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Date: 6/27/2022
CUMMINGTON – Beckie Kravetz’s interactive sculpture, “Time to Reflect: A Human Sundial,” lets people use their own shadow, a symbol of death, to tell time. Time, and looking back to past times, is the theme of “Reflections,” a show curated up and down Main Street.
“All the artists were encouraged to submit a piece that reflected on the agricultural history or the scenic beauty of Cummington,” explained Hunt Chase, secretary and fiscal agent for the Cummington Cultural District Committee (CDCC). “That’s why there’s a common thread.”
“Miss Comet,” a sculpture by Sergei Usopov, employs the subtle leavings of time, what is cracked and broken, to freeze time. The giant head of a girl with bright red lips and a cute nose wears a mosaic of broken tiles, pottery shards and shattered crockery in her hair. The size of the head and “Miss Comet’s” apprehensive expression – why did I land upside down? – stops traffic.
“He applied to produce a sculpture in front of his own property,” said Leslie Ferrin, Usopov’s business partner. Ferrin also coordinated the show and is an expert on ceramic art. “He’s one of the nine projects that were funded. They were all funded by the committee making the decisions.”
The CCDC, established in 2019 to take the steps for Cummington’s designation as a cultural district by the Mass Cultural Council, sponsored the projects and the show. The Hill Town Community Development Commission administered the grants from RuralLISC, the Mass Cultural Council and Eversource.
Visitors to the Main Street show will see a documentary in images of the Sheep and Bull Fair in Holly Lynton’s work, “At the Fair, 2022”. Residents of Cummington and elsewhere will be on display, projected out of the Historical Commission building on Main Street.
“The fair is one of the most historic and regular events to take place out here,” Ferrin said. “In Cummington I think it’s over 150 years old. That’s the looking back and documenting the passage of time.”
Museums preserve the past and its art. In the piece by Jane Dyer and Gail Roberge, “The Tiny Museum,” miniature rooms with tiny doll figures seem to show our lives have a museum quality. Preservation is also one intention of “Time Machine,” the installation by Phil Shedd and Becky Waterhouse, a fun-colored box. Current and future children are invited to draw on the tall fun-colored box and contribute to the sculpture.
Chase thought Ana Busto’s “Spring Bears” is “pretty fantastic”.
“I was watching it today and taking photographs,” Chase said. “It’s sourced out of local materials and is a collaborative effort of a bunch of well-known producers in the Hilltowns.”
Chase learned a lot as part of the committee working toward the town’s designation as a cultural district. Cummington has a long artistic tradition that stretches back to the early decades of the last century. The Cummington Art School and Bryant Homestead show that art has been important to those living in town for a very long time.
“The programming they did out there,” Chase said, “it shows there’s long been an appreciation of arts and theatre out in the Hilltowns.”
Engagement with the community made it necessary to host two opening receptions for the show. The first opening, on June 24, was for the project created by students studying ceramics at the Chesterfield and New Hingham Elementary Schools. Under art teacher Leo Quiles, the students created large ceramic beads that will be suspended between trees at the local elementary school.
On July 2 a reception will be staged in Pettingill Park at 14 Main St., at the gazebo, from 5 to 7 p.m. The opening will be followed by a contra dance hosted by Friday Night Café.
Ferrin didn’t want anyone to worry about too much exercise. “Main Street,” she said, “it’s an easy walk from one end to the other.”