New in April at Gallery A3: Paintings by Nancy Meagher Explore Amherst and Provincetown

Source: Gallery A3

Nancy Meagher’s New Exhibit, CLOSED AND WIDE OPEN SPACES will open at Gallery A3, 28 Amity Street 1D, on Thursday April 3 and continue through April 26. There will be an opening reception at the gallery on April 3 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. Gallery Hours are Thursday–Sunday, 2:00–7:00 p.m.

In CLOSED AND WIDE-OPEN SPACES, painter Nancy Meagher explores the external structure and internal character of several historic houses in Amherst and the contrasting landscapes of Cape Cod and western Massachusetts. Intimate paintings of flowers, all in bloom, echo the idea of “blossoming open.”

For several years, Meagher has painted interpretations of the Emily Dickinson Homestead, in all seasons, different hours, and many types of weather. Austin Dickinson’s elegant mansion next door also becomes subject matter, and for this exhibit, she turns to the stately symmetry and archways of the Henry Hills House on Main Street in Amherst. A funkier architectural energy caught her eye in Provincetown, with the buildings that huddled along the harbor.  “The Mardi Gras feeling of Provincetown’s Commercial Street at night is represented in my painting of the Lobster Pot restaurant with its red-neon sign reflecting on both the building and the street,” she says.

Meagher also explores what she calls “the yin-yang of two very different but equally compelling landscapes” in her paintings of the wide-open ocean at Provincetown and the towering oak trees pressing close together around her favorite haunt of Puffers Pond in Amherst.

Pond or ocean, Provincetown or Amherst, iconic house or landscape view—all are conjured in layers upon layers of color and texture. Meagher manipulates the paint using palette knives, brushes inherited from a fellow painter, and rubber wedges. “Most exciting of all,” she adds, “I sometimes press gloved hands into the paint to mix the colors and smear them onto the canvas.” Working and re-working the canvas, she pushes on toward abstraction.

About the Artist
Meagher holds a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design, and a MEd from Lesley College Graduate School, Cambridge, MA. She is an educator with The Mill River Greenway Initiative and is the artist/author of “Millicent and the Day it Rained Buttons, a Mill River Fish Tale” and the author of a poetry chapbook, “Morning After Several Days of Rain.” 

About Gallery A3
Gallery A3 is a contemporary, fine art gallery located in the Cinema Courtyard in downtown Amherst, Massachusetts. Members of the artist-run cooperative include painters, sculptors, photographers, printmakers, and mixed media artists. It is supported in part by grants from the Amherst Cultural Council and the Pelham Cultural Council, local agencies, which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

Gallery A3 was founded in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on 9/11. A group of local artists believed art to be essential to the health and healing of a community and began the gallery as a place to share ideas and artistic support. Since that time, the gallery has been home to over 60 artists and is now celebrating 23 years of monthly shows with openings and forums, all free and open to the public, and an annual juried show that supports regional artists.