Under the Influence: JPAC Juried Exhibition (Opening reception 4/21/12)

** The public reception on April 21st from 6 – 8 pm opens with live jazz featuring Tom Duprey on trumpet and David Hawthorne on guitar.

The Jamaica Plain Arts Council presents Under the Influence, an exhibition with 31 artists exploring the concept of “Under the Influence”. The exhibition runs March 30 – May 3 at the Footlight Club at 7a Eliot Street, Jamaica Plain, and was juried by Scott Cipolla of the Peabody Essex Museum and Alternate Currents. Gallery hours are Fridays and Saturdays from 6:30 – 8:00 pm.

Inspiration can come from anywhere, and artists working today are free to follow their desire at the click of a mouse. Be it the natural world, historic themes, or contemporary issues associated with politics, entertainment or the media – contemporary artists can be under the influence of myriad creative catalysts. Movies, videogames, music, cartoons, magazines and the Internet itself are just some of the unending forms of inspiration that intentionally (or unintentionally) work their way into art. Recognizing and embracing how the variety, accessibility and inescapability of stimuli affects the creative process is what this exhibit is about.

The Jamaica Plain Arts Council Juried Exhibition is an annual springtime event designed to provide artists from around New England with a chance to show in a high traffic public space in Boston’s most creative neighborhood. This year, the event debuts in its new space, the Footlight Club, America’s oldest community theater (http://www.footlight.org), in downtown Jamaica Plain in conjunction with the Footlight Club’s production of “Andrew Lippa’s Wild Party”. The main gallery is open to the public and on show nights, hundreds of people pass through and spend intermission among the artwork. 

Under the Influence features the art of: Nicole Aquilano, Constance Bigony, Kathriel Brister, Jonathan Cook, Katherine Cope, Maria DiFranco, Kat Ely, Jess Greene, Rebecca Gutwin, Melissa Haines, Amy Hitchcock, Marnie Jain, Carol Johnson, Kim Katz, Bob King, Anna Koon, Jacob Kulin, Susan Leskin, Phoenix Mayet, Matt McKee, Luc Mehmel, Gary Patronek, Amy Pett, Robin Radin, Heather Reynolds, Kerri Schmidt, Racheli Shatil, Alan Strassman, Cara Studds, Stefan Volatile-Wood, and Hilary Zelson.

Gallery hours are March 30^th & 31^st, and April 6^th, 7^th, 13^th & 14^th from 6:30 – 8:00 pm and May 3^rd from 6:00 through 8:00 pm. The public reception on April 21st from 6 – 8 pm opens with live jazz featuring Tom Duprey on trumpet and David Hawthorne on guitar.