Jamestown, R.I., June 11, 2024 – The Annual Summer Soirée celebrates the Jamestown Arts Center and opens the exhibition PIVOT with a gala fundraising event on Friday, June 28th from 6-9 pm. The vital funding raised through this annual fundraiser enables the JAC to be a place where creativity and innovation thrive through art exhibits, live music, theatre and dance performances, films, and educational programs for all ages.

The Soirée will include a raw bar, cocktails, summer savories, live music by La Méchante et le Connard, and dancing. Unique live auction items include a commissioned portrait or landscape by local and internationally acclaimed artist Tom Deininger; two 3-day Jazz Festival tickets; a home consultation package with interior design, organizing, gardening, and architecture; a sunset waterfront cocktail party for 16; a private sailboat excursion; and a year of JAC classes.  

The exhibition, curated by Karen Conway and Jeff Foye, examines the work of 21 artists who have a distinct interpretation of what a “pivot” might be in their own work. Mediums range from sculpture, installations, painting, digital works, mixed media, works on paper, and an outdoor mural.

Co-curator Karen Conway shares, "Throughout history, artists have changed direction, made shifts in media, medium, formula, improvisatory approach to making, and content. This artist-driven exhibition encourages artists to create or exhibit artwork outside their usual oeuvre and the viewer's expectations.” 

Co-curator Jeff Foye adds, “The artist’s contribution to the exhibition was determined through conversations about their practice and process as well as numerous studio visits. These artists are taking a risk to produce new work or revisit an aesthetic idea simmering in the studio that they haven’t had time or reason to realize. The sum of this exhibition is artist-driven and surprising at every turn.”

Tickets are available online at www.jamestownartcenter.org/ and are $250 ($225 for JAC members). 

Benefactor tickets are $395 and include a curator-led behind-the-scenes look at the exhibition before it opens to the public and an original print by Peter Marcus, the Inaugural JAC Distinguished Artist of the Year. The artwork is a limited edition digital print of 100, signed by the artist, and printed in-house at the JAC.  

Invited attire is silver. The PIVOT exhibition is on view from June 28 through September 7, 2024.

Curators

Karen Conway and Jeff Foye

Exhibiting Artists

Kate Barber, David Barnes, Lisa Barsumian, Alyn Carlson, Spencer Evans, Tom Deininger, Lesley Dill, Peter Diepenbrock, Bob Dilworth, Peter Flood, Brooke Erin Goldstein, Joan Hall, Martin Keen, Peter Marcus, Susan Matthews, Algernon Miller, Kelly Milukas, Luke Randall (1964-2022), Didi Suydam, Christopher T. Terry, and Bradley Wester

Summer Soiree Event Committee

Honorary Chair: Patti Watson

Co-chairs: Wooley Dutton, Maria Flood, Dianne Grippi

Committee: Amy Barclay, Catherine Bowen, Rosemary Burns, Linda Chapman, Christine Cocca, Savania Davies-Keiller, Karen Conway, Donna DeFusco, Jody Eyre, Jeff Foye, Kelly McDermott, Carrie Parker, Kate Petrie, Kayleigh Rooney, Jody Saarmaa, Leslie Streuli, Vivi Valentine

Event Sponsors

Creative

Golds Wine & Spirits, Grapes and Gourmet, Taste Design Inc., Matunuck Oyster Bar, Devi and Eddie Ross

Dreamer

Annie Anderson, Beech, Sarah Hartshorn and Chris Carter, Ellen and Steve Devoe, Wooley and Art Dutton, Donna and Martin Gibbs, Karen Gray, Dianne Grippi, Mary and John Madden, Pivotal Brewery, Mary Pat Ryan, Thomas and Joanne Wiggin 

At a Glance

WHAT: Opening of “PIVOT” exhibition at the Jamestown Arts Center’s 12th Annual Summer Soirée 

WHEN: Friday, June 28, 6-9 pm; Benefactor’s preview on Tuesday, June 25, 6-7 pm

ATTIRE THEME: Silver 

WHERE: Jamestown Arts Center, 18 Valley Street, Jamestown

TICKETS: $250/$225 (JAC Members) and $395 for Benefactor level, which includes a behind-the-scenes look at the exhibition and original artwork by Peter Marcus, the Inaugural JAC Distinguished Artist of the Year. Available at www.jamestownartcenter.org/summer-soiree

About the Jamestown Arts Center

The Jamestown Arts Center is a multi-disciplinary visual and performing arts space that hosts art exhibits, theatre, dance and musical performances, film screenings, and educational programming including artist talks and hands-on art classes for all ages. The JAC opened in 2010 in a former boat repair shop redesigned by award-winning architects Estes/Twombly. Since 2014, it's won five of Rhode Island Monthly's 'Best of Rhode Island' awards, including the Editor's Pick for Outdoor Art in 2021 and 2022.

The Jamestown Arts Center is a leading arts and cultural hub for Rhode Island and beyond, where creativity, ideas, and innovation flourish. For more information visit:jamestownartcenter.org

May 28, 2024—The Jamestown Arts Center is thrilled to announce Peter Marcus as the Inaugural Distinguished Artist of the Year for the Summer Soirée.

Peter is being recognized as the Distinguished Artist for his outstanding artistic contributions to the Jamestown Arts Center as an exhibiting artist and master printmaker who was instrumental in founding the printmaking studio at the JAC.

The Distinguished Artist of the Year will be awarded annually at the JAC Summer Soirée to an artist who has created a substantial and important body of work. JAC seeks to honor artists whose accomplishments reflect their particular and extraordinary points of view, making our community a more culturally rich and diverse place. By honoring the outstanding achievements of an individual artist and their work, JAC reaffirms its mission to engage, enrich, and inspire through extraordinary arts and educational experiences.

As the recipient of the Distinguished Artist of the Year Award, Peter also has the opportunity to create a limited-edition print to benefit the Summer Soirée, to be held on Friday, June 28, 2024. This print will be produced in the JAC studios by JAC artist instructors, highlighting the exceptional capacity of printmaking facilities and programs.

As a special benefit, each Summer Soirée Sponsor and Benefactor ticket holder will receive a limited-edition, signed print. The editioned prints Peter is creating for the Summer Soirée align with his new work, incorporating remnants of his past prints collected over 50 years into a digital print. JAC’s annual Distinguished Artist print champions artistic excellence and celebrates the joy of collecting contemporary art.

ABOUT PETER MARCUS

Peter is an artist who uses prints to make art including collagraph printmaking, digital, and photography. His work crosses boundaries between painting, printmaking, and drawing. Originally from New York, Peter earned a BS from Parsons School of Design and an MFA from Brooklyn College with special training in printmaking in Urbana, Italy. Peter taught at Washington University in St. Louis for over 30 years and now lives in Jamestown, Rhode Island where he continues to create art.

ABOUT THE SUMMER SOIRÉE

The Summer Soirée is the annual fundraiser for the Jamestown Arts Center. The evening is filled with art, a live auction, food, drinks, and dancing and raises crucial funding for the JAC’s exhibitions, educational programs, and scholarships. Tickets start at $250. Details at jamestownartcenter.org

https://vimeo.com/952024202