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Date: 5/23/2023
SHUTESBURY — Library Director Mary Anne Antonellis was surprised by how many people came to the M.N. Spear Memorial Library to pick up paints and a 4-inch canvas square, hoping to paint their way into a tiny art show.
“There were 41 people out there making art,” Antonellis said. “Then they got to put it on display.”
The shelf usually devoted to seasonal books instead displays two lines of mini-paintings and tiny pieces of fiber art. Antonellis purchased 48 frames, with pre-stretched canvas, but it wasn’t enough. Residents also painted on paper, works attached to the plexiglass barrier put up to shield library workers during the coronavirus pandemic.
The call for artists went out in mid-March. About a month later residents began bringing in pieces that pushed the boundaries, even if there was only one.
“This person didn’t want to work on canvas, but she does this fiber art,” Antonellis said. “Can I do fiber art? I said yes, it just has to be four by four, that was my only rule. She called me back the next day and said, how many can I make?”
The small works show great variety in subject and style. A porcupine on a monotone background creates an animal icon. Two children play together, drawn with gentle pastels. Spider-Man jumps out from a tiny canvas, suspended on a coiled wire, while another canvas displays a pastiche of patterns and shapes with a fascinating complexity.
Painters in the show cover the age spectrum from 3 to 79. Antonellis was also impressed by the quality of the works. Many feature simple compositions, well portrayed, that wouldn’t look out of place in an art gallery.
“People love it. Some of the artists have come in to see their art on display, and other people’s work,” Antonellis said. She was thrilled when the oldest in a family came in to pick up supplies for the youngest.
“It created an opportunity for a grandparent to interact with their grandchild. I love that … I love programming that helps grandparents connect with their grandchildren.”
The art making program and show connect the library to the community, Antonellis said, and demonstrate that libraries are more than a place to borrow books. The Spear Library hosts yoga classes in the basement of Town Hall and events under the Shutesbury Athletic Club pavilion. A local felting artist teaches a class every month, each with a different focus, for most of the year. Four ongoing Zoom programs take place online.
Programming bridges the gaps between people that open when school’s out, winter gets harsh or a pandemic interrupts normal activities.
“Some people might come in and get a book and go home and really not do more than say hello to the people around them. Other people, and this happens all the time in this library … there’ll be somebody here, it’s somebody they know, they haven’t seen in three months, and they get caught up” in a conversation. She added, “This is our place. It is our community living room.”
The library director draws some of her ideas about the role of a library in the community from her experiences growing up in Brighton, a neighborhood in north Boston. As a child in fourth grade, she tramped over to the Oak Square branch of the Boston Public Library. Her family wasn’t a movie going clan. She vividly recalls seeing “The King and I” in the children’s room, an eye opening experience.
“We can have this idea of a library as just a place where you go to get books,” Antonellis said. “Libraries, especially in small towns, have served as community centers … Libraries everywhere respond to their communities and try to meet their individual needs.”
With the help of the Friends of the Library and Library Trustees, Antonellis spearheaded the effort to build a new library, projected to open in 2025.
While Antonellis has more ideas for things to do than she can stage, she confessed that she works as if the new library, which will be much bigger, is already open.
After 15 years as director, Antonellis understands the topic of programming is only the immediate focus, the immediate benefit. The long-term benefit is the bonds that connect residents to each other and the town.
“What this did is connect the community to the library and the library to the community,” Antonellis said. “It’s about the people making connections. It’s delightful every time.”
The Tiny Art Show will be on display at the library until May 31.