A Cornucopia of Creativity
by Zoë Kirsch
This Friday, August 29, marks the start of the 16th Annual Fall Arts Festival! The extravaganza, which continues through Sunday, September 7, is brought to you by The Nantucket Arts Council, along with the Nantucket Atheneum, the Artists Association of Nantucket, the Maria Mitchell Association, and the Theatre Workshop of Nantucket. By showcasing Island artists, the Arts Council illustrates that “Nantucket’s year-round community teems with artists — waitresses who paint, taxi drivers who photograph, and carpenters who act.” The Festival is both a celebration of such people and a chance for them to share their talents.
Lauding the talents of local artists is a brilliant idea; it is one that appeals to both the art-seekers and the art-creators, which is why the festival has lasted fifteen years.
Jenny Garneau, Festival founder, was working at the Nantucket Beacon, a weekly newspaper, when she came up with the concept. She recalls the first Arts Festival: “We wanted to recognize and celebrate local artists, so we went out and began to organize a festival of events: music, visual arts, the written word...Initially we even had some food involved. [Here, she chortles.] Island wide, lots of people came...It was well attended.”
A couple years later, the Nantucket Arts Council (NAC) adopted Garneau's brainchild. And truly there is no association better suited to run the Arts Festival. The Council has long promoted fine arts on Nantucket, and continues to do so in a variety of ways. Gene Mahon, Arts Festival Chairman, elaborates: “Of course there's the Festival. On top of that, we produce a classical concert series in the wintertime. This consists of four or five concerts starting in January, which really brighten up the winter.” He goes on, “We have produced folk and singer-songwriter concerts over the years, brought kids over to see the Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra, brought kids up to Boston for concerts. And that's just to name a few examples...”
Some of the NAC's original concepts have taken wing through other island organizations. For instance, several years ago, the Council started a film series. Now, the Atheneum runs the event. “Before that,” Mahon observes, “the Atheneum hadn't done a film series.”
In the ever creative and competent hands of twelve NAC members (they have been organizing Festival 2008 since the first of the year), The Festival's mission remains the same. Mahon explicates, “Our goal is really to celebrate the arts on Nantucket, enjoyment of the arts, and the Nantucket artist.” He adds, “It's really about the Nantucket artist and showcasing him or her to the broadest audience we can.”
This year’s celebration takes place earlier in September than it has been in years past. Scheduling the Festival earlier was a strategic decision. “We realized that we could still have a fall feel the week after Labor Day,” explains Mahon, “and there would still be a lot of people on the island. I think it'll be the perfect time to take a breath, in effect. In the early fall, Nantucket is a more relaxed pace. Traffic isn't so bad. It's a good time to reconnect with friends, reconnect with Nantucket.”
This year's collaboration is a first in other ways. Mahon explains: “We're attempting to show the other side of Nantucket artists through their experimental paintings. We'll be showing artists who have never
been shown before.” The Chairman says the Festival's program cover—an abstract medley of shapes in browns and blues—is exemplary of its exploratory angle. “The picture on the cover has no relevance to Nantucket, yet it comes from one of Nantucket's great artists, Joanna Kane.” What else differentiates Festival 2008 from festivals past? This year's Festival will include not one exhibition, but three!
Out of all that will be offered, Gene Mahon most eagerly anticipates Detention with Oliver Diamond.” “It's an exhibition and a TV show: the making of getting 200 kids involved in storyboarding,” Mahon explains. “It's all about the creative project from the very beginning. There's never been a show like this on Nantucket!”
When Mark Carapezza came up with the “Detention” concept, the NAC “offered him space, support, and publicity,” says Mahon. “If we could support every artist like that, we would.”
Many Nantucketers can count themselves among the artistically accomplished. So, how did the NAC choose whom to feature? First, Council members went on a scavenger hunt for a specific kind of art. Mahon reminisces, “Two years ago, we decided to look for the art ourselves to find the pieces we thought represented fall, great Nantucket art, and more than one medium... i.e. a painting of a musician. Next, we decided whom the curators would be. It was up to them whom they solicited.” “But,” he assures, “No one was excluded. Any artist interested in submitting his or her work was welcome to do so.” The NAC's open encouragement of local artists means that this fall's Festival will be filled with a wide range of sparkling talents. Festival events will be held all across Nantucket, with a concentration in Town. Most are free. Any money raised will go to spectacular causes: scholarships, grants, running day-to-day NAC operations, local arts institutions, and the artists themselves. Certainly, the Nantucket Arts Festival is a testament to Mahon's statement that the NAC “advocates for the arts.”
Whether you want to purchase a beautiful painting, see a world-class dance performance, hear classical, rock, or blue-grass music, learn to write, observe weaver Miki Lovett at work, or learn about TV show production, this Festival will inspire the artist in you!
See nantucketartscouncil.org for a complete schedule of Arts Festival events and look out for the printed version at the Nantucket Arts Council table on upper Main Street and at other locations around Town.
