Opportunities for Artists

Artist Entrepreneurial Workshops, sponsored by the NH State Council on the Arts.

These workshops are free and are held from 3 to 5 p.m. at the State Arts Council offices at 2-1/2 Beacon Street, 2nd floor, Concord. Registration is required at least two days prior to the workshop date - register by calling 271-2789. For more information contact Judy Rigmont at judy.l.rigmont@dcr.nh.gov. Space is limited to 25 professional artists (people who devote a majority of their time to practicing, performing and/or teaching an arts discipline and who received payment for their work in that discipline).

March 18. Web site Development: It's the Name of the Game (snow date, March 19). Whether you are considering a web site or already have one, this presentation will help you to understand the implications of having a web site and how to use the internet effectively to promote yourself and your art. From selecting an ISP to registering your domain name and building your site, the steps involved in safely landing on and navigating the web are covered. Attendees will come away with useful and practical information on how their web site can become the focal point in any advertising and promotional campaign. Workshop Facilitator: James J. Fontaine, founder and principal consultant of Positively Creative Solutions, LLC, a NH firm specializing in website technology and business consulting to medium, small, and micro-enterprise businesses.

April 15. Copyright Issues: Protecting Your Work

May 20. High and Low Tech Ways of Marketing Your Work

June 17. Living the Life of an Artist in NH: Making it Work. A panel discussion with NH professional visual arts, crafts, performing and literary artists.

For more information about current events in the arts across New Hampshire, and opportunities for artists, link to the excellent web site of the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts: www.nh.gov/nharts. Their E-news, which is updated every two weeks from the time of posting, is especially useful: www.nh.gov/nharts/newsandcalendar/e-news/e-clips.htm.

Artist Entrepreneurial Grants

Quarterly grants from the NH State Council on the Arts support professional development opportunities for NH artists, especially focusing on developing entrepreneurial skills (marketing, web site development, etc.) by working with consultants, attending conferences and workshops, and via mentorships between master level and early career artists. 40% of grant recipients in FY07 were visual artists. The grant range is $250 to $1000, with an average grant award of about $600. Upcoming application deadlines are April 1, July 1 and Oct. 1. For guidelines, see the Council's web site at www.nh.gov/nharts/grants/artists/artistentrepren.htm.

"On Gilded Pond: the Life and Times of the Dublin Art Colony" is now at the UNH Art Gallery

DURHAM - The Art Gallery, Paul Creative Arts Center, 30 College Road, University of New Hampshire, Durham, 03824-3538, (603) 862-3712, www.unh.edu/art-gallery. For more information, contact Catherine A. Mazur, Education and Publicity Coordinator at catherine.mazur@unh.edu.

"On Gilded Pond: The Life and Times of the Dublin Art Colony" explores the artistic and historical significance of New Hampshire's Dublin Art Colony and the Gilded Age that made it possible. Included in the exhibition are works by over twenty artists, including George de Forest Brush, Barry Faulkner, Alexander R. James, Rockwell Kent, Richard S. Meryman, Joseph Lindon Smith, Annetta J. St. Gaudens, Edmund Charles Tarbell, and Abbott H. Thayer. Hours: Mon.-Wed. 10-4; Thurs. 10-8; and Sat. & Sun. 1-5; closed March 14-23 and Fridays. Admission is free.

The following free programs take place at noon at the Paul Creative Art Center:

March 3. Focus on Artists Film Series Alberto Giacometti The life and work of the Swiss sculptor, painter, draftsman, and printmaker are explored.

March 5. ArtBreak Slide Lecture: James Aponovich New Hampshire's Artist Laureate, James Aponovich, discusses his work, including "Self Portrait with Cyclamen," currently on view in "What's New? Recent Additions to the Collection."

March 10. Focus on Artists Film Series Jackson Pollock The life and work of the controversial painter Jackson Pollock is explored.

March 12. ArtBreak Slide Lecture: Annetta St. Gaudens The life and work of artist and sculptor Annetta St. Gaudens is discussed by Henry Duffy, curator, Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site.

March 24. Focus on Artists Film Series Ben Nicholson 1894-1982 The life and work of the English abstract painter Ben Nicholson is explored.

