, paper, and occasionally wood, the scale of his work ranges from large environmental installations, through which the viewer traverses, to the delicate and contained world of his houseplants, where homes and buildings replace flowers and buds in intricately constructed bouquets.

Jurors who selected the CSArt artists include Maureen Ahern, Director of the Thorne-Sagendorph Gallery, Keene State College, Keene, NH; Gary Samson, Chairman of the Photography Department, New Hampshire Insitute of Art, Manchester, NH; and Laina Barakat, Director of Artist Relations, The Starving Artist, Keene, NH.

Sharon Arts’ CSArt project, launched last fall, is modeled after the popular Community Supported Agriculture movement (CSA), where consumers buy seasonal food directly from local farms. In a similar “buy local” spirit, CSArt is an endeavor to support regional art, artists, and collectors.

“This is a great idea that originated at Minnesota’s Springboard for the Arts, which the Monadnock region embraced enthusiastically last fall,” Wiederspahn said.  ”This program is interesting because the similarities of a farmer and artist are very real, beginning with the dedication of their hands to the act of creation. Both local artists and farmers are dependent upon community support, and the long-term results of a project like this hold the potential for generating many wonderful relationships and educating the public on a specific set of local talent and artistry.”

The artists selected, in addition to James Grashow, are: Kristin Boyle, a ceramics artist; Tricia Gibbs, oil painter; Jenn Houle, creator of hand-cut images on polypropylene paper; Rachel Montroy, ceramics artist; Linda Widstrand, encaustic artist; Amy Marie Regan, photography; Brittany Kelly, printmaker; and Cheryl Z. Miller, collage artist.

Each of the artists will receive a stipend for creating 50 “shares” for the program, Wiederspahn explained. ”The artwork will be limited editions for CSArt only–art that is rare and unique, unavailable elsewhere.” Along with the prestige of being selected, the artists will gain enormous potential for marketing and visibility, while shareholders will have an opportunity to broaden their artistic appreciation through learning about the artists directly. Monthly box pick-up parties for artists and shareholders will be held in the Center’s downtown Peterborough gallery in June, July, and August.

Those interested in purchasing shares, which are $330 for 9 works of art over the three-month period, can do so at the Kick-Off Party or by calling (603) 924-7676.

The goal of this group is to create a support forum for creative ideas, inspirational conversation, and the sharing of ideas and enthusiasm for local arts venues and events. Topics explored by the informal group include creativity, inspirations, artists, overcoming creative blocks, and more. Artistas is open to women of all ages who study any art form and are interested in chatting with peers. The possible activities include visiting local museums or artistic organizations, sharing artwork for peer review, or discussing books, films, challenges and goals as a modern creative individual. Each month group participants will have the ability to choose from a variety of topics in order to sustain an encouraging environment of their own.

Group organizer Anita Mendes said, “The reason for having supportive, homogenous groups is that its participants are able to explore more deeply their similarities. Their artistic differences can be used to walk the boundary of another person’s art while creating ownership of their own choices.  We can use the group’s responsiveness to strengthen our life’s interests, while creating new ways of seeing our craft, skill, and venues.”

The Artistas group met several times in 2011, covering discussion topics on creative expression, various mediums, and the healing power of art.

For more information or to join the email list, call (603) 924-7256, email anita@sharonarts.org,

“In tradition with Peterborough celebrating our younger artists, we are asking the youth of the greater Peterborough area to submit their creations, the pieces they feel most strongly about and would like to share with others,” said Gallery Director Camellia Sousa. “Here is their chance to turn the volume up!”

James Grashow at the Sharon Arts School

All work will be reviewed on a first come, first served basis, Sousa said, due to limited exhibition space. The juror will be renowned cardboard artist James Grashow, who will be Artist-in-Residence at Sharon Arts from May 15 to 26 and working with local students to create a larger-than-life fantasy garden at the Exhibiton Gallery.

