Friends of the Jamaica Plain Branch Library

Gallery Reception: Maureen O’Connor – Just Ducky

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The Friends of the Jamaica Plain Branch of the Boston Public Library in partnership with Uforge are pleased to announce a new exhibition as part of their rotating art program. After soliciting proposals from a range of local artists, a selection committee comprised of community members and BPL staff have chosen six exceptional artists to fill its gallery space over the course of 2018. During the months of May and June, a series of charming works by Boston-based painter Maureen O’Connor will be exhibited. A graduate of the Massachusetts College of Art, O’Connor has been exhibiting in Boston since the early 1980s, and her work held in numerous public and private collections, including the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Goodwin and Proctor, and Fidelity Investments. She is known for her playful still lifes of so-called tchotchke’s -- miscellaneous objects collected around the home -- and candy, often paired with floral or polka dot wallpaper.

Arts

New Exhibit ‘Mars on Earth’ Opens at Jamaica Plain Branch Library on March 2nd

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The latest art exhibit at the Jamaica Plain Branch Library presents photos that show a real-life experience on earth that simulates Mars' environment. The exhibit's photos by conceptual artist Cassandra Klos are from her time as an artist-in-residence in 2017 at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah. The station is a facility that provides Earth-based research to learn more about what's needed to further human space exploration. At the facility people from around the world dedicate weeks and months while donning space suits, eating diets consisting of only freeze-dried food with a purpose to simulate Mars' environment. Klos' photographs of the project "blur the lines between reality and science-fiction, depicting red desert landscapes, lonely astronauts, space station gadgets and starry skies."

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Arts

New Art Exhibit ‘RePOPART’ at Jamaica Plain Branch Library; Opening Reception Jan. 11th

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A new art exhibit by JP-based mixed media artist and designer Liliana Marquez debuted at the Jamaica Plain Branch Library this week. The new exhibit, RePOPART, epitomizes Marquez's artistic practice of reclamation by relying on found and recycled materials, often taken from construction sites, to create sculptural wall-hanging abstractions. "RePOPART is about attitude. RePOPART is an idea that forces us to RE-think ART,” said Marquez of her three-dimensional works exhibit. Marquez's work is flexible, able to be hung at different angles and orientations, while using bright colors and bold shapes to reflect her background in graphic design.

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From the Community

‘Juan Murray: Interplay’ Newest Art Exhibition at JP Branch Library Opens Nov. 3rd

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The Friends of the Jamaica Plain Branch of the Boston Public Library in partnership with Uforge are pleased to announce a new exhibition, "Juan Murray: Interplay," to be held in their recently renovated library space. After soliciting proposals from over 50 local artists and groups, a selection committee comprised of community members and BPL staff chose four exceptional artists to fill its gallery for the rest of 2017, with photography by Juan Murray winning the final slot. Murray has been working in local real estate since 1994. As with many working artists, his day job shines through in his artistic practice, which takes the form of black and white urban photography. His architectural images are bold and poetic, steeped in chiaroscuro in his effort to “chase the light” as it interacts with different forms. The extreme contrast of light and dark at times abstracts his subjects, allowing the viewer to take in new details and formal elements of everyday buildings and streets.

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From the Community

New Exhibition: Shao Yuan Zhang’s ‘Silent Canyons’ at Jamaica Plain Branch Library

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The Friends of the Jamaica Plain Branch of the Boston Public Library in partnership with Uforge are pleased to announce a new exhibition held in the renovated library space. After soliciting proposals from over 50 local artists and groups, a selection committee comprised of community members and BPL staff chose four exceptional artists to fill its gallery for the rest of 2017, with printmaker Shao Yuan Zhang exhibiting for the third spot. Born and raised in China, Zhang was sent to the countryside as a teenager, where he worked in the rice fields and created propaganda art for the Communist Party’s Cultural Revolution movement. In the late 1980s, he immigrated to the US to pursue his MFA at the University of Utah, developing his prowess in various printmaking techniques. Currently based in Boston, today Zhang depicts vast forest landscapes and red rock canyons with a surreal, otherworldly vision.

