Al Hurwitz is a world-renowned art educator. He has won numerous awards including a National Art Educator award, a Sir Herbert Read award from the International Society for Education through Art and, most recently, the Eisner Lifetime Achievement Award. He also holds the Chair Emeritus of the Center for Art Education at the Maryland Institute College of Art, and has written the classic art book, Children and Their Art: Methods for the Elementary School with Michael Daly.
Last Sunday at Featherstone Center for the Arts, visitors watched a claymation video where two balls of clay magically morphed into dancers performing a quiet waltz before finally collapsing into each others arms. It was a mere minute-long clip, but the human emotion resonated long after.
The film was part of a photography and multimedia reception for Truda Silberstein, a senior at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School.
The Friends of the Vineyard Haven Public Library are presenting an exhibit of paintings by Brazilian artist Bella, also known for her work as a musician, singer, songwriter, playwright, and puppeteer. The exhibit will be on display during regular library hours through Feb. 4.
Photographer David Welch is the featured artist for the month of March at the Vineyard Haven Public Library’s Art of the Stacks series.
Mr. Welch is an Island native whose work explores social issues using large-format photography steeped in conceptual influences from art history and economic theory. In 2011 he was selected as one of Photolucida’s Critical Mass top 50 photographers. He is also a recent graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design, where he earned an MFA in photography.
West Tisbury catboat sailor Jim O’Connor has come out with his fourth annual calendar. Each month gets a photograph. Mr. O’Connor is a professional caterer and runs ChefWorks. When he is not cooking up meals in the summer he and his wife Kim, an educator at the Oak Bluffs School, and their black labrador retriever Marshall are out sailing in their 22-foot catboat Glimmer. They like to cruise about Southeastern Massachusetts waters with the purpose of having a good time and taking pictures for the next calendar.
Stan Murphy’s art on the Vineyard really needs no introduction. His images have become iconic; think Moshup emerging from the waters off of the Aquinnah Cliffs, and his portraits of Islanders, including himself.
The kids at the Garden Gate Child Development Center, ages two to five, are having an art exhibit at Featherstone Center for the Arts. The reception is today, Jan. 20, from 6 to 8 p.m.
Okay, perhaps a bit late for the little tykes but the rules are off when it comes to artists.
The kids have been working on sculptures inspired by Dr. Seuss, as well as a study in faces centered on collage exploration á la Picasso.
There will also be music, champagne and hors d’oeuvres.
Oil paintings by Susan Johnson are on exhibit this month at the Chilmark Bank. Ms. Johnson studied en plein air painting in Tuscany with Boston University last summer. She has since utilized this style with a focus on Beetlebung Farm. Eighteen landscape paintings will be on display.
This winter Ms. Johnson will continue this project with the Vermont College of Fine Art, and she has been accepted into the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts, a distance learning program with international residencies.