Born in Brooklyn in 1942, Grashow has been creating works that address themes of man, nature, and mortality since the 1960s. He attended Pratt Institute, where he received a BFA. On graduation, he was awarded a Fulbright Travel Grant for painting and graphics to Florence, Italy. After a year abroad, Grashow returned to Pratt to receive his MFA. He lives and works in Connecticut with his wife. They have two children and, according to Grashow, “five fabulous grandchildren.”

Awards will be given out including one-week summer art camp, one class, and one workshop. There will be two honorable mentions.

All submissions should be brought to the Gallery on Saturday, May 19 between 11 am and 5 pm. The notification of selection will be Friday, May 25 by telephone. An opening reception will be held Monday, June 4 from 5 to 6 pm.

For more information call (603) 924-7676.

Colored Pencil art by Gary Ruuska

The exhibit, sponsored in conjunction with the Colored Pencil Society of America (CPSA) New England chapter 112, will be a presentation of national and regional works exploring the medium of the colored pencil. The CPSA was established in 1990 with its sole focus set on colored pencils. Established in 16 countries and with over 1,600 members, the CPSA provides services such as international exhibitions, workshops, newsletters, and product research as well as a networking directory and chapters for members throughout the continental U.S.

Serving as juror for the exhibition is Kimberly Kersey Asbury, a painter and mixed media artist with a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and an MFA from Boston University. She is a Fulbright grant recipient in the arts and is Assistant Professor of Art and Design at Saint Anselm College, Manchester, NH.

Awards of $300 for first prize, $200 for second and $100 for third will be given. Artists must be 18 years old or older to enter and may submit two pieces of their work for review. Work must have been created after March 31, 2009 and if selected must be available for sale. There is an entry fee of $25 for Sharon Arts Center members and members of CPSA112 and $35 for all others.

For inquiries or questions, contact Gallery Director Camellia Sousa via email at camellia@sharonarts.org.
For full information and to download an entry form, CLICK HERE or visit www.cpsa112.org.

Originally from Connecticut, Tucker Sampson lives and works in New Hampshire as a substitute teacher. The recipient of an MFA in Poetry from New England College, he has published poems in Lyre,lyre and The Henniker Review and has written a book of poems, so far unpublished, titled “The Wooden Lake.”

A poet and freelance copy editor, Dawn Coutu received a BA in creative writing from Chester College of New England and is working toward her MFA at New England College. She leads a writers’ group based out of Concord and coordinates the Datum: Earth Reading Series in Keene. Her feature articles, interviews, and poems have appeared in Ad Hoc Monadnock, NH Writer, Compass Rose, The Henniker Review, Big Lucks, Today Magazine, and Amoskeag.

Jenn Monroe’s chapbook “Something More Like Love” was released by Finishing Line Press in February. Her work is forthcoming in Contemporary American Voices and has appeared in a number of journals, print and online. She is the founder and executive producer of Extract(s), a web-based literary project, and is an assistant professor of writing and literature at Chester College of New England.

For more information call (603) 924-7676.

For more information call (603) 924-7676

Black Jack Crossing - Photo by Michael Moore

Chasing Blue

Nationally-renowned cardboard artist James Grashow will be Artist-in-Residence at the Sharon Arts Center Exhibition Gallery, 30 Grove St., Peterborough, from May 15 – 26, working with area school students to create a larger-than-life fantasy garden exhibition titled “Garden of the Imagination: A Community Cardboard Collaboration,” which will officially open June 1 and run through June 28.

James Grashow workshop at the Sharon Arts School

From Grashow’s residency through the showing of the exhibition, the public is invited to witness the evolution of cardboard as a creative medium in the hands and imagination of a master artist.

“We planted a seed in our Kickstarter fundraiser last fall that in happily reaching its goal is going to break ground in May,” said Sharon Arts Executive Director Keri Wiederspahn. “Our downtown gallery will grow into a ‘Garden of the Imagination’–a larger-than-life cardboard fantasy garden installation complete with corrugated plants, vegetables, flowers, and insects–both real and mythical. This wouldn’t have been possible without the generous support of the community, The Bean Family Foundation, C&S Wholesale Grocers, and the Children and the Arts Festival, who as a group of passionate supporters understood that this residency would make the beauty of the creative process available not only to the engaged public but to hundreds of children from area elementary, middle, and high schools who will have a life-changing hand in the collaboration of something completely unique–all in the celebration of creativity.”

