Blog Posts Across WASAA

BREAKING NEWS! TRUCK FIGHTS SPAGHETTIVILLE BRIDGE, BRIDGE WINS!

I have long intended to photograph the Prince Spaghettiville bridge, but this morning I was compelled to capture this newsworthy moment on my way to ye olde day job. I guess "low clearance" is perhaps not enough information... Continue

Posted by Anna Harrison on September 4, 2008 at 9:34am — 5 Comments

WAS Live/Work Space APPROVED!

By Jennifer Myers, jmyers@lowellsun.com Article Last Updated: 08/26/2008 04:40:37 AM EDT LOWELL -- A thunderous roar erupted from the balcony of the City Council Chamber Monday night as the Zoning Board of Appeals voted unanimously to approve developer Karl Frey's petition to bring 68 affordable artist live-work spaces to a vacant mill building on industrially zoned Western Avenue. For the artists and their supporters, the primal scream released eight months of frustration and anger that had b… Continue

Posted by Rex on August 26, 2008 at 12:01pm — 3 Comments

WASSA Artists at Ayer Lofts Gallery

YOU NAME IT: Coming up with a title for a piece is one of the hardest jobs artists face. This Saturday through Aug. 28, Steve Syverson, Maxine Farkas and Gay Tracy let you in on the exercise at their exhibit In Pursuit of an Idea at Ayer Lofts Gallery. Entering the gallery, you'll encounter new work by the three, plus an assortment of 50 titles. The artists encourage you to title their works, and if a title's already been assigned, or you don't agree, change it. Titles remain fluid… Continue

Posted by Rex on August 6, 2008 at 1:00pm — No Comments

Ashlee Featured in Lowell Sun...

'A Labor of Love' Local artists struggling to make ends meet By Nancye Tuttle LOWELL -- Life's a juggling act for Ashlee Welz Smith. Between painting portraits, doing freelance work for a publishing company and running a summer art program for kids at Western Avenue Studios, she manages to make a living. It isn't easy. "I worry about paying the bills," said Smith, 31. "It's paycheck to paycheck, but it would be a waste if I wasn't doing my art. It was tedious sitting in front of… Continue

Posted by Rex on August 6, 2008 at 12:30pm — No Comments

"Eye-Popping Art"

Our own +EYEFORMATION+ makes Lowell a much cooler place.... the following from the Lowell Sun. EYE-POPPING ART: The stark, white exterior of 119 Gallery have been transformed into a colorful, free-form mural that will make people take notice as they pass by. Gallery owners Walter Wright and Mary Ann Kearns commissioned Lowell artist Eyeformation to design and paint the mural. Jumping at the chance, he created a design featuring the lively characters he's known for, arranged spontaneously. The l… Continue

Posted by Rex on August 6, 2008 at 12:16pm — 1 Comment

Lowell Sun on Zoning Meeting

Read the article here. Continue

Posted by Rex on July 21, 2008 at 10:00am — 1 Comment

Zoning Board Video

This link will take you to a streaming video of the entire proceeding. Continue

Posted by Rex on July 20, 2008 at 5:50am — No Comments

Zoning Board of Appeals Round Two

It was an amazing turnout last night at the ZBA meeting. . . quite a few WAS artists overcame fear of mic and spoke as did a rep from the National Park and two folks from ArtistLink . . . I wish I had something positive to report . . . the board decided to continue the hearing until August 11th. Why you ask? Well it appears that there are serious public safety issues at Western Avenue . . . for example . . . one side of the building is on the Pawtucket Canal and in case of fire, the fire depar… Continue

Posted by Maxine on July 15, 2008 at 8:30am — 2 Comments

Nature Reveals opened last night

It was a lovely opening last night at the Loading Dock Gallery . . . Adrien and Margot did a wonderful job! Continue

Posted by Maxine on July 12, 2008 at 8:46am — No Comments

New Features on This Site....

We have added a new Member Location Map feature powered by Google(the old one flaked out on us). It is in a drop-down menu under Members in the top bar of the Main page. Please add your location and have a look where everyone is from. Also on the top menu bar we have added a "WAS Artist" link to the list of artists and studio locations in Western Avenue Studios. This will help you find artists who are too lazy to sign up for this site. Continue

Posted by Rex on July 1, 2008 at 9:30pm — 1 Comment

Dirty Smelllllly and Noisy Martinis......

My buddy Dave and I thought it would be a goooood thing to imagine what the ideal Dirty, Smelly and Noisy Martinis would be like..... here are our efforts......

Continue

Posted by Rex on June 28, 2008 at 12:23pm — No Comments

Even Hitchcock would be freaked out....

Reposted from my main Blog I'm starting to think the birds at my feeders are starting to get a little too "entitled" to the feed. They are starting to show up in droves and I'm going through a bag of seed a day! Yesterday, I ran out of seed in the 2 m… Continue

Posted by Verde on June 24, 2008 at 1:41pm — No Comments

Boston Fort Point Artists: An Endangered Species...

