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Date: 1/25/2022
NORTHAMPTON – Forbes Library is seeking submissions for the “Home” virtual exhibit which will showcase pieces on its website from March 1 to April 30. The submission deadline is Feb. 11 at 6 p.m.
Artists must reside in one of the four counties of Western Massachusetts. There is a limit of three submissions per person and works must have been created in the last two years. Submissions can be in the formats of visual art, writing, video, music or dance.
According to Faith Kaufmann, head of arts and music and information services co-coordinator at Forbes Library, there will be many interpretations of the “Home” theme.
“We’re trying to include a wide range of people in and around our community on what the subject of home means to them. There’s so many facets to it. There’s a physical house, there’s the lack of a physical house given that homelessness is such a big issue … There’s community, there’s neighborhood, what makes you feel at home, there’s having to leave your home country as a refugee, being away from home for the first time, missing home …” she said.
She said that the theme is relevant given the COVID-19 pandemic and people’s changing relationships with their home.
“We want something that can be looked at from a lot of different ways and we want something that feels relevant to the times that we’re living in. Certainly, with the pandemic, there’s been a lot of people changing their relationships to home, staying at home, working at home… It’s made people think about what home means and what they want it to be, so it seemed timely and very inclusive,” said Kaufmann.
This will be the second virtual exhibit hosted by the Forbes Library since the pandemic began. Kaufmann said the first took place last summer.
“The initial motivation for the virtual exhibit last summer was that, because the gallery had been closed for so long, there were so many artists who would’ve liked to submit work and apply for an exhibit and we couldn’t schedule anybody. So we thought meetings and programs were going online, so why not the exhibit,” she said.
Selected pieces will be featured on the library’s website and Kaufmann noted that they are hoping to set up a monitor in the library to display them there as well.
Artists are able to submit their work at https://forbeslibrary.org/virtualexhibit2022. Those without access to a computer or Internet are encouraged to visit Forbes Library for help.
Kaufmann said she is most excited about the community building opportunities this exhibit will bring.
“We’re so separate and isolated for two years of pandemic now and a lot of public events and gatherings not happening, so it’s a way of people engaging with each other through their artistic expression. I think it just helps connect us with each other to share work in this way,” she said.
More information is available at https://forbeslibrary.org/exhibit-invite.