Northshore Magazine

Northshore April 2019

Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.

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NORTHSHOREMAG.COM 128 APRIL 2019 PHOTOGRAPH BY DOUG LEVY HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN ART? I come from a family of artists and have been surrounded my whole life by creativ- ity. My father, John Terelak, is a Cape Ann artist, my mother, Pat, is a passionate crafter and my grandfather, Martin Ahearn, was a watercolor painter. From an early age I fell in love with art making, and I feel so lucky to be able to continue to have art be a huge part of my life. HOW DOES THE NORTH SHORE INSPIRE YOU? The North Shore is an amazing bastion of history, culture, and natural beauty. The communities I am so humbled to work with expose the very core values and dreams of what it means to be of this place. As an artist, I am grateful to play a role in the shifting energy toward contemporary and experimental art forms emerging from the North Shore. I am currently creating a light and sound installation and augmented reality experience featuring the voices of 100 community members in the Point neighborhood of Salem for this May's weeklong exhibition IM/MIGRATION at Punto Urban Art Museum. DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE LOCAL ARTIST? My mother! As a child, I'd see her spend an entire evening painting, knitting, quilting, or beading to give to someone as a gift the following day. She is a multimedia artist but I would be willing to bet she'd describe her medium as generosity—art that can be immediately shared and doesn't need a price tag or a gilded frame to feel like a valid artistic expression. Juni Van Dyke is another local artist that might identify with this type of artistic practice, generosity as form. Her collaborative practice with the seniors at the Rose Baker Senior Center, in Gloucester, is incredibly inspiring. DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE MEDIUM? Community storytelling. My work is about lis- tening and celebrating the collective voice. TELL US ABOUT THE RHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN GRANT TO CREATE HARBOR VOICES. When I was receiving my master's degree, I developed a social practice public art idea that involved community storytelling and public celebrations of the collective voice. My department head urged me to apply for a competitive Graduate Studies grant that required a student to launch a creative idea within 6 months of graduation. With unend- ing support from the community of Cape Ann, our first free public art installation took place at City Hall in Gloucester. The laser and sound installation featured over 100 global voices of ancestral and recent immigrants to Cape Ann from age 6 to 86. The work celebrated empathy, cultural di- versity, and resilience, and I am so excited to continue working this way within the community of the North Shore. APR 2019 C O M M U N I T Y Q & A GETTING TO KNOW THE NORTH SHORE STEPHANIE BENENSON Artist and founder of Harbor Voices

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