Past Exhibitions and Events | 2016

Evergreen Centerpiece Family Workshop at MAC Center for the Arts

Newport.  MAC Center for the Arts welcomes you to celebrate the holidays by creating a beautiful centerpiece made of local evergreens and festive materials.  This is an activity for family members, friends and neighbors, so come with a parent or uncle, child or best friend 9-99 years old.

Deck the Halls Saturday, December 3, 2:30 pm. in our downstairs gallery, 158 Main Street, Newport, VT.  A small fee to cover costs of materials is required at $3.00 per person. Workshop size limited to 16 participants. Please register by December 1st.  Registration forms will be at the counter at MAC.

So, Jingle all the way to a Jolly Holiday and join the creativity at the MAC. For more information, Contact Diana Poulin at vtdianap@gmail.com or 802-673-8808 or visit www.maccenterforthearts.com or call the MAC at 802-334-1966.

PRESS RELEASE

Portrait of a Forest: Men and Machine Exhibit

Newport.  The MAC Center for the Arts will host an Exclusive Opening for its new exhibit, “Portrait of a Forest: Men and Machine,” on November 18 from 5 to 7 p.m., 158 Main Street, Newport.  The opening is in conjunction with the annual Holiday Reception at the MAC.

The exhibit, on loan to MAC from the Vermont Folklife Center, combines contemporary photographs by Weybridge photojournalist, George Bellerose, with historical photographs and commentary by the logging and forest products community, will run through December 31.

“Unlike Vermonters of the past, many of us no longer have a direct connection to the working landscape. We see logging trucks and the occasional roadside log collection, but rarely do we have contact with loggers or fully understand their importance to the state,” Bellerose said of the origin of his project.

“My hope is that this documentation will help everyone better understand the challenges facing the industry today and appreciate its role in preserving a healthy forest,” Bellerose added. “This project is an essential part of the Vermont Folklife Center’s mission to help people become visible to one another,” Greg Sharrow, co-director of the Center commented. “George Bellerose’s photography opens a powerful window into the lives and work of loggers in Vermont.” 

Coverage ranges from solo loggers with a chain saw to multi-machine chipping operations, from backyard sawmills to state-of-the-art flooring mills.

The exhibit and projected book are companion pieces to an earlier Bellerose and Vermont Folklife Center project, Forty-Six Years of Pretty Straight Going: The Life of a Family Dairy Farm.

“Both occupations involve long days and hard work. Both are often a generational way of life and a tough way to make a living. Both have shaped the landscape and culture of Vermont. Both face economic challenges today, and both often feel that the work they do is not understood or appreciated,” Bellerose commented. This exhibit and reception is free and open to the public.  For more information, please visit www.maccenterforthearts.com or call 802 334 -1966.

October 24, 2016

Press Release

Academy for Children in Theatre – Act 1.

Newport. A new and timely venture has emerged at the MAC Center for the Arts, the Academy for Children in Theatre. Recently a Theatre Intensive Workshop for young people was showcased highlighting 17 Young Thespians. “Because I like to see the smiles in the audience” shared one participant in ACT 1 of why they love the theater.

Conceptualized and created by Lynn Leimer and Sunny Naughton, the pair began working together over 20 years ago. Leimer noticed a star quality and passion in Naughton and a relationship of mentor and protégé began.

Now the duo has come together again, in the second act of their work, to bring their knowledge to area theater lovers, both young and old alike. Theater lovers who do it for the smiles in the audience- much like what brought Leimer and Naughton to the stage in their youth and throughout their extensive professional careers in New York City and across the USA.

The ACT 1 Workshop was assisted by four theatre Interns: Ron St John III, Grace Castle, and Marianna Barrett from the NEK and Brandon Alexandre from Georgeville, QC. Fifteen youths, ages 8-13 hailed from Derby, Newport, Barton, Westmore and Downtown Manhattan, NYC. The ensemble spent 8 hours learning the Business of Broadway, choreography, staging, vocalization and highspeed musical training. The culmination of these intense hours of training – Broadway in Fifteen Minutes presented to their family and friends.