A sign of progress for Boston? Read this Globe Article. Continue

Posted by Rex on June 22, 2008 at 10:08am — No Comments

Dirty Smelly Noisy . . . week two

Coming up for air, the scavenger hunt starts in 3 and a half hours and instead of making signs I am blogging . . . this is called procrastination. The opening party was pretty cool, we are estimating that between 175 and 200 people showed up that night, hard to tell because people were everywhere, looking at the show, eating, talking, hanging in the gallery. The music was fantastic, the food was great and I believe everyone had a good time. We've been getting a lot of nice comments about the s… Continue

Posted by Maxine on June 14, 2008 at 7:43am — No Comments

If being in two places was possible...

I would be in NJ this weekend for my dancing workshop, and I would be in Lowell, for the opening of Dirty Smelly and Noisy seeing all of my wonderful artists show their work and our wonderful home at Western Ave. I love you all! And I'll miss you this weekend!!! Continue

Posted by Amber Daniels on June 4, 2008 at 2:47pm — 2 Comments

Surfacing!

Ashlee and I did Sunrise Radio on WUML last Thursday . . . I think it went well . . . we will see when the podcast is up and we can link to it. Ashlee and Mark Guire did a stupendous job hanging Dirty Smelly Noisy which, by the way has topped 150 pieces scattered throughout the common areas in the building. Anna and Jessica did the labeling and now all we need to do is produce a map so people can find their own work! 150 pieces sounds really huge until you realize that it is spread over 5 floor… Continue

Posted by Maxine on June 2, 2008 at 10:30pm — No Comments

Positive activity at the City Council last night

Not for the artist work/live space but for the functioning of the business of art in the city. The week after the permit for the work/live space was shot down by the Zoning Board of Appeals the City Council shot down an ordinance for the creation of an office of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. CASE was designed to be a city department reporting to the City Manager. This move would make life so much easier for individuals and institutions trying to put on events in the city . . . before this… Continue

Posted by Maxine on May 28, 2008 at 6:54am — 1 Comment

Dirty Smelly Noisy ART!

We have had 105 pieces delivered . . . and there is more coming . . . trapped in that 'it's a holiday weekend' delivery thang, doncha know. (and there are a few pieces, one of mine included, still being finished . . . one of the advantages of being onsite . We had to change plans a bit, Ellen Wetmore's sound installation wasn't going to work in the main stairwell . . . cause there are no outlets in the stairwell . . . so it is breathing in the A-Mill Loading Dock. Evan Lukash and entourage deli… Continue

Posted by Maxine on May 26, 2008 at 7:33am — 2 Comments

Holy Moley Batman . . . it's almost time for DSN!

We open in a week and a half . . . the artwork is starting to come in (lots and lots of artwork!). We've gone through a thousand postcards and more are due in tomorrow . . . I can't wait to see all of the work together at the same time . . . There is so much to do over the course of the next week, stuff keeps popping in my head and I really need to get it all together because this is the first time that I have done a big project like this with a large (hopefully) crew to help. Delegation isn't e… Continue

Posted by Maxine on May 22, 2008 at 8:30am — 5 Comments

Belle Laide

As Steve Martin so wisely said, the French have a different word for everything. They also have a term which, translated literally, means "beautiful ugly". I know just what they mean. It's so ugly, it becomes beautiful, like a pug. Or an old factory. On Mother's Day, we packed up the… Continue

Posted by Anna Harrison on May 20, 2008 at 7:13pm — 3 Comments

One Down, Two More to Go

Last night the Zoning Board of Appeals agreed that our new application for live work space was substantially different from the one that they turned down in January. This means that the application has to go back to the Planning Board for approval and then back to the Zoning Board. There is still opposition from local businesses, because it is too smelly yadda, yadda, yadda for us to live here . . . but at least we are not dead in the water. Continue

Posted by Maxine on May 13, 2008 at 3:45pm — 3 Comments

One Swallow.....

does not make a summer. - Aristotle

I got some great shots this morning of the pair of swallows that have made their home in one of my birdhouses on my backyard fence. Swallows nest in the 2 houses I have along this fence every spring! They are very, very busy. I can't tell if… Continue

Posted by Verde on May 13, 2008 at 1:38pm — 3 Comments

Before and After (part 2)

1998 Ford F-150 extended cab
Ok, so here is what we did. Bill's boss did a wonderful thing and gave him one of the old worktrucks for nothing! Great! I thought. A Free truck! Now we have something to pull the camper. Bill has a truck to tool around in and bring home woo… Continue

Posted by Verde on May 11, 2008 at 3:46pm — 5 Comments

What exactly is a creative economy? Random rambling thoughts . . .

