The distinctive shingled, single-towered building in Edgartown, just yards from the harbor, carries a fascinating history and a strong commitment to the artistic community. The Old Sculpin Gallery is home to the Martha’s Vineyard Art Association (MVAA), which is 72 years old. However, the historic structure, built in 1840, originally housed a sail loft where workers sewed massive canvas sails for whaling ships.
The website for the Vineyard Preservation Trust, which owns the gallery, notes that in the mid-19th century, Dr. Daniel Fisher traded in his doctor’s bag for a leading role in the Island’s business community. He used the building as a retail store, with goods for the many ships that called Edgartown home port. Fisher also stored ground wheat flour there, to be later fashioned into hardtack at a nearby bakery.
captured important moments in the history of The Old Sculpin Gallery. Image courtesy of The Old Sculpin Gallery.
In 1905, at the age of 26, Manuel Swartz Roberts acquired it as his boatbuilding shop. He was a real Island character, and young children with damaged toys, boat owners needing engine parts, and householders seeking advice would gather around him. “He was beloved, and people would come and hang out,” says oil painter and former co-president of MVAA Meg Mercier.
Roberts, known affectionately to his friends as “Old Sculpin” (referring to a type of fish), worked out of the cedar-shingled building. Although he began his career as a carpenter and dabbled in cabinetmaking throughout his life, he excelled at crafting catboats, completing 200 during his lifetime.
Among Roberts’ many friends were a group of artists who worked out of an old fishing shack nearby. When he finally decided to retire in 1953, he very much wanted the artists to take over the building, so he lowered the price to help them afford to acquire it. Photographer and past co-president MVAA Melinda Fager says, “When Roberts sold the building to the artists, they loved him so much and [so] appreciated what he’d done, they named the gallery the Old Sculpin.”
Under the direction of artist and founding president Ruth Mead and vice president Henry Beetle Hough, the artists incorporated as the MVAA in 1954. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, they are a unique entity compared with commercial Vineyard galleries solely focused on art.
The MVAA’s community-centered mission was “to facilitate art education, create interest in the arts, make an art center for the whole Island, establish a permanent collection, and preserve an old landmark.” The second floor of the building itself has a history of children’s classes dating back to the MVAA’s founding.
The first floor bursts with pieces by talented Vineyard artists. As with many art associations, potential members must submit their work to a blind jury process. Artist and board member Judy Howells, who is on the membership committee, explains, “It’s hard, because we can get 15 or more applications, but only have two or three spots. One of our goals is to identify emerging artists, and we are looking for quality of work, professional presentation, and pricing that is close to what it should be. Also, they must want to be a participating member of the gallery. Volunteer hours are part of your commitment.”
When artists become members, they gain more than a gallery to sell their work; they become a part of a community of local Island artists. “When I first came here, I didn’t know anybody. It’s a great way to meet other artists. Being a painter or any type of artist can be so solitary,” Mercier notes.
There are 50 to 60 members, with some 35 exhibiting over the summer. Fager explains, “It’s a most unusual art association, because members get one week to sell the work they choose, rather than having people who run the association select your art.”
Mercier adds, “It’s a great experience, because you get to design your space, price it yourself, and hang your body of work, which is a great way to grow as an artist. People love to come in here, because we have a new show every week. It is a place for everyone to gather.”
In addition to the weekly exhibitions highlighting various artists and children’s art classes, there are inclusive member exhibits and annual scholarships for Vineyard high school students, which the MVAA has provided since its founding.
Mercier highlights the importance of the gallery director, Kirsten Stevenson, noting, “Even though we close for the winter, she is working the whole time, interviewing for staff, setting up the schedule for exhibitions, and keeping up the connections with other galleries on the Island.”
One such connection is a collaboration with Featherstone Center for the Arts, featuring a joint show, “A Breath of Fresh Air: En Plein Air,” which will be on view through Sept. 4 at Old Sculpin and then at Featherstone through Sept. 20.
Photographer Larry Glick has just become the new MVAA board president. Asked about plans for the future, he shares his two-pronged vision. One is fundraising to continue providing scholarships to graduating high school seniors interested in the arts. The other centers on inclusivity: “I think the gallery has been historically known pretty much as Edgartown-centric, because we’re right there at the dock. I hope to make it more Island-wide, such as more collaborations, reaching out to new, younger artists across the Vineyard, and to Wampanoag, Black, and Brazilian communities, so we can be more representative of the whole Island.”
Reflecting on the institution as a whole, Howells says, “There’s a tremendous energy in the gallery that has evolved since the first time I came in in the 1980s. I think people absorb that when they come in the door.”
The Old Sculpin Gallery in Edgartown is open through Oct. 12.