“Knowledge is power and we intend to fill each student with an arsenal of theatrical savvy – on stage and behind the scenes”, said Leimer. We will include all ages and abilities. Entre Act – Ages 5-8; Act 1- ages 9-13; Act 2 – ages 14-18; Finale – Masters classes; and Encore – Adults. This workshop series will not only enhance the cultural tone of our community but sustain the mission of the Memphremagog Arts Collaborative and their commitment to all facets of the Arts. Leimer is a founding and charter member of MAC and sits on the Board of Directors as Secretary and is the Chair of the Performance Committee;

Naughton is a MAC member/writer/performer and sits on the Performance Committee. Before the end of 2016, Leimer and Naughton, in their partnership with the MAC Center as artist members, will announce a spring workshop schedule with programs. “They say to be the person you needed when you were a kid. I had exposure to a lot of wonderful artists here in the Kingdom so I didn’t need much. However, after working in theater across the country, what I do believe our theater lovers can benefit from is a place to come together, outside of rehearsal for our wonderful community theaters and high school productions, to hone their craft. That is what Q (as Leimer is known) and I hope to bring to them” shares Naughton.  

Naughton and ‘Q’ as the kids have taken to calling Leimer (a callback of her QNEK theater company- going into its 25th and final season at the Haskell Opera House), want a space where all students who want to put forth the time and effort can learn to appreciate not only the stage, but all aspects of putting on a show. They plan to produce workshops for musicians, wardrobe, hair and make-up, scenic design and more.

What sets these workshops apart from others around the country? Naughton and Q plan to utilize the large talent base from or based in the Northeast Kingdom. The pair believes that in the past fifteen years more students have gone into paying jobs in the arts than the larger community realizes, and that is something they are passionate about bringing into the light.

For more information about upcoming workshops keep an eye on the MAC Center website or email  Press Release

Academy for Children in Theatre – Act 1.

Newport. A new and timely venture has emerged at the MAC Center for the Arts, the Academy for Children in Theatre.  Recently a Theatre Intensive Workshop for young people was showcased highlighting 17 Young Thespians. “Because I like to see the smiles in the audience” shared one participant in ACT 1 of why they love the theater.

Conceptualized and created by Lynn Leimer and Sunny Naughton, the pair began working together over 20 years ago. Leimer noticed a star quality and passion in Naughton and a relationship of mentor and protégé began.

Now the duo has come together again, in the second act of their work, to bring their knowledge to area theater lovers, both young and old alike. Theater lovers who do it for the smiles in the audience- much like what brought Leimer and Naughton to the stage in their youth and throughout their extensive professional careers in New York City and across the USA.

The ACT 1 Workshop was assisted by four theatre Interns:  Ron St John III, Grace Castle, and Marianna Barrett from the NEK and Brandon Alexandre from Georgeville, QC.  Fifteen youths, ages 8-13 hailed from Derby, Newport, Barton, Westmore and Downtown Manhattan, NYC.  The ensemble spent 8 hours learning the Business of Broadway, choreography, staging, vocalization and highspeed musical training.  The culmination of these intense hours of training – Broadway in Fifteen Minutes presented to their family and friends.

“Knowledge is power and we intend to fill each student with an arsenal of theatrical savvy – on stage and behind the scenes”, said Leimer. We will include all ages and abilities. Entre Act – Ages 5-8; Act 1– ages 9-13; Act 2 – ages 14-18; Finale – Masters classes; and Encore – Adults. This workshop series will not only enhance the cultural tone of our community but sustain the mission of the Memphremagog Arts Collaborative and their commitment to all facets of the Arts.  Leimer is a founding and charter member of MAC and sits on the Board of Directors as Secretary and is the Chair of the Performance Committee; Naughton is a MAC member/writer/performer and sits on the Performance Committee.

Before the end of 2016, Leimer and Naughton, in their partnership with the MAC Center as artist members, will announce a spring workshop schedule with programs. “They say to be the person you needed when you were a kid. I had exposure to a lot of wonderful artists here in the Kingdom so I didn’t need much. However, after working in theater across the country, what I do believe our theater lovers can benefit from is a place to come together, outside of rehearsal for our wonderful community theaters and high school productions, to hone their craft. That is what Q (as Leimer is known) and I hope to bring to them” shares Naughton.

