WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A bulbous pine cone and a cupcake liner. The lid of a mason jar, some gold lacquered ribbon, a clamp, a couple of delicate shells. These objects and more are arranged in a row on a couple of cabinets at Two Rivers Printmaking Studio.
The eclectic array comes from castaway items that studio members placed in boxes and exchanged anonymously as an art prompt: Make whatever you want, so long as it responds to your objects in some way.
The resulting prints hang above the bits and bobs that inspired them in an exhibit titled “Out of the Box,” on view at the studio through June 30.
Colorful, evocative, enigmatic, the prints are as varied as their respective prompts.
“It’s always interesting to see how people respond to an object,” studio member Carole McNamee said in a phone interview.
McNamee, a Quechee resident, suggested the project to her fellow artists as a way to foster collaboration and community in the studio.
It’s a prompt she’s tried before, years ago, while a member at ArtSpace Maynard, an artist community in Maynard, Mass.
As artists, “we can sometimes get comfortable with what we know we can do,” McNamee said. Building a print around a prompt such as a set of objects — especially unexpected ones — can help lead an artist into new territory.
McNamee, who’s been a member at Two Rivers for about five years, filled her box with shells and pieces of collage with circular motifs. The box she received, meanwhile, came with bottle caps, jar lids, a cupcake liner.
One of McNamee’s creative responses shows three bisected circles, white on one side and a burnt orange that grows progressively darker on the other. Scratchy lines cover the surface of the print, which McNamee made using woodblock and solarplate techniques.
Studio manager Rachel Gross took a more literal approach to her piece. Resting on a white platform, a clamp pinches a red and yellow apple. In the background, green grass leads to a dark mountain range and blue sky above it.
The clamp and apple (by now long rotten) were two of the three items in her box. There was also a pencil, which she decided to leave out of her response.
Another studio member affixed toy spiders and tiny stars to a print of green and navy shapes against a pale blue background. It’s a playful work, the stars and spiders adding an almost childlike quality.
Then there are Janet Cathey’s two striking prints of a pine cone. One, a pristine woodblock print, shows the pine cone large and simple in the center of a blank background. The other is similar, but this time the pine cone’s scales are flecked with gold, the print created using a Japanese lithography technique called mokulito, where a drawing is rendered on a piece of plywood using an oily medium.
The numerous directions artists followed for “Out of the Box” speak to the sheer quantity of techniques members experiment with at the studio, Gross said.
The space to do that experimentation might be increasing soon. After 25 years of working out of a 1,000-square-foot room in the Tip Top Media Arts Building, Two Rivers’ board has ambitions to expand the studio into an adjacent space that was once used as a screen printing shop. The board hopes to bring back screen printing in the expanded studio, Gross said.
As of Monday, artists didn’t know which fellow member had outfitted their box of items. Those identities will be revealed at the show’s opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. this Friday.
“Out of the Box” is on view through June 30 at Two Rivers Printmaking Studio in White River Junction. To learn more about the show, go to tworiversprintmaking.org.
First Friday
Beyond the Two Rivers reception, a number of other festivities will abound on First Friday in White River Junction this week. Here’s a sampling:
The fifth consecutive Pride Prom at JAM (Junction Arts and Media) is slated for 6 to 10 p.m. Iron your baby blue tuxedo because this year’s theme is ’80s prom. Guests with the best looks will be crowned prom royalty. Note that the event is substance free. Tickets are by donation. RSVP at uvjam.org.
A gathering in the ceramics studio on the second floor of the Tip Top Media Arts Building will also have live music and refreshments from 5 to 7 p.m., and all new pottery to peruse.
Outside the Upper Valley Food Co-op on North Main Street, an acoustic jam is scheduled from 4 to 6 p.m. The Vermont Center for Ecostudies and Hanover Conservancy will be there to share information about their respective projects, including studies on rare pollinator species, vernal pools and amphibians. Learn more at shorturl.at/Nv9WT.
Playtime
Upper Valley students will perform in six original short plays at 2 and 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 6, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 7 at Lyman Point Park in White River Junction. Each play is written, directed and performed entirely by students. For tickets (by donation) go to footlighters.ludus.com.
Coming up at AVA
AVA Gallery and Art Center in Lebanon has several noteworthy exhibits and events on the horizon. One of them is the gallery’s annual juried exhibition, titled “A Shifting Field of Meaning,” which opens this Friday. An exhibition tour is set for 4 to 5 p.m. the same day, with a reception to follow from 5 to 7 p.m. The show is on view through July 18.
“Light and Flight,” Sue Schlabach’s exhibit of soft landscapes and birds in motion, is also on view through June 27. Both exhibits are free and open to the public.
The gallery is also hosting a free zine making meetup and potluck from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, June 9. A second zine event is set for June 23. Learn more about AVA’s shows and workshops at avagallery.org.