The New England Foundation for the Arts says that "The creative economy encompasses creative enterprises -- both commercial and nonprofit -- and individuals that together provide a significant contribution to local and regional economies by creating and distributing cultural goods and services". I am on an advisory board that is trying to oversee the implementation of the creative economy plan for Lowell . . . and we are working on a definition of the creative economy . . . but the whole busine… Continue

Posted by Maxine on May 11, 2008 at 9:09am — 3 Comments

Before and After (part 1)

I used to drive my dream car. I owned it for about 3 1/2 years. It was a 2003… Continue

Posted by Verde on May 10, 2008 at 7:44am — 3 Comments

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

Western Avenue Studios, I love that you exist at all – from the hard work and pioneer spirit of the original few and the incredible ongoing generosity of our landlord. I can get to you in a mere two minutes drive from my house, and I think I could even manage bicycling to you without breaking a sweat (once gas goes over $4.00 a gallon). I love that the street you are on is accessed from the middle of a bridge, between the Pawtucket Canal and train tracks, both of which bring a constant stream of… Continue

Posted by Anna Harrison on May 10, 2008 at 7:15am — 3 Comments

Oh wow . . .

http://megagalerias.terra.cl/galerias/index.cfm?id_galeria=30734 Geography/geology alert . . . Continue

Posted by Maxine on May 8, 2008 at 11:29pm — No Comments

TadPole or Polliwog?

We always called them polliwogs when I was a kid, but I hardly ever hear that term used anymore. All the books I read call them tadpoles. You know, baby frogs.. Is the term polliwog a regional anomoly, sort of like Rhode Islanders calling clams quohogs? (yes, I grew up on the RI bord… Continue

Posted by Verde on May 8, 2008 at 7:49am — 7 Comments

It's raining . . .

Yesterday was pretty cool . . . but majorly exhausting, first day of spring fling, visitors coming through all day, then shazam at 5 we stopped being open studios and had to transform the 2nd floor corridor outside the gallery into a reception room . . . and at 6 ta-dah . . . it was the opening reception for Thaddeus and Roland's exhibit . . . Floral Studies . . the work looked fantastic and we got a ton, an absolute ton of visitors even though there were a couple of other openings last night .… Continue

Posted by Maxine on May 4, 2008 at 9:31am — No Comments

My New Blog

Welcome to my blog. Continue

Posted by Karen Bettencourt on May 1, 2008 at 10:28am — No Comments

bobbles

The Dead Rabbit (Inspired by Glenn) The rabbit lay on the pavement Cars rushing past A woman from the motel across the highway Views the furry mound from her smudgy window. If anyone had looked closely they could see that The rabbit was breathing At 4:30 a man from the Highway Department Wearing an orange vest scooped the limp rabbit Into the bed of his truck with a broken snow shovel As the man drove away, it roused the assumed-dead dog That he had dug up earlier in the day… Continue

Posted by Rex on April 30, 2008 at 4:30pm — 6 Comments

babbles

So...I can write what I want? I'll never be alone again??? Oh Joy. Let's try this. Dead Dog The dog lay dead. No, not quite dead. No one noticed the tail twitch, the leg move. If spoken to, the dog would have responded. No one spoke. They buried him alive, that dead dog that wasn't dead. And all to soon he was forgotten. Continue

Posted by Glenn W Szegedy on April 30, 2008 at 3:51pm — 2 Comments

I did it

I did it, now what do I do with it? My future is wide open.........Oh Boy!!!! on a less stubborn note...this really is a wonderful thing. Continue

Posted by Glenn W Szegedy on April 30, 2008 at 7:46am — 7 Comments

An apology

I've been writing on the internet for public consumption for about 13 years now. There are those who contend that what I really do is spew whenever I have something on my mind. Which is about right. In this context, the act of spewing, the oozing out as if under pressure of what ever has been rumbling around in my mind . . . owes much to the writers who provided me with the concept of stream of consciousness in my formative years . . . and little to the brave souls in the Chicago Public Schools… Continue

Posted by Maxine on April 26, 2008 at 8:09am — 2 Comments

It is all my brothers fault . . .

If my brother hadn't decided to get married back in the mid-80's I wouldn't be sitting here about to head out to the studio to spend another day racing against deadlines and wondering why I don't go and get a real job. I was still in grad school then and I didn't have a lot of money, but I knew that I was going to have to come up with SOMETHING for a wedding present. The Christmas before he got married I was up in Maine at a friends parents house and we were cruising through Thorndike when we s… Continue

Posted by Maxine on April 24, 2008 at 9:49am — No Comments

Welcome to the WASAA Blog

Hi and Welcome, Please sign up, sign in and participate in the WASAA blog/forum. In this section, Your Art, Your Life you have an opportunity to tell us your story about your art, where and how you make it and what it means to you. You do not have to be a member of the Artists Association to post here. We welcome everyone who makes art, loves art and wants to connect with like minded people. Continue

Posted by Rex on April 17, 2008 at 8:00pm — No Comments