Smith, Jean, Johnny, 2023, ink drawing, 9 x 11

Jean Smith, Johnny, 2023, ink drawing, 9 x 11

MJ2 Award Winners: Charles Norris, Carol Rabe, Gordon Saperia, Lynn Nafey (not pictured: Doron Putka and Kat O’Connor)

A message from the Juror:

“Jurying the Concord Art MJ2 exhibition was so much fun, but whittling down the submissions was no easy task! Difficult and sometimes granular decisions were made in the interest of capturing a broad and nonrepetitive range of voices while simultaneously striving to avoid an overly packed, cacophonous installation. But I believe we succeeded in selecting a body of work that’s compelling at a micro level, in the unique appeal of each component piece, and at a macro level, for this exhibition’s diversity of genre, materials, and processes. Some selections were impressive for their skill level, others for their freshness or wit, some for their composition, mark making, and/or delicious color relationships, and still others for their sense of poetry and grace.”

Members Juried 2: Collage, Crafts, Drawing, Graphics, Mixed Media, Photography, Printmaking 2023

Juried by Kelley Lehr

Exhibition Reception Date:

February 23, 2023

Exhibition Opening:

February 23, 2023

Exhibition End Date:

March 23, 2023

Exhibition Year:

2023

Juror:
Kelley Lehr and her partner, John Danos, are the owners and directors of Greenhut Galleries and Cove Street Arts in Portland, Maine. After 20 years in Los Angeles, and having acquired Greenhut (the oldest gallery in Portland, in its 45th year and going strong) in the summer of 2016, the couple relocated to Portland from Los Angeles in the spring of 2017.

Cove Street Arts opened in June of 2019 with 8,000 square feet of exhibition space, establishing itself as both a Chelsea-caliber art gallery and a local cultural hub. Primarily exhibiting contemporary Maine artists, Cove exhibits work by regional, national, and international artists as well. Lehr and Danos, along with their extremely talented, dedicated, and hardworking staff, are thrilled and delighted to play a significant role in re-establishing Portland as one of Maine’s most vibrant and consequential art centers. They’re happy and proud to have been on the forefront of the current renaissance of Portland area art galleries.

Prior to making the leap from LA to Maine and leveling up her relationship with visual arts from passionate avocation to committed, full-time vocation. Lehr earned a BA in English Lit, summa cum laude, from UCLA before pursuing an interdisciplinary MA in Humanities at the University of Chicago. In addition to her zeal for visual art and literature, Lehr carries a life-long torch for music. She plays piano well and guitar poorly, dabbles in songwriting, and has published both essays and Lit and Music reviews in Lana Turner: A Journal of Poetry and Opinion. Lehr hasn’t slept in 3-1/2 years 🙂 but her current deep and interdisciplinary arts immersion is not only an absolute thrill, but also an unexpected realization of a pinch-yourself dream.