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From The Bulletin, written by Dana Forsythe
Hyde Park Arts Center opens
Mayor Thomas Menino, joined by City Councilor Rob Consalvo and members of
the Hyde Park Arts Association, cut the ribbon at the new Hyde Park Arts
Center on Saturday.
Dana Forsythe 25.SEP.08
This past weekend, the new Hyde Park Art Center opened its doors to the public.
Located at 26 Central Ave., on the second floor of the George Robert White Building, the center will host artist studio space, classes, gallery shows, artist demonstrations and other events in the upcoming years.
"It was a great event," Cheryl Murphy, president of the Hyde Park Arts Center, said of the opening.
Just a few months ago, the second floor of the building was a dusty mess.
"This was certainly a big job on its own," Murphy said. "We had about 150 people attend the event. It's just overwhelming to finally have the center open after so many people worked on it."
Murphy said the people working on the project as well as visitors seeing it for the first time, were astounded at the center's transformation.
On Saturday, the new arts center was almost unrecognizable. Walls were filled with artwork by HPAA members, giving visitors the opportunity to see their largest show ever mounted in a single location.
"I was absolutely thrilled," Murphy said. "The place looks absolutely wonderful."
As a community project, the arts center has brought out the best in the community, Murphy said.
"It’s been a community vision all along," she said.
Gloria Carrigg, board member and curator for the center, joined with board members to hang art in the auditorium, as well as the studio spaces and downstairs offices of the Department of Neighborhood Development.
Rosemarie Clinton, of the Events Committee, provided food and refreshments for the many guests that came through for the grand opening at 26 Central.
"Pat Alvarez was very busy working on our business plan. Joe Tierney is starting to work on studio leases for the people interested in holding space. The community involvement is just overwhelming," Murphy said.
Murphy added that Janice Kenney, another HPAA member, in addition to facilitating a lot of the repairs of the building, put in many hours to see that the opening went smoothly on Saturday.
During the opening gala, a classroom was dedicated to the memory of Hyde Park artist and neighbor Paul Nolan.
As an artist, Nolan loved painting waterscapes.
"His seascapes were the best I’ve ever seen," State Rep. Angelo Scaccia said.
Artists-At-Large founder Thomas Seggers, better known to many as simply Tommey, remembers Nolan as a charming painter whose skilled works often revealed his love for water.
"He also did amazing cartoons while in the service, which are still very timely today," he said.
Nolan was as prolific an art teacher as he was a painter. He ran a weekly painting class, "Mondays with Paul," at the Hyde Park Branch Library.
One of his students, Clinton, who had never painted before lessons, has gone on to exhibit her work at the library and win numerous awards.
"He was indescribable, he would always be building someone else up," she said. "It wasn’t about Paul, it was always about someone else," she said. "He was such a giving soul."
"I just want to thank everyone involved in this project," Murphy said. "Every organization and person I’ve contacted has said yes to the arts center. I don’t ever remember being a beneficiary of such a supportive group. Especially i have to mention Sasja Lucas, who did so much construction work here."
Murphy said the new arts center has a full schedule of fall programming and is featuring free art demos every second Saturday.
"Everything is finally ready now," Murphy said. "This was a great opportunity to bring together everyone that has worked on the center."
The space for the Hyde Park Arts Center was donated by the George Robert
White Fund.