lift of blue

a group exhibition

supporting mental health awareness month of may

May 3-June 29

Opening Reception: Friday, May 3, 5-7 PM

In collaboration with West Central Behavioral Health

Cerulean, Cobalt, Phthalo, Prussian, and Ultramarine, artists know these names well: they are blue. I’ve read that gazing at a blue sea, or any body of water, can lower your heart rate and blood pressure and increase feelings of relaxation; oh, there’s a study, you can google it. Just imagine a babbling brook winding through a pine forest, or diamonds sparkling on lake waters, you are no doubt feeling less stressed. Sky gazing offers mood-enhancing qualities too, crisp air and a crystal blue-bird sky set against a snowy winter landscape will surely lift your spirits.

For every themed group exhibition, we ask artists to respond to a question: “How does your artwork relate to the theme?” The responses are always inspiring. Here are a few quotes from some of the artists in the lift of blue:

“My piece is a meditation of blue utterances and synesthetic whispers of renewal.”
“I use blues to describe feelings, also of nighttime fears, dreams & solutions.”
“Blue as physiological luminance to the feeling of blue.”
“My blue joy began in a kindergarten cup of lumpy blue tempera paint.”
“These blue and white porcelain sculptures deal with grief, loss, and sorrow.”
“This work is mostly blue, and relates to swimming; what I do for my mental health.”
“It is blue, and I was just diagnosed as autistic.”
“Don’t be afraid to lose yourself inside the wildness. Life. IS. Wild.”
“These pieces express a magical or mystical relationship to a body of water.”

The exhibition title comes from the poem “Sea Church” by Aimee Nezhukumatathil; there’s a particular stanza that carries me away to happy childhood memories of a Saturday morning greeting, my mother’s voice, and the sunny sky peeking through a crack in the window blind. But also, the clever twist is a reminder that the mood of feeling blue can be lifted through a new day, finding inspiration in nature, and making–or looking at– art.

The exhibition called for blue, and 60 artists answered. The walls in The Linda Roesch Visual Arts Gallery will be filled with blue works, the variety in medium and subject matter is delightful. I hope you will have an opportunity to attend the opening and meet the artists on Friday, May 3, 5-7 PM. The exhibition is on view through June 29. the lift of blue is a group exhibition supporting Mental Health Awareness Month of May, it is our fourth annual collaboration with West Central Behavioral Health. –Samantha Eckert, Exhibition Manager

Exhibiting artists: Emily Battles, Cheryl Bencivenga, Rachel Benoit, Renee Bitinas, Lynn Bohannon, Shari Boraz, Darla Bruno, Blair Butterfield, Leah Caroline, Joseph Carton, Nancy White Cassidy, Sally Chapman, Theresa Chausse, Paula Cloudpainter, Sue Collier, Annabelle Cone, Gillian Cook, Ellen Cooper, Elizabeth D’Amico, Todd DePerno, Betsy Derrick, Michelle Dreselly, Samantha Eckert, Stephan Fowlkes, Jon Gilbert Fox, Rene Gerrior, Shawna Gibbs, Renee Greenlee, Victoria Shalva Herzberg, Bruce Hewitt, Jeremy Santiago-Horseman, William B. Hoyt, Janet Hutchens, Sher Kamman, Molly Leith, Jillian Lauren Lisitano, Dawn Littlepage, Anni Lorenzini, Todd Matte, Justin McDowell, Elizabeth Melnyczuk, Chalice Mitchell, Marianne Mullen, John O’Dowd, Jayne Ollin, Phyll Perry, Kathryn Peterson, Alexander Pope, Linda Roesch, Evelyn Roberts, Brooke Robinson Drew, Terry Rooney, Donna Sadonsky, Richard Schnall, Kate Smith, Gary St. Ivany, Richard Stamelman, Kathy Stark, Laura Tafe, Sheryl Trainor, Christel Wolfaardt.

Please join us on Friday, May 3, 5-7 pm for refreshments and entertainment provided by Spencer Lewis. Spencer Lewis performs his signature Americana folk grooves either solo or by live-looping the guitar and violin, to mirror or eclipse the music from his internationally known 26-album catalog. His most recent release Ruins & Foundations takes his folk chamber music to its most passionate level. Tom Hill of the Upper Valley’s Valley News once described his instrumental music as ‘somewhere between melancholia and celebration’. As a guitarist, he employs an inimitable cross-flat-picking technique and uses a Mississippi John Hurt style of finger and flat-picking played in a variety of tunings and guitars. www.spencerlewismusic.com

Supported by WCBH along with these generous sponsors: Anonymous, The Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation, Mt. Roeschmore Foundation, The Richards Group, Williamson Group Sotheby’s International Realty

Image credit: Todd Matte, Alligator Tears, mm on canvas.