Naughton and ‘Q’ as the kids have taken to calling Leimer (a callback of her QNEK theater company- going into its 25th and final season at the Haskell Opera House), want a space where all students who want to put forth the time and effort can learn to appreciate not only the stage, but all aspects of putting on a show. They plan to produce workshops for musicians, wardrobe, hair and make-up, scenic design and more.

What sets these workshops apart from others around the country? Naughton and Q plan to utilize the large talent base from or based in the Northeast Kingdom. The pair believes that in the past fifteen years more students have gone into paying jobs in the arts than the larger community realizes, and that is something they are passionate about bringing into the light.

For more information about upcoming workshops keep an eye on the MAC Center website or email nekacademy@gmail.com or www.maccenterforthearts.com

MAC Center for the Arts Mandala Project

Newport.  The MAC Center for the Arts is a busy place these days, especially with the opening of the Mandala Project Exhibition, Friday October 21, 5-7 pm.  as well as a presentation and talk back with author Martha Oliver-Smith.

Mandalas and Visions in the Art of Martha Stringham Bacon with a Reading and Slide Presentation from the memoir Martha’s Mandala by Martha Oliver-Smith will kick off the month long exhibition in the lower gallery.  The slide presentation will begin at 5:30 followed by a Q&A.  Open to the public. This is a free event.

The mandalas and other works by Martha Stringham Bacon illustrate the artist’s experience with mental illness and recovery and the profound connection between the creation of art and healing of the human psyche.

Martha Oliver-Smith was born in Rhode Island into a family of writers, artists and scholars. She spent most of her childhood moving between her grandmother’s home in Peace Dale, RI and living in New York City. In 1972, she moved to the west coast to begin her teaching career and raise her family.  She returned to the east in 2002 to live and work in Vermont.  She earned an MFA in writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2006.  After 36 years of teaching college and high school literature and writing courses, Oliver-Smith retired to complete the biographical memoir Martha’s Mandala based on her grandmother’s life as an artist who struggled with mental illness.  She lives with her husband, two cats, and six chickens in Albany, VT where she is working on a second memoir.  

On Saturday, October 22, from 1-3:30 pm MAC will host a workshop to create personal mandalas; recommended ages Middle School students to adults. Participants in the Personal Mandala Workshop will create a mandala based on discovering the dualities – the “sun and shadow” personality traits – within themselves.

Registration is required to accommodate for supplies/materials.  Application Forms can be downloafed and dropped off or mailed to MAC, 158 Main Street, Newport VT, by October 16.  Workshop fee is $30.  Enrollment is limited to 15.  Martha Oliver-Smith:  Author and retired teacher of literature, writing and humanities courses high school, middle school and college students, is the instructor for the workshop. 

For more information, please contact MAC 802-334-1966. MAC Center for the Arts, a registered 501(c)3 charitable organization, supports Vermont’s Creative Economy through the sale of our member’s work at our 4,000 square foot Main Street gallery. 

NEWPORT.  The MAC Center for the ARTS is proud to announce a premiere event, October 15th.  The Academy for Children in Theatre (ACT 1) will be hosting a Theatre Workshop for students 9-12 years old.  Pre-registration is a must as there are limited spaces for this theatre intensive.

Professional actors and theatre divas, Sunny Naughton and Lynn Leimer will lead the tutorials and QNEK apprentices, Ron St John III, Grace Castle, Brandon Alexandre and Marianna Barrett will assist this full day of dramatic and musical mentoring.

Sunny Naughton, NEK native, is back after a decade in NYC. Having worked alongside Tony Award winners Martin Charnin, Harvey Fierstein, and Tommy Tune, Sunny also hit the road with the Broadway National Tour of Annie. Sunny made her QNEK debut as June in Gypsy in YEAR. A NCUHS 2003 graduate, she attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) for Musical Theater 2005 Graduate with a BA in Media and Journalism from Eugene Lang at the New School in NYC, 2014 Graduate.

