By William Levine

- written by The Umbrella's 2017-2018 Artist-in-Residence, Elizabeth King

On my walks through the neighborhoods of Concord this month, I have developed an obsession with the way people maintain their yards. Gardening, weed whacking, and raking in some combination seem to be almost a way of life for many people. I am interested in the fact that yard work is a solitary, yet communal pass time and no matter how well the task is done, it must be repeated again-usually weekly.

By Himani Parekh

The tables were arranged in a sort of oval and I was standing smack in the middle, peering curiously and a little shyly at their work. Around me the students of Kat O’Connor’s Technical Watercolor I Class were sketching, painting, mixing colors, and socializing, their voices converging and overlapping into a gentle hubbub that floated in the warm, bright space. A happy sound. A happy space.

“We don’t bite,” a woman assured me, “but we might crack some jokes!”

I smiled, relaxed a little. This was a welcoming place.

Written by Molly Cohen

Zoe is a volunteer who has grown up with The Umbrella Community Arts Center. She began frequenting the gallery as a child when she attended the center’s summer arts camp. Her favorite activity quickly became ceramics. Flash forward several years, and now Zoe is an 11th grader. Her time at The Umbrella has come full circle; last February she was a teacher’s assistant at the vacation arts camp.

- written by the 2017-2018 Artist-in-Residence, Elizabeth King.

Support The Umbrella and celebrate abstract art by taking home one of Gifford Pierce's beautiful paintings! On view in Driven to Abstraction @ Villageworks through October 31, these five paintings are accompanied by the work of 19 local artists in a call for art show.

On Monday afternoon, July 17, Governor Charlie Baker vetoed the Legislature's Fiscal Year 2018 budget for the Mass Cultural Council and cut arts funding by 14%.
 
If lawmakers do not override this veto, the Mass Cultural Council's budget will be cut to $12.1 million from $14 million.
 

Dear Umbrella Commuity,

Last week we had an in depth meeting to get exact times for upcoming construction and we're excited to announce that "early early" construction starts on Monday, September 11! 

Starting on Monday September 11, our front entrance will officially be closed to the public. The main entrance will be the back teal door by Deb Richardson's studio. The glass door will also still be open.

Somehow it’s been a year since I moved into a crooked little house and a warm, sunny studio at the Umbrella. A nearly brand-new easel stood in the studio corner, the walls were bare, and I was admittedly intimidated by the prospect of a whole year to make a new series of work. And how wrong I was, to be intimidated by what seemed like a huge stretch of time! How the year has flown by! This past year was incredibly formative for me as a young painter.

written by Chandreyi Datta