AVA Celebrates 25 Years in Lebanon

In March 2015, AVA celebrates our 25th year located in Lebanon, NH.

In the spirit of the occasion, here are scans of seven photographs taken at our first opening reception, March 1990. It was 70 degrees that day, and attendees gleefully spilled onto the Bank Street sidewalk.

What fun!

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Films and Talks on Sculpture :: January 2015

Sundays, January 11, 18 & 25, 4:30 pm
Saturday, January 31, 2pm
Free Admission

AVA Gallery and Art Center (AVA/Alliance for the Visual Arts), located at 11 Bank Street, Lebanon, NH, is pleased to announce a series of films and talks with a focus on sculpture, to be presented during the month of January. The upcoming exhibition of bronze sculptures by Sumner Winebaum, on display from January 9 through February 6, 2015, along with AVA’s plans to construct a building dedicated to the pursuit of three-dimensional studies and exploration provide the logical frame of reference for this series. All three Sunday afternoon programs—to take place on January 11, January 18, and January 25, at 4:30pm—as well as the concluding program on Saturday, January 31, at 2pm, are free and open to the public.

On Sunday, January 11, at 4:30pm, two films by the late AVA artist Clifford B. West will be shown—Bronze: River of Metal and Harry Bertoia’s Sculpture. The 30-minutes long Bronze: River of Metal (1972) traces bronze, the metal and its uses, from its discovery in the third millennium BC to the 20th century. A significant part of the film is devoted to Renaissance bronze sculptures; most notably Donatello’s over-sized bronze of San Ludovico, which was created from 14 separate castings. The film Harry Bertoia’s Sculpture features work in spill-cast bronze as well as beryllium copper, and focuses specifically on Bertoia’s so-called “sounding sculptures,” which in recent years have gained particular recognition. Italian-born Harry Bertoia (1915-1978) is also known as a furniture designer. Both of these films have  received a Ciné Golden Eagle Award.

On Sunday, January 18, at 4:30pm, Ernest Montenegro will give a talk titled “Right Under Our Noses,” on the process of creating the 53 foot tall sculpture, “ourhandsthenandnow,” commissioned by the city of Claremont, NH, for its 250th anniversary celebration. Montenegro’s work spans a myriad of styles, from abstract to realistic, from intricate reliefs to monumental bronzes. The recipient of several prestigious awards, with sculptures included in public as well as private collections, Montenegro is particularly known for his public sculptures. “ourhandsthenandnow” was created from traces of the hands of more than a thousand individuals; these traces were cut in steel and welded in a filigree pattern onto a metal structure. Made of corten steel, the sculpture also functions as a sundial and serves as a symbol of a city that has survived by working hands. It was inaugurated on October 26, 2014. Montenegro’s work will be featured in an exhibition at AVA, opening on April 17, 2015.

On Sunday, January 25, at 4:30pm, Paul Sanderson’s film, Augustus Saint-Gaudens: Master of American Sculpture will be shown. Henry Duffy, Museum Curator at Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site, will introduce the film. The film traces Saint-Gaudens’ life, both personally and professionally, from his birth in Dublin, Ireland and his work in New York City and Paris to his death in Cornish, New Hampshire. During a career that spanned three decades, Saint-Gaudens created nearly 150 works of art, including a number of major monuments to the heroes of the Civil War. The film, which premiered at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2007, studies in-depth several of his major monuments, including the Shaw Memorial on Boston Common, the Sherman Monument in New York’s Central Park and the Adams Memorial in Washington, D.C.

On Saturday, January 31 at 2pm, Sumner Winebaum will give a gallery talk about his work in the exhibition titled Bits and Pieces in Bronze. Winebaum, of York, ME, has been a key figure in the development of several organizations, including the Wentworth Coolidge Commission and the Strawberry Banke Museum in Portsmouth, NH. His sculptures are included in public and private collections, including The Currier Museum of Art in Manchester NH, and The University Gallery in at UNH in Durham. Winebaum builds his sculptures up in clay before casting them in bronze—a technique that allows him to give his figures a strong sense of abstraction while still being fairly representational. Winebaum’s work will be on display at AVA through February 6, 2015.

All of the programs will take place in AVA’s Clifford B. West Gallery.

2012 Owl Awards

AVA received a 2012 Owl Award!

 Last night AVA received a 2012 Owl Award for Here, Now: Work by Regional Native American Artists, Best Painting and Sculpture Exhibition.

A big thank you to The Complete Hoot and everything they do for the arts in the Upper Valley!

2012 Juried Show Results

2012 Juried Show Results

AVA Gallery and Art Center’s Nineteenth Annual Juried Summer Exhibition

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June 29 – August 3, 2012

Juror: Janie Cohen, Director, Fleming Museum of Art, University of Vermont, Burlington

The Juror’s Recognition Awards were given to Duncan Johnson of Hartford, VT for his work in reclaimed wood and mixed-media, “Nightshade”; to Phil Lonergan of Campton, NH for his steel sculpture, “Kitchen Triptych”; and to Laurie Sverdlove of Randolph, VT for her oil painting, “Quick Now, Here Now, Always.” The three award winners received cash prizes made possible by Ledyard National Bank’s sponsorship of this exhibition.

Cohen also gave Honorable Mention awards to three artists “working figuratively in vastly different ways.”  These awards were given to Harry Bernard of Walpole, NH for his mixed-media painting, “Was Here 12.2”; to Lisa Rae Spahl of Henniker, NH for her stitching on fabric, “Stumped in Thought”; and to Seano Whitecloud of Fairlee, VT for his video, “The Shape of Being: Universal Body.”

This year’s inaugural recipient of the Annual Cornelia M. Rahmelow Photography Prize was M.L. Gitchel of Piermont, NH for her black and white photograph, “The Captain and Marion.”

Click here to read Janie Cohen’s juror’s statement.

 

Sponsored by Ledyard National Bank 

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The Cornelia M. Rahmelow Prize: Juried Show 2012

Artist Cornelia M. Rahmelow (1943-2012) had her studio in AVA’s 11 Bank Street building in the 1990’s.Her photographs exhibit an innovative use of perspective and a mastery of natural light in her traditional black-and-white portraits.

This prize is designed to provide an incentive for rising young artists and to recognize an artwork that combines original artistic vision and outstanding technical skill—elements that characterized Cornelia’s own work.

The winner will be selected by the Juror and a member of the Upper Valley artistic community familiar with Cornelia’s work. The prize is accompanied by a $250 award.

2011 Juried Show Results

AVA Gallery and Art Center’s

Eighteenth Annual Juried Summer Exhibition

Sponsored by:

VON BARGEN’S JEWELRY

in downtown Hanover, NH
 JUROR:
Katherine Hart, Interim Director of the Hood Museum of Art and Barbara C. and Harvey P. Hood 1918 Curator of Academic Programming

Exhibition June 24 – July 29, 2011

Opening Reception: Friday, June 24, 5-7PM

This year we received a total of 439 works by 247 artists from 95 communities throughout Vermont and New Hampshire.  The number of artworks submitted far exceeded that of any previous year.  Of these, 137 works by 134 artists were accepted.
Thank you to all of the artists for submitting work for consideration in this year’s Juried Summer Exhibition!

Download the Press Release Here!

Download the Press Release of the Awards Here!

Download the Juror’s Statement Here!