City Staff Art on Display - Manchester, NH

City employees are showing the work they do off the clock this summer are City Hall.

The fifth annual City Employee and Family Art Show opened last week and will run until August 27, featuring paintings, sculptures, photography, wood sculpting and sewing done by city employees and their relatives. All city staffers and family were invited to join. This year’s show has a record of 106 entrants displaying 165 works of art.

There are Manchester School District teachers’ works on display along side their students’. Children as young as five can point to their art displayed on the dame wall as employees who double as professional artists. Vicki Ferraro, the mayor’s constituent services representative, said nearly every city department is represented in this year’s show.

Doreen Boissonneault, who works in the assessor’s office, is one of the must-see entrants of the show. She’s been painting since 200 and had participated in the Manchester show since the first year. When not in City Hall, Boissonneault;s work can be found in the East Colony Fine Art Gallery, as well as various arts shows throughout Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

“I always like competitions, but I really love to see everyone’s artwork. I am amazed at everyone’s talent,” said Boissonneault. As for this year’s show, she said it’s better than ever. “I think a lot of people could be showing their work and selling it.”

Fern Lopez, wife of Alderman Mike Lopez, entered two ceramic pieces displayed outside the Aldermanic Chambers. She had 30 years experience crafting ceramics, yet this is her first Employee and Family show.

“He said you’ve been doing ceramics for so long, why don’t you enter something,” Fern Lopez said of her husband.

People can view the works Monday through Friday 8am to 5pm and until 8pm on Tuesdays. Residents are not only invited to view the artwork, but are being asked to judge the People’s Choice category.

The content is divided into categories, which are listed on the title tag of each piece. The youth categories are 12 & under and Teen 13-18, and the adult categories are Amateur, Intermediate and Professional. The first-, second-, and third-place winners in each category will be awarded cash prizes.

Prizes will also be given for three special all-show awards: Mayor’s Choice, Governor’s Choice and People’s Choice category. Votes can be submitted at the welcome desk in City Hall next to the City Clerk’s Office.

Awards will be given at a ceremony on July 22 from 4pm to 6pm in the Aldermanic Chambers.

Winners will be selected by Christine King, owner of Framers Market; Donna Catanzaro, Hesser College instructor and photographer; and Georgie Reagan, the Mayor’s Assistant for the Arts.

The City Employee and Family Art Show is sponsored in part by the National Arts Program Foundation, a Pennsylvania-based group that provided prize money and support to municipal arts shows across the county.

Written by Matt Gunderson for New Hampshire Union Leader, Saturday July 10, 2010

Venue:
Manchester