On Tuesday, June 7, from 2 to 6 pm, Island artists, galleries, organizations, and performers will provide a sneak preview of the summer’s myriad cultural offerings at a special open house hosted by the Martha’s Vineyard Arts and Culture Collaborative (Martha’s Vineyard Arts). Admission is free and the Summer Preview will be held at the Grange Hall in West Tisbury.
According to Ann Smith, director of Featherstone Center for the Arts and chairperson of the Martha’s Vineyard Arts Coordinating Committee, the Summer Preview, the first of its kind, offers an ideal opportunity for individuals from the arts to share their talents and their summer plans with professionals from real estate, restaurants, lodging, and others in tourism and service sectors who would like to stay on top of Vineyard cultural offerings this season. “Everyone is welcome,” Ms. Smith says, urging anyone with an interest in summer events to attend.
Approximately 40 local arts and cultural organizations will set up tables, provide brochures, and even stage what Ms. Smith calls “flash performances” to showcase their work. Participants include Featherstone Center for the Arts, the MV Chamber Music Society, the Aquinnah Cultural Center, the MV Museum, and the Oak Bluffs Arts District, to name just a few. Light refreshments will be provided by Jan Buhrman of Kitchen Porch Catering, Marvin Jones of Vineyard Grocer and Tisbury Farm Market, “Salsa Fairy” Leslie Floyd, and “Weekends Only” caterer Laura Rose.
Ms. Smith encourages individuals and organizations with an interest in arts and culture to get involved in Martha’s Vineyard Arts. “We’re not a closed membership,” she explains. “There are no financial obligations, no membership at the present time. We’re in the idea-generation phase and invite everyone to participate.”
Martha’s Vineyard Arts held its first public meeting in February 2011 after five months of development and a successful initial grant application. Since then, more than 125 Island individuals and groups have expressed an interest in becoming involved in the umbrella arts organization whose mission it is to position the Island as a “year-round, arts-rich community,” to stimulate cultural tourism, to leverage resources for those involved in Island arts and culture, and to support arts education in schools and in the community at large.
For more information on Martha’s Vineyard Arts and the Summer Preview, visit marthasvineyardarts.org or email info@marthasvineyardarts.org.
