3 Dimensional Art

First place

laura holland

Stay-at-Home Still Lives, a 16-Panel Accordion Book

In early March 2020, I started a series of photographs based on the ventilation system in the ceiling of the building where I worked in Amherst. I loved the way the muscular industrial forms changed as light and shadow shifted during the day. Then came the coronavirus—and the lockdown. The building closed and I sheltered in place at home. Without inspiring a conscious change of plans, the coronavirus provoked a complete shift in the focus and scale of my art. As my home became my world, I focused on small scale, intimate still lives. The domestic clutter I previously overlooked now caught my eye. And as the lockdown stretched on, these stay-at-home still lives proliferated. I strung the photographic images together in a 16-panel accordion book, twice the length of any large-scale piece I had done before. The zigzag structure of the book, stretching over 10 feet long, was completely unwieldy and close to unmanageable—which mirrored the tension and confusion I felt about dealing with a global pandemic.

therese brady donohue

Shadow Puppet Box 10" x10" acrylic paint/moveable figure/matte board cutouts.

The figure inside is animated when a ring on the top of the frame is lifted. The 2nd shows the hands up. When the ring is moved up and down the hands go up and down as if "crazy" from the Covid.

I founded Amherst Ballet and my art career shifted to designing and creating costumes and scenery for The Amherst Ballet Theatre Company. I was known for my breathable masks that were exhibited at the Leverett Arts Center. I was commissioned to create and perform ballets based on Joan Miro, Henri Matisse and Jean Dubuffet by The National Gallery of Art and the Hirshhorn Musems. These ballets were also performed at the National Portrait Gallery, Philadelphia Museum of Art and The Guggenheim Museum. After retiring from Amherst Ballet in 2004 I was asked by Eric Carle to create ballets of his stories. I had to exactly replicate his illustrations into costumes and scenery. I then founded Picture Book Theatre that performed at The Carle Museum for 15 years and did art residencies in public schools within a 50 mile radius.  Eventually I combined puppets with ballet and then it became all puppets for the last 8 years before our final performance in Nov. 2019. That is when I shifted to making shadow puppet boxes when our Covid lockdown came in March and I needed a creative outlet. I have made over 40 of these boxes so far and have sold them just by posting photos on Facebook. I continue to teach art in my home studio to neighborhood children.

Second Place

maria fitch

A series of medical masks created using molding and casting techniques, as well as organic and nonorganic materials. Mask modeled by my quarantine-mate.

robert markey

A globe surrounded by a heart carved from wood. I have been creating art inspired by peace songs. These are paintings, sculptures and mixed media pieces, each referring to a specific song about peace and love.  I put the songs on my website so when a viewer looks at a piece, they can use their phone and listen to the song. So each piece is both visual and audible. I started working on this because the songs, many of them from the sixties, are so relevant and important for what is going on in the world and in our country today. 

Clearly, “What the World Needs Now is Love” was a song I had to do a piece of art about.  

rochelle shicoff

This submission titled "It's True" is mixed media consisting of 5 dolls hands/arms, a pastel drawing, photo of a garden and handmade paper. The hands represent the protocol of hand washing and reaching up for answers that I think all people need at this time. The drawing is of a person dismayed and uncomfortable but the garden represents a life giving force and hope.

third place

vincent frano

Ritual mask created with living, found, and natural materials, harvested and prepared by the artist. The mask is representative of regeneration, regrowth, and rebirth following destruction/tragedy/death..

juliana shepard

Juliana created “Bring It In” on the barrier on North Pleasant Street near Judie’s Restaurant.
The subject of a hug is a reminder of what is missing during the pandemic.