Press Release: February-March Exhibits at Cotuit Center for the Arts

IT’S A TRIPLE-HEADER OF INTRIGUING AND FUN ART COMING TO COTUIT CENTER FOR THE ARTS STARTING FEBRUARY 15, 2020.

FEATURING THE DIGITAL AND ANIMATED WORKS OF KAREN LaFLEUR AND THE MIXED MEDIA SCULPTURE OF VIRGINIA MAHONEY – BOTH NEW ENGLAND ARTISTS.

AND GET TO KNOW OUR TALENTED CCftA INSTRUCTORS UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL AS THEY DISPLAY THEIR OWN WORKS IN THE DOWNSTAIRS GALLERY.

WHAT:

• STORY ART: The Text-Image Art of Karen LaFleur
• VESTED INTEREST: Mixed media sculptures in vest form by Virginia Mahoney
  
• EDUCATORS’ SHOWCASE - CCftA faculty members display their personal works

WHEN: February 15, 2020 – March 14, 2020

OPENING RECEPTION: Saturday, February 15^th

5-7 pm

Artists talk 5:20 pm

Admission free – Refreshments served

Story Art is a retrospective exhibition of artist Karen LaFleur’s creative journey into the visual language of storytelling. Lyrically written and vividly rendered her artwork takes the audience to places in the human heart they instantly recognize but seldom articulate.

The exhibit consists of digital narrative prints with embedded micro-stories, examples of digital book art, and animation artwork, as well as working drawings, storyboards, and visual language fine art. Themes such as what constitutes love, reflections on fate, or the simple need to be recognized are rendered with candor.

Karen LaFleur has exhibited her artwork nationally including at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC, The Cape Museum of Fine Arts, MA, Union Square San Francisco, CA, Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA, and can be found in many public and private collections worldwide.

Vested Interest focuses on Virginia Mahoney’s ongoing series of sculptural/conceptual garments primarily in vest form. Her work incorporates sewing, recurrent clay forms, and handwriting. For Mahoney, building and making are sources of comfort and self-definition, unlocking ideas and pathways to discovery. Mahoney’s garment forms embody doubt, uncertainty, and thoughts that hang in the background, weighing us down with questions, thwarted progress, and second guessing. A vest might suggest protection, uniform, identification, accessory, warmth, or utility, but these garments manifest the discomfort of struggle.

Virginia Mahoney’s works have been shown in juried and invitational exhibits nationwide and are in the collection of the Lancaster Art Museum (PA). Recent shows include “Between the Lines” (Fountain Street Gallery, Boston) and “New England Thread” (Brookline Arts Center).

Teaching Faculty Exhibition:

Cotuit Center for the Arts is very proud of the talented artists who make up its teaching faculty. In 2020, our teachers offered over 250 different classes to over 2,400 students and in 2021 will offer even more classes in even more subjects. These instructors have a passion for art, and this exhibit will give them an opportunity to impress patrons with their considerable visual arts skills.

All three exhibits run from February 15, 2020 – March 14, 2020.

LOCATION: Cotuit Center for the Arts, 4404 Falmouth Rd, Cotuit, MA, 02635

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