After a 48 state tour with the Broadway National Tour of Annie, working in over 100 theaters in the United States followed by Lead Talent Wrangler for the National High School Musical Theater Awards from 2011 to 2014; Naughton has been Past Associate Producer for the New York Musical Theater Festival, Camp Broadway, and the Gershwin Award and will be sharing her expertise for the young thespians of our area.

Lynn Leimer is no stranger to the NEK.  Known as the Queen of the Northeast Kingdom, her theatre company – QNEK Productions, is the International Theatre Company in Residence at the Haskell Opera House has been a local legend since 1993. Her background includes Off-Broadway, professional touring and performing in such iconic places as Bally’s in Atlantic City, the Americana in Great Gorge, and 25 years in the New York/New Jersey dinner theatre circuit. The focus on the young performer has been a predominant focus of the company and as QNEK turns the corner next season celebrating their 25th Anniversary Season, they will also close the chapter of performances after 2017.

A new emphasis will be workshops and theatre intensives as the presiding theme for Leimer and Naughton and their connection with the MAC Center for the Arts as they collaborate to share their professional theatre acumen.  In this first workshop, students will learn about Headshots, Resumes, Auditioning, Choreography, Script format, Broadway history, Dramaturgy, culminating with a performance at the end of the 8 hours’ course. Students will receive a t-shirt, certificate of participation and a plethora of information about life in the theatre.

The registration form can be found on the MAC website www.maccenterforthearts.com due October 10th or for more information call 802-334-2216.

PRESS RELEASE

Newport.  The MAC Center for the Arts proudly hosts Plein Air Northeast Kingdom. Opening Reception is September 16, 5-7 pm at the MAC Center, 158 Main Street, Newport.

“Art adds to a community, attracts a core of people who are intelligent, creative and bring new ideas. They have a lot of energy, which is a really wonderful thing for a community to have.”

The Plein Air Exhibit of work by landscape painters who have painted all over the Northeast Kingdom this summer. The art work is in direct response to the beauty the painters find in nature. They use a variety of media, from oils, through watercolors and pastels.

Plein Air painting was developed in France in the mid-19th Century and is becoming increasingly popular. Presently, there is a nationwide following of both Plein Artists and Collectors. 
The juried artwork produced at these paint-outs will be on exhibition at MAC Center for the Arts September 16th, 2016 – October 15, 2016. Event organizer, Donna Walsh says, “There is a joy about painting outdoors and this is a chance for people to see the result of works produced by professional artists.” At Plein Air Northeast Kingdom we “paint tomorrow’s history today, onsite!”

The event is FREE and open to all. Many of the pieces are for sale.  Collectors and Art Enthusiasts will not want to miss this unique and unprecedented event. 
For more information, please call 802-334-1966 or visit www.maccenterforthearts.com.

Photo credits: Courtesy photos of Plein Air Northeast Kingdom

PRESS RELEASE

Newport.The MAC Center for the Arts is proud to participate in the Newport is for Booklovers Event, September 24. Five of the eight authors that belong to MAC will be reading from their original works. Award winning authors: Lynda Graham-Barber, Tanya Sousa, Patty Oliver-Smith, Jerry Johnson and Cat Holm will share the spotlight as follows:

11:00 a.m. – Cat Holm – Reading from Voice Lessons.  Award-winning author Catherine Holm’s writing ranges from literary fiction to cat-themed memoir and fantasy fiction. She is a freelance writer, life coach, and yoga instructor and loves gardening, outdoor recreation, and the thrill of new experiences and new places. She lives in Norton, VT. 

11:15 a.m. – Tanya Sousa – Reading from The Starling God.   Sousa writes books, short stories, essays and articles that promote empathy. Her books and essays have received awards, accolades and excellent reviews – including her most recent novel, “The Starling God”, which made the short-list for the national “Green Earth Book Awards”. Tanya was raised, and still lives, in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.

