50 Years: AVA Gallery Celebrates With Open House on August 26
Cake is on the menu.
Artful and I are on vacation but did not want you to miss this.
From a press release from our friends at AVA Gallery:
On August 26, 2023, we will celebrate our 50th anniversary with an Open House from 10:00AM to 5:00PM. Many of our artist tenants will open up their studios to the public, and there will be demonstrations in both our Carter-Kelsey Building and Bente Torjusen West Sculptural Studies Building. There will also be a scavenger hunt with prizes; a raffle for different art kits, memberships, and Mudroom tickets; and a family-fun, collage experience in our South Studio where people can make their own collaged buttons and magnets. There will be cake!
Author Nicola Smith is scheduled to be at AVA from 12-5 pm. Her book, titled AVA Gallery and Art Center AVA at 50: 1973 – 2023, tells AVA’s story.
The Story of AVA:
Prompted by an absence of art galleries in the Upper Valley, a group of determined women founded the Community Gallery in 1973. The gallery’s first exhibition took place on August 24, 1973 in a Norwich barn, but soon gallery founders Elizabeth Rowland Mayor, and Emmabelle Egbert found a more central space in downtown Hanover, NH. In 1975, Community Gallery received non-profit status, and in 1976, the organization was renamed the Alliance for the Visual Arts, or AVA Gallery and Art Center.
In 1986, Bente Torjusen, a Norwegian art historian and former head of education at the Munch Museum in Oslo, was named AVA’s executive director and led the organization for thirty years until her retirement in 2016. In 1990, AVA moved to 11 Bank Street in Lebanon, the site of the former Carter overall factory.
The move to Lebanon proved to be inspired. The new location provided AVA with a sun-filled gallery as well as teaching and studio space. In 2003, AVA purchased the 140-year-old building. A major renovation done in 2007, received a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold rating, and the building was renamed the Carter-Kelsey Building in honor of Preston (Pete) and Virginia (Winkie) Kelsey, who were major donors to the renovation. Shari Boraz is the current Executive Director.
AVA Today: AVA's main programs fall into three categories: exhibitions, art education, and community programs. The exhibitions range from solo shows by local and regional artists to group exhibitions, including community-related shows such as an annual High School Exhibition which features art from over 12 area schools. The new Linda Roesch Visual Arts Gallery in AVA’s lobby features exhibitions that are open to community submissions, while AVA’s artist members may show their work in our Members Gallery where a variety of art is available for purchase. Visitors may enjoy the exhibitions and Members Gallery free of charge Tuesday through Saturday from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Art classes range from basic beginners' courses for adults and teens to workshops for professional artists, while children’s programming is offered year-round through after-school classes and vacation art camps. Free community programs offer art education to students of all ages, adults with special needs, and local children and their families. AVA’s expanded physical campus includes the Bente Torjusen West Sculptural Studies Building opened in 2017. It encompasses the Kelsey Stone Carving Studio, the Kira Fournier Ceramics Studio, as well as welding and woodworking studios.
More information is available at www.avagallery.org or by calling 603-448-3117.
(All photos by permission and courtesy of AVA Gallery and Art Center.)
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And in case you are wondering . . . Susan B. Apel shuttered a lifelong career as a law professor to continue an interest (since kindergarten) in writing. Her freelance business, The Next Word, includes literary and feature writing; her work has appeared in a variety of lit mags and other publications including Art New England, The Woven Tale Press, The Arts Fuse, and Persimmon Tree. She connects with her neighbors through Artful, her blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley. She’s in love with the written word.