Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/996797
NORTHSHOREMAG.COM 40 JUNE + JULY 2018 PHOTOGRAPHS BY, LEFT TO RIGHT, KEN CLEVELAND, SARAH PHILLIPS to live a life beautifully out of pure love and quiet courage." Liu's connection to art—and to the North Shore—started long ago. As the benefactor of the Shalin Liu Performance Center in Rockport, operated by Rockport Music, Liu has helped to fund endeavors such as children's music education and live performances. The Rockport Art Association & Museum, the quintessential North Shore art center, is down the street from the Shalin Liu Performance Center and will celebrate its centennial in three years. Founded in 1921, it is one of the oldest art organizations in the country. Sarah Milton, the collections & exhibitions manager, started her job three years ago by conducting an inventory of the permanent collection's 650 pieces. Among her many duties is hanging exhibits with board president and painter T.M. Nicholas. This year alone, the museum will host 47 exhibits. A cadre of 10 volunteers, headed by volunteer coordinator Pat Alto (a volunteer herself ), "make a huge difference to the organization," Milton says. Milton, an oil painter, has a background filled with diverse artistic endeavors. She has helped restore old Vaudeville theater curtains as a technician for the Vermont Painted eater Curtain Project, painted exhibits at Harvard University's Semitic Museum, painted a mural for the Allston Fire Department, and won awards for her custom picture framing. "I've been handling art my whole life," Milton says. "Everything I do has to do with art." Her position in Rockport, she says, is the best thing that could have happened for her. "From the minute I walked in the door, I knew my life would change." e Rockport Art Association & Museum strengthened its community outreach last year with the assistance of vice president Heidi Caswell-Zander, holding public demonstrations, "paint-ins," and other activities. "We're giving back to the community that's been so good to us," Nicholas says. Milton and Nicholas agree that the work with Summer Star forms another community connection. "We see this as another part of our community outreach," Nicholas says. "Summer Star is a tremendous environment / F A C E S + P L A C E S / for viewing art. It doesn't have all the mechanical distractions. It's a quiet, reflective place, and the light is great. e architects were very sensitive." e current exhibit fills Linden Street Gal- lery with depictions of inland New England's quietly majestic beauty: an old farmhouse set against distant rolling hills, a river rushing through rocky wilds, open fields turning over their fall colors. e effect is soulful, peaceful, fulfilling. It perfectly coincides with Liu's vi- sion: "We are happier if we realize we are part of all the wild and living world." Connecting Summer Star and the Rockport Art Association & Museum creates another way to nourish the soul. "We're helping each other to create something magnificent," Nicholas says. "It takes a community to do that." CONTACT Summer Star Wildlife Sanctuary, 690 Linden Street, Boylston, 508-869-3434, summerstarwildlife.wordpress.com Clockwise, Shalin Liu thanks those who helped with the project at the gallery opening, painter T.M. Nicholas, and Rockport Art Association & Museum collections & exhibitions manager Sarah Milton.