Creative use of space
If there were an award for best transformation of storage space, this year it would surely go to the Franklin public schools. After months of demolition, cleaning, and painting, an unused space in the high school is now home to Gallery 218, a spiffy new art gallery open to the public. Call it a quantum leap beyond the usual school bulletin board art show.
Though small, the gallery is the real deal. A white awning with a student-designed logo hangs above its glass door, giving the entrance a bit of a Newbury Street feel. Inside, white walls hold artworks by faculty members, in an exhibition running through Nov. 7.
"We've had conversations for years about how it would be great to have our own gallery space where we could display student work, alumni work, faculty work, and, hopefully someday, professional artists' work," said the school district's art department director, Mike Caple, noting the idea originated with his predecessor, Alicia Bell. "Then last year, we found this space in the high school."
A student art auction provided a small pool of funds for renovations. Then students and teachers, covering kindergarten through Grade 12, provided the elbow grease. It was much more than a simple broom job. From 2000 to 2002, the space was an on-campus branch of Benjamin Franklin Savings Bank, where students opened accounts to learn about money management. After it was closed due to insufficient deposits, the bank's heavy counters were never removed.
"It was actually kind of fun destroying that huge Formica bank counter," recalled Caple with a laugh. "But we were in there working from September of last year to April of this year, when we had our first show opening."
Under Caple's supervision, high school art students run most aspects of the gallery. They help organize and hang exhibitions, hold fund-raisers, and staff the gallery, which is open during school hours and evening events such as theater performances. Students also will soon have the opportunity to help jury artwork for future shows.
"It gives them arts management experience, which is very helpful," said Caple.
It's also hoped the gallery will inspire students by exposing them to different art techniques and styles. Some students, including senior Sarah Sharp, who hopes to become an art teacher, say it's already working.
"When I was walking through the faculty show, I got a bunch of ideas for different projects, not to copy them but to use similar techniques," said Sharp. "One work was done on wood with paint and carving, so I want to try that. It just inspired me to do different things with my own artwork."
For overscheduled students, it also helps that the gallery is convenient. "I like to go to galleries and museums whenever I get the chance, but it's my senior year. So I'm so busy that I rarely get the time," said Sharp.
Other students, including senior Rachel Nault, who plans to pursue a career in fashion design, also have reaped another one of the gallery's benefits: seeing their work in a formal art show.
"It's honestly really cool. It's limited space, so when you have your work up here it feels very special to be selected among the few," said Nault, one of the gallery's volunteer staff members.
For Caple and his colleagues, student and alumni shows also are an effective way to encourage younger students. The locally grown art they feature makes creating advanced work seem more possible and near.
"Younger students can see what older students are capable of doing, so it gives them something to strive for," he said. "And when you bring in alumni, some of whom produce really amazing work, that's another way to get kids to see what professionals are up to, what modern art is up to, and what you can also strive for, because these are kids that grew up in the same town."
Student and parent interest is high. Students at the high school stop by during lunch time, as well as before and after school, and students in lower grades come on class visits. Turnout for openings has been impressive; several hundred people attended the opening of the spring show, which featured works by students in every grade.
The art department aims to attract more area residents as well. The school is a secure campus, but visitors are welcome to the gallery at any time during school hours after signing in at the front office.
"It's a big philosophy of ours that we really need to get the work that our students do out of the classroom and into a larger audience, to show the community the work that gets done in art education," said Caple. "We think it's very important for people to see the fruits of their labor."
"Art Faculty Exhibition" continues through Nov. 7 at Gallery 218, Franklin High School, 218 Oak St. Hours: Monday-Friday (except holidays) 7 a.m.-2:30 p.m. or by appointment. Upcoming: "Warm/Cool" (kindergarten to Grade 12 show), Nov. 19-Jan. 30. Call 508-528-5600, e-mail caplem@franklin.k12.ma.us, or visit franklin.ma.us/fhs.
ORENT TAKES BATON: The Newton Symphony Orchestra is abuzz at the prospect of maestro James M. Orent's debut as its conductor this weekend. A Newton native, Orent was named the ensemble's music director in May, and his lengthy resume includes 50 appearances as guest conductor for the Boston Pops, as well as performances with the New Philharmonia Orchestra in Newton, Boston's Handel and Haydn Society, the Boston Conservatory, and the Fort Worth Symphony.
He opens the season at 7:30 p.m. Sunday with a jubilant program, "Symphonic Spectacular," that features city resident Michael Lewin, internationally renowned pianist and head of the piano faculty at Boston Conservatory, as the soloist for Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1. The program includes George Whitefield Chadwick's "Jubilee" and Dvorák's Symphony No. 4 in D minor.
The Newton Symphony Orchestra's "Symphonic Spectacular" is Sunday, 7:30 p.m. at Grace Episcopal Church, 76 Eldredge St., Newton Corner. Tickets: $25-$30; seniors, students $20-$25; ages 13 and under $10. 617-965-2555, newtonsymphony.org.
AUTHOR FEST IN BOLTON: For fans of Flat Stanley, "Manny's Cows," and other well-loved children's books, Bolton is worth a pilgrimage Saturday afternoon, when 12 children's authors and illustrators descend on the town. They will be signing and selling their books as part of the Bolton Author Festival, a fund-raiser to support renovations to the local public library.
Big names include Scott Nash, author and illustrator of the wildly popular Flat Stanley series, and best-selling author Suzy Becker ("All I Need to Know I Learned from My Cat").
Also attending will be Karen Day ("No Cream Puffs"), Susan Paradis ("Snow Princess"), Mary Delaney ("Mabel O'Leary Put Peas in Her Ear-y"), Jamie Harper ("Miss Mingo and the First Day of School"), Mitali Perkins ("Rickshaw Girl"), Leo Landry ("Space Boy"), Mary Newell DePalma ("The Nutcracker Doll"), Jeannie Brett ("L is for Lobster"), and Anne Broyles ("Shy Mama's Halloween"). A homemade-pie sale and raffles of baskets of autographed books round out the fun.
The Bolton Author Festival is Saturday, 1-4 p.m. at First Parish Church of Bolton, 673 Main St. Admission free. 978-779-2839.
Have a suggestion for the Arts column? Please forward to westarts@globe.com, or Denise Taylor at dtaylorq@hotmail.com or 617-625-8061. 