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Arts

Call to Artists for Gallery at Renovated JP Branch Library

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Attention all artists! The UForge Gallery is going to manage the new art gallery space in the Jamaica Plain Branch Library and they want artists to submit their work for the gallery. The JP Branch Library on South Street is expected to reopen in May and the Friends of the Jamaica Plain Branch Library will be presenting bi-monthly shows of two-dimensional works by New England area artists in the library’s new public exhibiting space.  The Friends group is also funding the public gallery space. There is no specific theme, but artists are encouraged to include work that can be enjoyed "by the diverse visitorship of the JP Branch Library, including children, teens, and other community members." The exhibits will be proposal-based, selected by a group of JP area artists and library affiliates, including Ginny Zanger of the JP Art Association and Eve Griffin of the Boston Public Library.

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Arts
State Rep. Liz Malia, D-JP, left, pins a first-place prize for "UFG: The First Five Years," an exhibit of artists whose work has shown at the gallery.State Rep. Liz Malia, D-JP, left, pins a first-place prize for "UFG: The First Five Years," an exhibit of artists whose work has shown at the gallery.

Uforge to Close its Centre Street Gallery Space

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Update: A reader questioned whether the gallery closing is related to the recent sale of an adjacent four-storefront block. Uforge's twitter account tweeted the following:

Jamaica Plain's Uforge Gallery on Centre Street will close its doors at the end of October -- but the gallery director and co-founder emphasizes that Uforge will continue its work supporting arts in the community. In a letter posted on social media Friday afternoon, Brian Crete explained that the storefront gallery, which opened in 2011, has relied solely on volunteers for day-to-day operations, and it has been increasingly difficult to staff and maintain the gallery, as well as perform other needed activities like fundraising and promotion. Although the gallery space will close, Crete promises that Uforge "will continue its work and its mission," including participating in the city's Boston Creates initiative and other city-wide arts collaborations. And in the meantime, he invites the community to attend the gallery's two remaining show openings, on Sept. 2 and Oct.

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Ángel Alberto Amy Moreno
Morning Memo

Ángel Alberto Amy Moreno, 69: Photographer and Professor

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Hello neighbors. Here's your Morning Memo for all things Jamaica Plain for Friday, Aug. 29. RIP, Ángel Alberto Amy Moreno: Jamaica Plain lost a cultural giant last week as Ángel Alberto Amy Moreno, 69, died of cancer. Amy's photography, writing and scholarship celebrated his Puerto Rican and Spanish roots.

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Morning Memo

Mix Beer, Philosophy at ‘Draft & Dogma’

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Hello neighborhood. Here's your Morning Memo for all things JP for Thursday, July 10. Drink Beer, Philosophize: The folks behind "Draft & Dogma" will be drinking Saison beers and tackling the topic: "Can you do a good thing for its own sake?" Brush up on your Nicomachean Ethics and head to their site, where folks over 21 can find out the exact location and time. ReadBoston Storymobile Comes to the Connolly: The mobile library for kids will visit the Connolly Branch Library, 433 Centre St., on Thursday from 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. There will be storytelling and free books for kids.

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Screen grab from video of Mark Estano singing "Let It Go" during cabaret at UForge Gallery on Saturday, April 19, 2014.
Arts

Cabaret Singers Let It Go at UForge Gallery

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Who knows, really, all the weird things happening in JP on a Saturday night? My wife and I were lucky enough to stumble onto one as local singers turned UForge Gallery into a cabaret space. This video of Mark Estano belting out Frozen's "Let It Go" gives you a flavor of the night's theme — "Miscast." The bearded Estano, accompanied by Matt Stern, gave his interpretation of the hit Disney tune usually sung by the female princess Elsa. Laura Espy produced and directed the cabaret night.

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