“Art is an experience that should be accessible to all” could serve as the tagline for Galaxy Arts MV’s second annual public art event. “Art in the Park” was born after executive director Holly Alaimo lost her Oak Bluffs Galaxy Gallery space last year. She says of the nonprofit organization, “The mission of Galaxy Arts MV is to provide a public place for all Island artists to display and sell their work.”
Last year, given that the Vineyard was consumed with all things “Jaws,” the theme was sharks, and 25 diverse interpretations were displayed in various parks throughout Oak Bluffs. “It was so much fun and such a good turnout,” says Alaimo. “When we decided to do another public art event this year, we had a lot of artists apply.”
From June 20 through July 4, you’ll find 45 individually painted Campground cottages dotting the walking path around Sunset Lake, conveniently located near the bus stops, Summercamp Hotel, the Steamship Authority, and the harbor. “Our theme is housing,” says Alaimo. “So it seems like celebrating the wonderful architecture of the Oak Bluffs cottages makes sense.” Each artist could choose to paint either a primed plywood cottage silhouette or a 2- by 2-foot square, and was free to depict any cottage-related vision that tickled their fancy.
The artworks will be sold via an online auction, with the artists receiving 50 percent of the proceeds. Galaxy Arts MV will make a donation to Harbor Homes. Alaimo explains, “The cottages will be offered for purchase through online bidding from midnight on June 20 until midnight on July 4. Each artwork will have a QR code on the back that will take you directly to the online auction site. Bidders can pick up their work and meet the artists on July 5, from 5 to 7 pm, at the P.A. Club, where there will be music and munchies.”
Each artist’s vision is unique. Among them is Linda Wurm Bryant’s lavender-laced “Titticut Follies,” which she has brought into three dimensions with green wooden porch railings, a balcony, and hydrangea-like flowers on the ground. Bryant has a long, personal connection to the guesthouse. “We stayed there for about 35 years when my kids were growing up. I wanted to do [the] Titticut Follies [cottage] because it’s in my heart, where we used to stay on the first floor.” The clean lines and opaque-hued shapes in Bryant’s work recall her career as an illustrator and graphic designer.
John Robb, who has been visiting the Vineyard for about six decades, combined his love of the Island with his artistic interest in portraiture. Two stunning Black women, dressed to the nines, cheerfully look out at us with three cottages in the distance. “I’ve always been in the arts, since I was a kid,” says Robb. “But I started portrait painting about three years ago, and they are usually of men.” With his interest in figures, Robb didn’t originally think he would participate in Art in the Park. “However, I was in New York and saw these two women. It was finally a warm day after all the cold, and they were having such a good time. I asked if I could photograph them, and they became my inspiration.” He continues, “I hope people will realize how diverse the community in Oak Bluffs is. It’s unlike any place I know of.”
The animated world inside Karen Morgenbesser’s cottage is full of quirky energy, as though a swirling wind has just blown through and thrown everything off balance. Even the little pup with its adorable red nose, paws akimbo, seems to be balancing in its aftermath. “Being an illustrator, my work tends to be whimsical. I went with that. I did everything wacky and a little off, with lots of patterns, and the Steamship in the window.”
Suesan Stovall came regularly to the Vineyard from age 7, before moving here full-time some eight years ago. Her cottage, “Ode to the Widow Rocker,” refers to the African American and Wampanoag laundress who had 11 children, says Stovall. In homage, Stovall uses clothespins to fashion the picket fence in front of her ornate turquoise house with navy filigree. “She had a cottage, but the establishment didn’t want her there. In 1886, she was removed from her home and jailed. Unnamed abolitionists from New Bedford fought to get her back here.” Stovall’s work, she says, is important to her “as a woman of color, and how important women of color are historically to this Island, [as are] the native people of Noepe.”
Bill Buckley selected the square format to situate his mustard-yellow cottage within a landscape: “I’ve been painting the Campground for years, so I thought I would try to design one myself.” It sits on a green lawn with trees in the far distance. The home exudes quietude, with only a red tricycle out front and a biplane cutting through the clear blue sky. A regular summer visitor since 1998, Buckley has been practicing art since the seventh grade, when he had to stay home from school after breaking an ankle; friends brought him art supplies. “People gave me paint-by-numbers, and I would do those and then flip it over, and start painting on the other side.”
Reflecting on people walking around Sunset Lake, Alaimo says, “I want people to understand that we have wonderful artists here on the Island, and I hope as years go on, they get a chance to see their artwork, especially through the public projects, and that art matters.”
The cottages will be on display in Sunset Park in Oak Bluffs from June 20 to July 4. The Auction Afterparty will take place on July 5 from 5 to 7 pm at the Portuguese-American Club, 137 Vineyard Ave. in Oak Bluffs, where you can view the cottages and meet the artists. Winners will take their cottages home with them after the event. galaxyartsmv.org.