Open Door Policy

This piece was originally  published in the Newton TAB, May 2008.
at Left, Digital Image by Sue Yang

Open Door Policy:
How to Visit an Open Studio

Next weekend during Newton Open Studios, 67 doors will open wide all over town. Behind each door you’ll find an artist – or two, or a dozen – 200 in all, each with a unique view of the world on display.

It’s a growing phenomena in recent years: artists across the Greater Boston area are banding together to organize town-wide open studio weekends. And Newton’s event has become one of the largest in the region.

The beauty of any open studios event is the informality. You get to meet the artists, ask questions, offer opinions, see where the muse lives. You get free cookies. You get the chance to buy art, jewelry, and beautifully crafted objects directly from the artist. And, whether or not you buy anything, you get to support the local art community just by showing up. And eating cookies. Good deal.

In spite of the cookies, some visitors are intimidated by the idea of meeting the artist. Maybe they won’t really like the work and won’t know what to say. An awkward silence will slowly pressurize the space until everything in it explodes. While it’s never, to my knowledge, actually happened, it can be a real fear.

Solution One: if you take a little time to pre-view the art on the web site (NewtonOpenStudios.com), you can avoid the whole “what do I say here” question – it’s quite possible to visit 20 locations this weekend and only see art that you know you’ll love.
Solution two: Go ahead and seek out some art that you’re not sure about—just go armed with this key bit of knowledge: some art is meant to be beautiful, meant to be loved, and some is … not … But all art is meant to change you.

Every artist sees something that gets under their skin, something they want to capture and need to share. In Newton, as anywhere else, that something – that vision – takes a thousand forms. Newton has artists exploring color and emotion and memory. Artists whose work is about politics, or comfort, or pattern and movement. About volume, shape, and texture. About vast landscape, or seed-small minutia. All of it is about trying to change the way you see – to give you a new lens.

Art has always been about changing your perspective. Take Van Gogh’s Starry Night, for instance: once you’ve seen it, you will never see cypress trees the same way again – you’ve been changed. Cypresses will ever after coil and sway for you as though van Gogh had painted them. And 100 years after he last lifted a brush, he still packs the house. Last winter the Met in New York hosted a show of his drawings that was a sardine tin for weeks on end. Van Gogh is a master of masters because he so thoroughly changes the way we see. Because we love to see through his eyes.

Van Gogh sets a pretty high bar, but every artist wants to give you that light-bulb sensation – wants to change the way you see something that’s perhaps become familiar to the point of invisibility. Often, our love for a work of art grows directly out of that thrilling moment of change.

If you head out this weekend, you’ll certainly see plenty of art to fall in love with – art that you’ll instantly connect with – art that changes you effortlessly. But don’t expect all art to be transparent in its intent. Often the artist’s intent benefits from a little context to make it clear. It’s not a sign of weakness. And it’s not confined to abstract art: every museum curator knows this, peppering their installations with kernels of information that can round out your understanding.

Newton has artists who are well established, and artists who are at the beginning of their search for a voice. All of them appreciate the open studio as a window into their art; for themselves as well as for the visitor. The exercise of choosing and hanging work – seeing it as a whole – often brings insights. The exercise of discussion with the visitor often helps them to clarify, crystallize and focus their own intentions.

So, here are some ideas for conversation at an open studio – and these will work whether or not you like the art. Dig around a little for the artist’s intent: Ask about their influences –  their favorite artist.  Ask about how the piece is made. If something is just plain baffling, be direct and ask what it’s about.  Or, buy some time and ask for the cookie recipe. Artists don’t expect everyone to like their work, or to “get it” right off. An Open Studio is their opportunity to actually see the effect their art has on a viewer. Help them out – go stand in front of some art this weekend. See and be changed.

Newton Open Studios, May 17 & 18, Noon to 6 pm. NewtonOpenStudios.com .