North Shore Arts Association at 95: Looking Back; Looking Ahead

"Ice Bound Vessels" Frederick Mulhaupt, ca. 1920

As NSAA celebrates is 95th Anniversary, we look back at the rich history of Cape Ann and the daily lives of its hardworking people, as faithfully recorded by its resident artists. We are gifted with five senses, but to explore our personal and collective history, one of the most powerful senses is sight.
Visual artists record the world around them; the character of a physical place, the people who populate it, and something so much deeper and harder to capture-their interior lives.
Looking back through old, faded black and white photographs can bring us the grainy facts of a place, but it's in the artists' work we see that place in vibrant color through the lens of the human heart and the mind of the artist who lived and was fully engage in that moment of time. We are transported through time. What a wonderful gift it is to be an artist and what a gift it is to the world!
In 2017, NSAA celebrates our long, proud history and the lineage of fine artists who contributed so much to our understanding of their time and place; leaving us with magnificent works of art to reveal the past and to inspire our futures.
Artists create our futures, imagine and inspire our best selves and hold up a mirror to our times.
Come celebrate creativity with us and our 95th year!

A short history of the North Shore Arts Association

A small sampling of NSAA distinguished past artist members:

"Dorothea in the Woods", Cecilia Beaux, 1897

"Winter Sparkle", Paul Strisik, 1987

"Gloucester Harbor" Emile A. Gruppe

"Rockport In Winter", William Lester Stevens, N.A.

"The Artists' Greats" Extended Through October 10!

North Shore Arts Association celebrates its "Year of The Artist" with a spectacular and historic 'best of the best' "Artists' Greats" artist member exhibition with Opening Day on Thursday, September 3rd. A 'Meet the Artists Reception' will be held on Sunday, September 20, from 2-4 p.m. Due to popular acclaim the Exhibition has been extended and now will run through October 10. Open and free to the public.
Gathered together for exhibit for the first time the Artist Members of the NSAA will select their best, award winning works in oil, watercolor, graphics and sculpture for viewing in an historic  "Artists' Greats" exhibition presented in the exquisite harbor side galleries of the North Shore Arts Association. A brief artist statement will accompany each piece allowing viewers rare insight into the artists' thoughts about their own work. This is an extraordinary opportunity to add the works of Charles Movalli, Tom Nicholas, N.A., A.W.S., Betty Lou Schlemm, A.W.S., and many other favorites to your collection.

"Maine", Charles Movali, acrylic 36 x 36 

Charles Movalli is an internationally renowned artist of the Cape Ann School. He is one of Cape Ann's best known and beloved painters and teachers. Born the son of artists in Gloucester, MA, Movalli became an art teacher, influential art editor and writer. But above all, he is a dynamic painter. His dramatic brushwork creates the vibrant lighting and sense of movement that captures the essence of a scene. He was, for 25 years a contributing editor for "American Artist" magazine and was featured numerous times.
Movalli studied with Emile Gruppe and Roger Curtis, among others and collaborated in authoring many instructional art books and is an honored and award winning member of Boston based and Cape Ann art associations.

"Snow Country", Tom Nicholas, N.A., A.W.S., 42 x 52, watercolor

Tom Nicholas, N.A., A.W.S., is an Academician of the National Academy of Design and a Dolphin Fellow of the American Watercolor Society, whose ability to capture light and mood on canvas is recognized and acclaimed nationally and internationally. Included among his more than 250 awards are 42 Medals of Honor. He has had 35 solo shows throughout North America and Europe. Listings include: Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Art, The Old Royal Watercolour Society Annual Volume, 1971, London, England and Strathmore's Who's Who.

"Sudden Squall",  Betty Lou Schlemm, A.W.S., oil on canvas

Betty Lou Schlemm, A.W.S.,  is a Dolphin Fellow and an elected Lifetime Member of the American Watercolor Society. Much loved by art collectors and students and this renowned Cape Ann artist is an internationally acclaimed artist, teacher, and author of many art related instructional books. Her works in watercolor and oil are found, and are treasured by art lovers, in many private collections around the world.

-contributed by Susan Britt, M.Ed.

Phyllis Feld Solo Show: "The Way of Space in the Landscape "

"Wild Flowers Abound", Phyllis Feld

North Shore Arts Association presents one of Cape Ann's extraordinary landscape artists, Phyllis Feld, in her exciting new Solo Show, "The Way of Space in The Landscape". Opening day is September 3, and the show runs through September 26. All are invited to a "Meet the Artist" Reception on Sunday, September 20, from 2-4 p.m. Free and open to the public.

