Artists from GALA brighten CDC’s headquarters

By Owen Boss

GARDNER — The Community Development Corp. celebrated the opening of the latest community art gallery at their new location on Central Street Tuesday when the Gardner Area League of Artists brightened up the location’s main hallway with a series of paintings. The league of artists, or GALA, has participated with many local companies, including White Dog Printing, Jumpin’ Juice & Java, and the Gardner Ale House to showcase the artwork they produce. James Cruickshank, executive director of the CDC, said displaying local artwork at their new location is just another way the organization can support the development of the local community. “This matches the part of our mission where we aim to increase self-sufficiency of our neighbors and to increase their level of social participation,” said Mr. Cruickshank. “This is an excellent opportunity because we get a lot of walk-ins we see through our workshops and our cyber café, and this provides an opportunity for our residents to see the works of art that their neighbors are producing.” The artwork hanging on the walls of the lobby will be for sale, with portions of the revenue benefiting both the CDC and the league of artists. “This gives exposure to our local artists, in a nontraditional venue,” said Mr. Cruickshank. “And this certainly dresses up our lobby. We are just really excited to offer this mutually beneficial opportunity.” According to Mr. Cruickshank, the idea to feature local artwork in their new office started long before the new location opened earlier this summer. “Sally Sargent is on our Fund Development Committee, and one of the things that the fund development committee had been discussing during the construction was that we knew we were going to have a big wall and what we should do with it,” said Mr. Cruickshank. “And we knew we wanted to integrate ourselves with the community by bringing the community into our office.” League member Vicki Heirdon said artists interested in using the wall space need only to contact the coordinator of the organization to request a space to display their artwork. “This art is on loan to the CDC to decorate their space here,” said Ms. Heidorn. “The wall space is open to any person who wants to show their art, and they just need to contact Sally Sargent and she can arrange for it to be shown.” Although the artwork featured at the corporation’s new office will be limited to paintings, Ms. Heidorn said the league has more than 100 members who work with many different artistic mediums. “We have two-dimensional visual artists, we have photographers, we have basically all the different media,” said Ms. Heidorn. “We also have some writers and some musicians, so GALA really promotes all of the arts.” The first exhibit of artists includes Mary Dunn of Westminster, Dan Groth of Gardner, Naida Knox of Gardner, Gary Ruuska of Gardner, Sally Sargent of Otter River and Priscilla Mavrikas Walker of Gardner. All of the works on display have been recognized as award-winning works in both regional and national competitions. oboss@thegardnernews.com

Appeared on Page 1 on 9/6/2008 (Vol. 206 No. 211)