From an empty void comes rebirth. A glut of commercial space vacancies in downtown Salem has presented an open door for artists.
On June 1, the Salem Art Association (SAA) will open the doors for its third annual Project Space gallery and showcase in the Metropolitan Building at 160 Liberty St. NE in Salem. The exhibit will feature sculpture, photography, painting and more, plus offer the public an opportunity to see artists at work.
It’s a project based on what artists in our community want and need,” said Kathleen Dinges Rice, the Community Art Education director for SAA.
Project Space is held in a new location each year and has served four main purposes,” Dinges Rice said. The venue serves as a place for local artists to showcase their work, for people to view that work, for artists to collaborate with others and to encourage dialogue between the artists and the community.
Before their work is placed in the exhibit, each piece is juried. The final product is unique each year because of the variety of jurors and the space in which the exhibit is presented.
“The space changes the parameters of the work we are showing,” Dinges Rice said. “We don’t do much to change the space, but let the art be the focus.”
The exhibit will rotate exhibits at the beginning of July and August.
Roy Carmen, a Salem-area commercial developer who has donated space in the past, is letting the Salem Arts Association have the space for free all summer. It’s a symbiotic relationship that works well for all involved, Dinges Rice said.
“He is very supportive of the arts,” she said. “In the first year our presence did get the space leased out. There is a benefit to being able to see what the space has the potential to be.”
For those who prefer the solemn quiet of a museum-style exhibit, Project Space may take some getting used to. With artists physically working, talking and teaching and photographers documenting the entire process, Dinges Rice expects the exhibit to be full of life and energy.
“It is really going to be very exciting,” she said. “It will be an active studio. This really is about the Salem Community. We’re trying to expand what is offered in Salem.”
