COURTESY PHOTO BY BRIANNA STEVENS
The new exhibition at the Museum of the White Mountains, Person of Interest, is full of collaborative art including works from PSU community members such as Liz Ahl, Ray Ciemny, Jonathan Santore, Nick Sevigney and Amanda Whitworth. The exhibition focuses on the life of a woman named Lara Linowitz, a friend of Whitworth. While deciding the theme of the exhibition, the artists involved discussed “accidental collaborations” that people have with the people in their lives.
Throughout the gallery are artifacts from Linowitz’s life, including letters to her mother and music records and many other everyday items that this woman kept. There are also pieces from the artists’ lives placed in a timeline alongside the artifacts from Linowitz’s life, which shows the liaisons between Lonowitz and all 6 of these people. There seemed to be a constant message of connectedness I many of the works as a central theme of the exhibit.
Each artist, most of whom are professors here, took a piece of Lara’s life and used their own art form to bring attention to it. Liz Ahl used letters from Lara to her mother in order to create blackout pieces that viewers are able to edit to make their very own poems. Ray Ciemny used his metalworking skills in order to create sculptures and the large box in the middle of the gallery. Jonathan Santore composed the music that was played through the headphones located around the gallery. Nick Sevegney used his knowledge of ceramics to relate to the ceramics that Lara created over her lifetime. Lastly, Amanda Whitworth, a dancer and a friend of Lara’s, had the goal to “Start. Move. Say ‘yes.’ Listen. Risk. Share.” She danced to the music of Jonathan Santore from inside the box that Ray Ciemny created.
Overall, the collaborative work that these artists have created is a wonderful way to look into the life of Lara Linowitz. As the artists put it, “Lara Linowitz [was] someone you might recognize as kindred, but no one you’ve ever heard of, unless maybe you have.”