11:30 a.m. – Patty Oliver-Smith – Reading from Martha’s Mandalas.  Martha (Patty) Oliver-Smith was born in Rhode Island into a family of writers, artists and scholars. She spent most of her childhood moving between her grandmother’s home in Peace Dale, RI and living in New York City. In 1972, she moved to the west coast to begin her teaching career and raise her family.  She returned to the east in 2002 to live and work in Vermont.  She earned an MFA in writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2006.  After 36 years of teaching college and high school literature and writing courses, Oliver-Smith retired to complete the biographical memoir Martha’s Mandala based on her grandmother’s life as an artist who struggled with mental illness.  She lives with her husband, two cats, one dog and six chickens in Albany, VT where she is working on a second memoir.  
2:00 p.m. – Lynda Graham Barber –  Reading from her children’s book SAY, BOO.  Lynda Graham-Barber lived for over two decades in New York City, where she worked as a free-lance magazine writer, children’s book editor, and writing teacher.  The author of 14 books, 12 for children, Lynda lives in a stone cottage on 160 wooded acres in the Northeast Kingdom with her artist-husband, David, and their rescue dog, Biscuit.  It’s here, one cool fall evening, that the inspiration for Say Boo! flew right by her! 

2:15 p.m. – Jerry Johnson – Showing a DVD of Children’s Book – Noah’s Song. Author of Up the Creek Without a Saddle, Noah’s Song and A Bed of Leaves. In Jerry’s own words: “I was blessed when Jon Gailmor and Pete Sutherland, two legendary Vermont master musicians, took a number of my poems in Up the Creek Without a Saddle and set them into song for a beautiful CD album to accompany the book.

PRESS RELEASE

Newport. The Sixth Annual Art in Bloom will open on July 21 at MAC Center for the Arts, 158 Main Street, Newport with a reception beginning at 5 pm. Working in concert are the members of the Four Seasons Garden Club and MAC Center for the Arts exquisitely tailoring the annual fundraiser where nature meets art. July 21 is a ticketed event to benefit both organizations.

A summertime favorite, Art In Bloom boasts over 20 floral arrangements that glean their inspiration from the magnificent artwork currently on display in the MAC Gallery. Interpretation and unique creativity provide this festival of insouciant charm and patrons can enjoy these displays through Saturday July 23; open to the public.

Come gaze upon the distinctive presentations on both levels of the gallery with the Art in Bloom in the main gallery (Jul 22-23) and the summer exhibition – Phyllis J Hammond – A Retrospective in the lower gallery (thru September 10). You will not be disappointed.

MAC Center for the Arts and Four Seasons Garden Club are non-profit 501 (c ) 3. For tickets or more information, please call 802 334 1966 or visit the web – www.maccenterforthearts.com and/or fourseasonsgardenclub.org

PRESS RELEASE
Phyllis J. Hammond – A Retrospective – MAC Press Release

Newport. MAC Center for the Arts is proud to present Phyllis J. Hammond -A Retrospective. An opening Reception and Vernissage will be held Friday, July 1, from 5-7 pm at the MAC Center for the Arts, 158 Main Street, Newport, Vermont. The exhibit continues through September 10, 2016.

MAC is honored to host this exquisite retrospective curated by Lynn Rublee who had been thinking about an exhibition of Phyllis’s lifetime of work as an artist. Isobel Marks told Rublee, “Phyllis was a long time member and supporter of MAC and we would naturally be keen to see this happen”. Lynn had known Phyllis since she was 5 years old and in her adult life, moved closer and shared their many travel adventures and artistic endeavors. In the most recent years, their bond deepened within the art and spiritual connection. So in collaboration with Phyllis’ family, MAC is delighted to present not only many of Phyllis’s oil paintings, but pastels, collages, print work, and books. 

Phyllis Joy Hammond, a long-time resident of Newport Center, Vermont, died on February 3, 2016 at the age of 88. A prolific artist working primarily in watercolors and acrylics, Phyllis operated from her tiny PJ Hammond Art Gallery on the Lake Road, which was the former barn of her beloved Morgan horse, Smoky.

 Her work was highlighted at the MAC Center for the Arts along with her three books that captured her love of wildflowers, northern landscapes and sharing art with children.