March 26. ArtBreak Slide Lecture: Rockwell Kent The life and work of the American artist, illustrator, and author Rockwell Kent is discussed by Michael Komanecky, curator, Farnsworth Art Museum and Wyeth Center, Rockland, Maine

March 31. Focus on Artists Film Series Edward Hopper: The Silent Witness A unique look into the work of artist Edward Hopper, who captured the essence of American realism in his portrayals of melancholic atmospheres and landscapes is offered.

April 7. Focus on Artists Film Series The Photographers A new perspective of the world as seen through the eyes of National Geographic photographers is presented.

April 14. Focus on Artists Film Series Isamu Noguchi The life and work of the prominent Japanese American artist and landscape architect Isamu Noguchi is explored. (Home Vision Arts, 1980, 55 min.)

April 21. Focus on Artists Film Series Robert Rauschenberg The life and work of American artist Robert Rauschenberg is explored.

April 28. Focus on Artists Film Series Georgia O'Keeffe American artist Georgia O'Keeffe's life and work are explored.

May 5. Focus on Artists Film Series Vermeer: Master of Light The secrets of Dutch Baroque painter Johannes Vermeer's technique are explored through x-ray analysis, infrared reflectography, and computer technology.

May 12. Focus on Artists Film Series Jack Levine: Feast of Pure Reason America's foremost Social Realist painter Jack Levine is featured

Art Walk 2008

Art Walk 2008 invites visual artists to apply for this year's show, which takes place Friday, May 30 through Sunday, June 8, in downtown Keene, NH. The deadline for application is Wednesday, March 19. In this collaborative event, Art Walk fills the windows of participating downtown street-level establishments with the work of some of the best and emerging visual artists in the area. Downtown turns into an art gallery open 24 hours a day. A jury of arts professionals select the artists and assign the locations.

This year's event is presented by MoCo Arts and the Keene Sentinel. For information, or to obtain an application form, contact Carol Batchelder at 357-2100 or cbatchelder@moco.org; or Harry Ahern at 352-1234 or hahern@keenesentinel.com. There is a non-refundable $20 entry fee.

The Dublin Art Colony

An important part of our purpose is to celebrate the remarkable and enduring artistic heritage we share in this region.

Although the village of Dublin, New Hampshire, attracted writers and artists since the early 19th century, what eventually became knows as the Dublin Art Colony began to take shape in the late 1880s. Over the next 40 years, an informal group of artists helped transform Dublin from a small rural community with an established summer population into a haven for visual artists, writers, and others drawn to this beautiful setting. Mount Monadnock-one of the places most loved by Thoreau, Emerson, and the other New England Transcendentalists-and the landscape around Dublin, influenced these artists and contributed to their artistic vision.

In 1888, the painter Abbott Handerson Thayer, who grew up nearby, was invited to Dublin where a patron built a house for him, and he and his family became year-round residents. From his years studying in Paris and working in New York and Boston, Thayer already had many friends and associates among the artists of the day, and his presence drew George de Forest Brush to the region. Younger artists who studied or apprenticed with Thayer in Dublin included Richard Meryman, Alexander James, Rockwell Kent and Barry Faulkner. In the early 1890s, painter Joseph Lindon Smith was given land in Dublin to build a home, and Smith's close friend, Frank Weston Benson, came to paint with him. Eventually more than 20 visual artists were associated with Dublin during the first half of the 20th century.

The Dublin artists invited friends from other disciplines as well. Thayer painted a portrait of Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, in 1882, and he told Twain that Dublin was a place congenial for artistic work. Twain spent the summers of 1905 and 1906 in Dublin, and later wrote, "He was right-it was a good place...Any place that is good for an artist in paint is good for an artist in morals and ink..."

Twain continued, "Paint, literature, science, statesmanship, history, professorship, law, morals-these are all represented here, yet crime is substantially unknown..The homes of these refugees are sprinkled a mile apart among the forest-clad hills, with access to each other by firm smooth country rounds which are so embowered in dense foliage that it is always twilight in there and comfortable. The forests are spider-webbed with these good roads, they go everywhere. But for the help of the guideboards, the stranger would not arrive anywhere."

A hundred years later, the area around Mount Monadnock remains a magnet for creativity, and, if you don't have an Art Tour map, you can still get lost on our spider-web of roads!

Although most of these artists worked alone, they met regularly to socialize. They never referred to themselves as an art colony, and would have rejected the idea that they were an organized group. But they created a unique community centered on the arts. We hope to do the same.

For more information about the Dublin Colony, please see the archived articles from our previous Newsletters on the right.

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