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Date: 7/13/2023
AGAWAM — Where do you find lighthouses, farm field landscapes, snowmen and Pat Patriot and the Cat in the Hat and sunflowers and a lot of chickadees?
New England, that’s where. And this year’s New England Mosaic, the second annual collaborative art project that was unveiled July 6 at Crestview Country Club in Agawam. Earlier this year, the Agawam Community Artists and Artisans invited artists to fill 6- by 6-inch canvases with images of whatever they loved about this region, to be displayed as one mosaic this summer, then sold, piece by piece, to support college scholarships for local art students. All tiles are available to the first person to pay $20. Several were sold on July 6.
Judy Duffy of Westfield, who introduced the idea of a collaborative mosaic based on a similar project in Florida, said she was particularly impressed with the artists who incorporated three-dimensional elements to their tiles. The instruction to artists was simply to depict what they love about New England, using any medium that would stick to the canvas.
“I think it’s really impressive to see so much community art in one place,” Duffy said.
Anne Blaser of West Springfield said she found out about the project while taking an art class at the town library, and was glad to work on this project, especially since it supports college-hound art students. Her tile includes depictions of the Massachusetts state bird — the chickadee — and state flower.
This is the second year the Agawam art group has organized a mosaic, and at nearly 270 tiles, this year’s version is about twice the size of last year’s, 24 feet in length. The Agawam-based group, which includes members from several surrounding communities, partnered this year with the Scantic River Artisans, which draws members primarily from the eastern suburbs of Springfield. As with last year, canvases were also available at local libraries, and several of the entries are from amateur artists.
The full mosaic will be displayed again July 17-22 at the West Springfield Public Library, 200 Park St., West Springfield, with an artists’ reception 6-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 19. Another exhibition will be Thursday, July 24, at the Agawam Public Library, 750 Cooper St., Agawam.
The mosaic will also be shown at the Pioneer Valley Art Festival, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Aug. 26-27 at the Polish American Club, 139 Southwick St., Feeding Hills. At all remaining shows, visitors will be able to purchase the tiles that have not yet sold.