While she often paints beautifully arranged still life works, landscape painting is Phyllis Feld's artistic passion. She says, "I love working in the landscape, working 'en plein air'. It helps me make a visual connection. My space planning and interior design experience is the stimulus of my deep attraction to geometric form as nature creates it." Feld will often spend much time exploring in a chosen terrain until she finds an inspiring natural configuration. Her excitement about spatial relations, form and color radiates from her canvases. This is an artist whose work is not to be missed. A graduate of Pratt Institute, Feld is a Space Planner/Interior Designer who designed offices and commercial interiors for seventeen years. She began her studies at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts with still life painting, and later becoming drawn to plein air painting while traveling in France, Italy, and Outer Cape Cod.
She is also a member of the Newton, Concord and North Shore Arts Associations, and an associate member of the Rockport Art Association. She has exhibited extensively, having received Best of Show, Third Place and several Honorable Mentions, and her work resides in many private collections. 
- contributed by Susan Britt, M.Ed.                                                                                            

"Hyacinth Spell", Phyllis Feld

            

A Great Success: 'North Greets South Paint-Out'!

Watercolor sketch by Jody Regan

At the invitation of The Board of Trustees of the North Shore Arts Association, artists from communities south of Boston mixed and mingled with NSAA members in a full day of plein air painting in Gloucester, on Tuesday, June 23rd.
Seventy artists, many of whom are nationally and internationally  known, painted en plein air at six private property locations on Rocky Neck, opened only to them for this special event, and at the harbor side grounds of the historic North Shore Arts Association overlooking East Gloucester's sparkling Smith Cove.

In spite of brief mid day showers, it was a fun-filled day for all. The visiting artists were captivated by the beauty of Gloucester harbor, it's coves and street scenes. A special thank you goes out to the private property owners who graciously invited our artists to paint from sites with  access to some of the most beautiful views of our historic, coastal city. The artists were all smiles, enjoying the North Shore Arts Association's hospitality and the opportunity to form new and lasting relationships that will enhance the already formidable reputation of the eastern Massachusetts art community and add to our region's creative economy.
By all accounts the North Greets South Paint-Out was a great success and one that we hope will become a yearly event!

Paint Out Coordinators Nancy Colella and Judythe Evans Meagher

With special thanks to the originators and coordinators of this enormously successful event: artist Judythe Evans Meagher, coordinator for the North Shore; jemeagher@comcast.net, and artist Nancy Colella, coordinator for the South Shore; saltydogstudio@comcast.net. Paint On!

A Special Opportunity for Our Members

2015 Exhibition and Progam Catalog- A Special Offer for NSAA Members

The following is an offer to Members of the North Shore Arts Association to place ads in the upcoming 2015 NSAA Exhibition and Program Catalog.  This free publication will be available to visitors throughout the entire season, giving you a unique, long term advertising opportunity.

The publication will be 8.5" x 5.5", full color cover with black and white text. Along with your ad, it will have useful visitor information-calendar, exhibition info, historical data, educational offerings and more.

Exhibition catalogs historically have proved to be an exceptional value, at the time of publication and for future research. An important archival record of exhibitions, artists and awards, they provide a "snapshot" in time of an institution and its membership. Become a part of NSAA history!

Each artist is asked to supply his/her own finished camera-ready ad. If needed, help will be available as time allows. Closing date for reservations is Wednesday, April 15 and deadline for advertisements is Monday, April 20. Reserve your ad space today.

We look forward to your support!  Click here for ordering information.

Welcome To Spring and the North Shore Arts Association's 93rd Exhbition Season

There are changes and new ideas aplenty for our artist and associate members and our valued donors as we prepare for the season's opening bell. "The Year of the Artist" is the theme as we open our doors to welcome and celebrate the gathering of some of the best artists in the Northeast to our community and harbor side galleries.

Exhibition I kicks off the 2015 season, opening on May 7 with a gala reception on Sunday May 17 from 2 to 4 pm. Join the celebration! We hope to see you there!

A few of the season highlights:

• Bob Blue Retrospective May 5- May 20
• NSAA New Members Exhibition, concurrent with Exhibition II
• Annual Gala Fine Arts Auction
• North/South Plein Air "Paint Out", a collaboration with fellow artists from the South Shore
• Artist Award Winners Exhibition and Past Great from the NSAA Permanent Collection
• Schooner and Seascapes Exhibition to coincide with the Annual Gloucester Schooner Festival
• Artist Workshops/ Demonstrations/ Gallery Talks, throughout the Season
• One Person and Collaborative Exhibitions by these outstanding artists:

                       Nella and Steve Lush                                  Carol Loiacano
                       Ann Murphy/Mary Callahan                    Phyllis Feld
                       Bonnie Gray                                                  Neil Linsenmayer

We're excited to greet our returning and new members, donors and visitors to the galleries. Your ideas, comments and participation are a key element in the growth and continuing success of the North Shore Arts Association as we enter our historic 93rd year. Welcome to the NSAA!