Past Exhibitions and Events | 2021
A Festive Holiday Sale!
Friday, December 10
Saturday, December 11
20% off store-wide!
October 8, 2021
Water Dragons and Synthesizers are Coming to Newport!
The MAC Center’s autumn offering is a visual and musical exhibition created by digital artist, keyboardist, and composer Ben Luce. Titled “Water Dragons, an Exploration of Fractal Watershed Forms and Synthesizer Music,” this exhibit will feature 10 “water dragon” works created by Luce from the outlines of various water bodies throughout the world, and a variety of other cosmic-looking digital artwork. Luce will give a Zoom presentation about the origin and process of creating the water dragons and his other works, and enhance the experience by playing some of his synthesizer music.
Ben Luce is a digital artist, musician, and physicist who resides in Newport Vermont. He creates digital art using a variety of computer programs and other tools. His starting points for images include his own photographs of objects or natural scenes, various illustrations, and less conventional sources such as maps, electronic circuit schematics, and computer simulations of the analog circuits of vintage electronic music synthesizers. He began creating digital art simply out of a hunger for images that please his eye. Luce is also a multi-instrumentalist who creates music with synthesizers and other keyboard instruments, as well as guitar and flutes.
“Water Dragons, an Exploration of Fractal Watershed Forms and Synthesizer Music” will open Friday, October 8th. A live Zoom presentation and performance will be given online from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. that same day. For the link, visit www.maccenterforthearts.com/zoom
The MAC Center is located at 158 Main Street in downtown Newport. Hours of operation are Tuesday to Sat 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., Sunday 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.; closed Monday. For more information, phone (802) 334-1966.
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July 23rd to Oct 2, 2021
A MAC Center Rhapsody in Green
A new exhibition, “Green: an Exploration of the Colour” opens Friday, July 23rd at the MAC Center for the Arts in downtown Newport.
This show is the MAC Center’s summer offering and is a follow-up to 2019’s sensational “Blue” show. This event will be about green as a hue as well as in its environmental sense: our green planet. The walls of the MAC Center will literally go green with works created by MAC Center members in many mediums and in all sizes and hues – as long as they’re green.
“Green: an Exploration of the Colour” will open with a green-themed reception Friday, July 23rd from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. This is a free event but donations are always welcome.
The MAC Center is located at 158 Main Street in downtown Newport. Hours of operation are Tuesday to Sat 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., Sunday 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.; closed Monday. For more information, phone (802) 334-1966.
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July 4, 2021
Mary Lovegrove Awarded MAC Center Scholarship
The MAC Center for the Arts has awarded its 2021 Jim McKimm Scholarship to Mary Lovegrove, a graduating senior at Lake Region Union High School. The scholarship was open to applications from students and home schoolers throughout the Northeast Kingdom.
In her application for the scholarship, she wrote:
“The people around me were each learning what they wanted to do after they graduated. With the support of my family, I decided to aim for something that would make me happy. Art constantly made me a better person, and I knew that l wanted to continue. With an arts degree, I could do a ton of things that I would enjoy. I think that’s another reason why I really want to go to college. My experiences and teachings while there can lead me somewhere that isn’t the typical “starving artist”, instead to where I’ll thrive. I want to try all new mediums, or even just strengthen my skills on an old one. I want to fail at something, so I can later figure out how I can do it effectively. I want to meet new people who are just as passionate about what I’m interested in.”
Ms. Lovegrove intends to get her Bachelor of Arts in Visual Arts at Boston University.
At this point in her life, she has already given back to her community by completing of over 300 hours of community service, through mural painting, playing her Celtic harp at nursing homes and hospitals, and interning at Greater Barton Arts, all the while improving her artistic skills.
The Jim McKimm Scholarship was named after the late Mr. McKimm, a well-known leader in the local arts and a founder of the MAC Center for the Arts. The scholarship includes a $300.00 award. Ms. Lovegrove’s name will be added to a plaque along with those of previous scholarship winners.
Photo: Mary Lovegrove (center) with MAC Center Director Isobel Marks (left) and Betsy Day (right)
June 4th to July 3rd, 2021
MAC Center for the Arts Hosts New Exhibit – Ecosystem Services Through an Artist’s Eye
The MAC Center for the Arts will host a new exhibit entitled: Ecosystem Services Through an Artist’s Eye, which is a collaborative event with the Orleans County Natural Resources Conservation District and the Memphremagog Watershed Association and underwritten by a grant from the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets. The show will be open to the public from June 4th to July 3rd in the Downstairs Connection at the MAC, 158 Main Street, Newport.
Ecosystem services are defined as “the benefits provided by ecosystems to humans.” Many key ecosystem services – such as nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration, pest regulation and pollination – sustain agricultural productivity, so farmers often take on the role of stewards of ecosystem services. Currently in Vermont, we do not have a comprehensive way to monitor, evaluate, and monetize the ecosystem services provided by agriculture. The theme of this year’s conservation art show will raise awareness of this emerging field of environmental economics and acknowledge the work that farmers are doing to sustain and enhance the ecosystems of the NEK.
The unique exhibition features artwork from around the state specifically focusing on the concept of ecosystem services, and will be on display at the MAC Center for the Arts in Newport from June 4th to July 3rd. The exhibit is free and open to the public during the regular business hours at MAC, Tuesday – Saturday, 10-5. For more information please visit www.maccenterforthearts.com, call 802-334-1966, or contact Emily Finnegan at 802-624-7022 or emily.finnegan@vt.nacdnet.net.
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May 7 - June 6, 2021
Invitation to submit a poem for “MAC Community Poetry in Motion”
MAC Center for the Arts is announcing a call for local poets to contribute a poem for “MAC Community Poetry in Motion”, MAC’s first annual exhibition of original poetry from community members. This year, MAC has retooled our annual April poetry reading event into a COVID inspired socially distanced exhibit of printed poetry. All Orleans county residents are cordially invited to submit up to three original poems during the month of April (National Poetry Month) to be considered for an upcoming exhibition to be held at the MAC Center, 158 Main St, Newport VT.
But really, why does poetry matter? To quote Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks, “Poetry is life distilled.” Poetry is a means by which the joys, pains, struggles, and pleasures of life can be shared from one person to another. Poetry invites us to step into another person’s perception of reality, and through that interaction, challenges us to empathize and appreciate the experiences of someone else.
Deadline for submissions is April 30. Please send your poem to Dianne Laplante at laplante@vtlink.net, and cc to macartscenter@gmail.com. look forward to hearing from you, and to building community through poetry! “MAC Community Poetry in Motion” will be a free exhibition, open to the public, all are welcome.
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