Phyllis was born in July 4, 1927, the daughter of Gordon Crothers Sleeper and Martha Moler Sleeper in Long Island, New York. As a youngster she studied watercolor with Elsa Bley. She attended Wellesley College and later studied with Hyman Bloom and took courses at the New York Botanical Gardens, presaging her life-long love of flowers. Phyllis began traveling to Lake Memphremagog as a child, where her parents owned summer homes and in 1957 she married Milton Dale Hammond. Phyllis and Milton were married for 54 years until Milton’s death in 2012.

Phyllis had a long love affair with northern landscapes (she lived several miles from the Canadian border) and their plant life. Underlying themes of her work were wildflowers, forest foliage, mountains and seeing more spiritually.

In 1998, at the age of 71, her life took a decidedly entrepreneurial turn with the writing and publication of Traveling with Wildflowers: from Newfoundland to Alaska. As a result of the book’s publication, Phyllis was invited to speak in Denali National Park, Alaska, St John’s Botanical Garden in Newfoundland and at many flower shows. An article featuring her and her book appeared in Vermont Magazine. Along with book sales, she sold thousands of lithographs, prints, postcards, and bookmarks base on the artwork in Traveling with Wildflowers.

PRESS RELEASE 

MAC Center for the Arts presents LUNARt Madness – An enchanting evening of Music and Prose
Newport.  The MAC Center for the Arts is proud to present our Member Only presentation of authors and musicians – LUNARt MADNESS, crafting words and song in celebration of the Full Moon and Spring.  Join us Saturday, May 21, 7-9 pm at the MAC Center for the Arts, 158 Main Street, Newport.

Spring is a time of transformation, renewing our uniqueness as we transition from the Winter Blues to the sunshine and longer days.  May 21 heralds the Flower Moon.  This moon was also known as the Full Corn Planting Moon or the Milk Moon.  Under the old rules originally set forth by the Maine Farmer’s Almanac, this is also a BLUE MOON.  Sounds like a song title, doesn’t it? Perhaps you’ll hear it played.

The exclusive lineup of MAC writers includes: Jerry Johnson, Lisa Foster, Mary Brenner, Dianne LaPlante and Mary Liz Riddle.  Our MAC musicians include: Nate Sargent, Janice and Ben Luce, Brian McCrae, John Selmer with Emcees Susan-Lynn Johns and Lynn Leimer.  Original prose, original songs, classic music and audience participation sing-alongs will embellish the enchantment of seasonal equinox.  Seating is limited, but not the fun.

And that’s not all!  If you buy your tickets in advance, you can enjoy a 10% discount at either Newport Ciderhouse or Dusit Thai.  LUNARt Madness is a benefit for the MAC Center and general admission is $7.00. For more information, visit www.maccenterforthearts.com or call 802-334-1966.

PRESS RELEASE

MAC Center for the Arts – Far and Wide, Near and Dear Opens May 6th

MAC Center for the Arts hails a new photography exhibit opening Friday May 6th running through Saturday, June 11, 2016.  The exhibit, FAR AND WIDE, NEAR AND DEAR, by photographer and MAC member, Cindy Smith, display her myriad of luscious images gleaned from her vast travels, where else but … near and far.

Smith admits candidly, “My wife, Gerry Cahill, and I both retired from Lake Region Union High School in 2010. I had been teaching there for 26 years. She for 42 years. I knew that if I didn’t retire, she never would. Someone had to get the ball rolling. Another impetus for retiring was that I had some good friends who had gotten ill at a young age. This shouldn’t happen. Their illnesses made me take stock of my life. So rolling many factors together, I decided to begin the second phase of my life.”

Her choice of medium during her teaching days had been sculptural- wood, clay, glass. Retirement opened a new realm highlighting photography…it was portable. “This was an art form that I could take with me anywhere. The world is my studio. As luck would have it, photography is a perfect marriage of many of my interest- the love of travel, the outdoors, being in wild and pristine places and seeing some of these places before climate change affects them forever.  We live on an amazing planet. I cherish her,” declares Smith.

There will be an Opening Reception, Friday, May 6th, 5-7 pm.  The exhibit can be seen during regular business hours: Tues-Sat 10-5 until June 6, when summer hours begin, Mon-Sat,
10-5.  For more information, please visit ww.maccenterforthearts.com or call 802-334-1966. 

