CALL TO ARTISTS: SHARON ARTS CENTER USES CSA MODEL TO PROMOTE ARTISTS' WORK
Photo by Justin Schwartz
With a similar buy-local spirit, Sharon Arts Center, a Monadnock area 65-year-old non-profit visual arts organization, has adapted an innovative project they call CSArt to support artists in the creation of new works, establish relationships with local collectors and patrons, and be part of a new model of art support and distribution.
After a juried selection process that will be conducted in early September with a panel of local food and culture taste-makers, nine local artists will be chosen to participate with Sharon Arts to offer up 50 shares of work. Shareholders will receive, as is typical with farmer shares of CSA, three pieces per month (October through December) of locally-produced artwork specifically created for the program.
Judges will include Virginia Prescott, New Hampshire Public Radio “Word of Mouth” host; Katherine Doyle, an accomplished painter and independent curator at the Portsmouth Museum of Fine Art and other prominent East Coast galleries; and Vincent D’jon Perette, known as “Vinx,” a renowned musician and founder of “Soul Kitchen” creative workshops.
According to new Sharon Arts Center Executive Director Keri Wiederspahn, the range of works will vary from high-quality original paintings, drawings, sculpture, and photography to ceramic, glass, and wood pieces.The nine participating artists to be chosen will receive a generous flat fee for being part of the project.
“This is a great idea that I heard of successfully launching in several arts organizations, originating through Minnesota’s Springboard for the Arts, and felt that the Monadnock region would embrace the concept as well. 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.”
Wiederspahn says that along with the prestige of being selected, the artists will gain enormous potential for marketing and visibility while the 50 shareholders will have an opportunity to broaden their artistic appreciation through learning about the artists directly during the monthly box pick-up experience to be held in the Center’s downtown Peterborough gallery.
“The essence of a project like this,” Wiederspahn adds, “is about building reciprocity and authentic relationships between artists and the larger community of the Monadnock region. We sincerely hope to open doors for a healthy creative dialogue that forges collaboration, support, and respect to yield a stronger arts ecology and future.”
More information for artists as well as for those interested in obtaining a share can be found on the Center’s website at www.sharonarts.org (see “Call for Entries” under “Exhibitions” on the left sidebar), by emailing csa@sharonarts.org, or by calling the downtown Peterborough galleries at (603) 924-7676. The nine artists selected will be publicly announced at the opening of the Sharon Arts Center’s Faculty Exhibition, “Passion for Art: Pass It On,” on Friday, Sept. 2 between 5 and 7 p.m.
- SHARES CAN BE PURCHASED UP UNTIL DECEMBER 2nd.