Grashow, who was born in Brooklyn in 1942, has been creating works that address themes of man, nature, and mortality since the 1960s and is convinced that magical art can be made from the most mundane of materials. Constructing his pieces from cardboard, paper, and occasionally wood, the scale of his work ranges from large environmental installations, through which the viewer traverses, to the delicate and contained world of his houseplants, where homes and buildings replace flowers and buds in intricately constructed bouquets.

Also a well-known woodcut artist, Grahow’s prints have appeared regularly in The New York Times and in virtually every well-known periodical and publication throughout the country. After receiving a BFA degree from  Pratt Institute he was awarded a Fulbright Travel Grant for painting and graphics to Florence, Italy, and then, following a year abroad, returned to Pratt to receive his MFA. He and his wife have two children and five grandchildren and reside in Redding, CT.

“We all need inspiration in our lives,” Wiederspahn says, “and the wave of support around this specific project of getting Jimmy Grashow back to Sharon Arts has taken some years in the realization since he was here last in 2006. Now after Jimmy’s own professional career has steadily progressed with a recent show and residency earlier this year at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, we are thrilled to make this experience possible again to a whole new group of enthusiastic youth and the community at large. With this exhibit, we hope to instill a spirit of artistic affirmation in the community and to reinforce the necessity, importance, and joy of the arts in our lives.”

James Grashow workshop at the Sharon Arts Schoo

According to Wiederspahn, over the course of Grashow’s two-week residency the Sharon Arts Exhibition Gallery will be turned into an enormous workshop, with daily hands-on experiences with youth as the centerpiece of activity and creativity. Participants and visitors will learn about collaboration, teamwork, and the importance of using recycled materials (especially paper and cardboard) in the creative process, as well as thinking in the third dimension and appreciating gardens as a source of beauty and nourishment.

The “Garden of the Imagination” will have wide regional impact, Wiederspahn says, since nearly 12,000 individuals of all ages throughout the Monadnock Region and beyond will be able to see and participate in the installation, including over 500 school children from area elementary, middle, and high schools (as well as home-schoolers) who will work with Grashow in the two weeks of his artistic residency. There has already been a workshop for area teachers whose students will be working with Grashow and creating projects inspired by his processes and materials. Workshops will also be extended to a wide range of private and public schools in the Monadnock Region, and opportunities will be available for the public to be a part of private workshops for adults to learn.

Over 5,000 families will be able to explore the exhibition and meet Grashow during Peterborough’s Children and the Arts Festival, which will be held on Saturday, May 19. Many of the pieces constructed will also parade through town as a part of the festival. After the official opening of the exhibition on June 1, over 700 students from 12 area schools throughout the Monadnock region will be participating in interactive educational field trips to the “Garden of the Imagination” for tours and activities to explore the magic of cardboard art. Also partnering up for Grashow’s residency will be local farms and garden clubs in an effort to raise awareness of the beauty of plants, flowers, and vegetables. Grashow is a participating artist in Sharon Arts’ summer CSArt project in which shareholders will receive three works of art per month in June, July, and August (for more information on purchasing a CSArt share, call (603) 924-7676

Grashow will be giving a talk about his work on Monday, May 21 from 5:30-7:30 pm in the Gallery. The lecture is free and open to the public and refreshments will be served.

On June 1 at noon a Preview Luncheon for “Garden of the Imagination” will be held at the Waterhouse restaurant, Depot Square, Peterborough, to support Sharon Arts youth and teen programs. Grashow will be in attendance and after the luncheon will give a tour, lecture, and artist demonstration in the Gallery. Tickets are $60 and can be reserved by calling (603) 924-7256 or emailing camellia@sharonarts.org.

James Grashow workshop at the Sharon Arts School

For more information call (603) 924-7676

• CLICK HERE TO REGISTER ONLINE FOR THE GRASHOW WORKSHOPS