MAC CENTER FOR THE ARTS hosts new exhibit

 ANTARCTICA – A Photographic Journey by Stephen Malshuk

Newport.  While the Northeast Kingdom has been experiencing an unusually warm winter, replete with green grass and significant absence of snow and ice; there is one spot in Newport that you can glance the glaciers and feel the chill…albeit virtually.  MAC Center for the Arts is proud to announce the exclusive exhibit, opening February 20 in the downstairs gallery: ANTARCTICA – a Photographic Journey, by photographer, Stephen K. Malshuk.

Malshuk was born Newport, Vermont in 1952. He holds a B.S. in Secondary Education, University of Vermont, 1974 and J.D., University of Puget Sound, 1985.  His first foray in photography began with a picture shot with a Polaroid SWINGER of his brother with a dead rabbit. 

Steve spent his formative years in Orleans before going to the wilds of the big city Burlington, VT to attend college in a city that was equipped with a mind boggling amount of stop lights and a population of 30,000 people. To keep him from being too bored growing up; he spent lots of time at the Jones Memorial Library. While there, he found his favorite magazines contained the most photographs, e.g.  Life, Look, and National Geographic. What Orleans lacked for excitement, the photos in those publications compensated for that a lot. Those magazines fueled his interest in photography. Rejecting pictures of murder, mayhem and war as a photographic pursuit, his basic interest is in landscape and people. He tends to favor photographing landscape since a landscape subject has never made a comment on what he could do to make it look “better.”

The photos in this exhibit are part of his “bucket” list of visiting all seven continents. Recently, he visited Asia. His remaining two continents are Africa and Australia.                                  

FACTOID: Antarctica, on average, is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent, and has the highest average elevation of all the continents. Antarctica is considered a desert, with annual precipitation of only 200 mm (8 in) along the coast and far less inland. There are no permanent human residents, but anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 people reside throughout the year at the research stations scattered across the continent. Antarctica was only first sighted in 1820, by the Russian expedition of Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev on Vostok and Mirny, who sighted the Fimbul ice shelf. The continent, however, remained largely neglected for the rest of the 19th century because of its hostile environment, lack of resources, and isolation.

Malshuk’s photographs have appeared in “California”, 1980, (Polaroid Type 52), Camera Arts Magazine, April, 1983; “Mt. Rainier”, 1986, Seattle P-I, June 17, 1999; “Self Portrait – watching my children at the beach”, 2001, (quad-black digital print) Seattle Art Museum web site, 2001; “Experience Music Project 156” Everett Herald, Visual Arts, August 11, 2006.

This polar exclusive can be viewed from February 20-April 16, during the regular business hours of the MAC Center for the Arts, 10-5. The closing reception/vernissage will feature Mr. Malshuk giving a talk back about his exhibit, April 16 from 5-7 pm.  All are welcome. For more information, please visit www.maccenterforthearts.com or call 802-334-9166.

PRESS RELEASE

A CLOSING CELEBRATION of Lisa Eshleman Foster’s one woman exhibition at the MAC Center for the Arts (Downstairs Gallery), 158 Main St. Newport,will be held on Saturday January 23, from 12-5 PM. This will be the last day to visit and view the over 200 pieces of original work that makes up the show Ancestors…Going Way Back. All those who attended the Opening Reception and entered the raffle or attend the Closing Reception and enter the raffle will have the opportunity to win a piece of Lisa’s unique artwork. Both raffles will be drawn at the end of the dayJanuary 23. Need not be present to win.

For those of you interested in purchasing one or more of Lisa Foster’s work to brighten up your space, most all of the 200+ pieces will be reduced in price with a portion of the proceeds going to the MAC Center for the Arts. This will be the last time the public has a chance to view this particular installation. Refreshments will be served. (NOTE: Sale prices pertain ONLY to Lisa Eshleman Foster’s work and this event is in the Downstairs Gallery only.) Please come celebrate and take a look at this unique work. Spread the word and bring your ancestors.