Current
New Life in the Window at A.P.E.
126 Main Street, Northampton
Michael Tillyer & Anna Bayles Arthur
Sculpture and Painting
Through June 5
Michael Tillyer:
Putting something into sculpture is a troublesome challenge. Fussing around with all the material elements that all take place in the physical world leaves little room for imagination, but in the best outcome, there it is, a little something that connects to what it means to be living. That’s why I like it as a vocation. It’s like magic.
Anne Bayles Arthur:
The tendency toward pairing down that has been very much a part of this strange season of quarantine, has also found its way into the compositions of Anna Bayles Arthur. Long treks into the swamps and meadows on the periphery of Northampton, have been replenishing her vocabulary of forms. In this body of work, Ms. Arthur’s longstanding interest in visual relationships and dialogues between forms, has become more refined. The explicit organicism remains, but with a new economy; the narrative has become simply the drama of forms relating within the rectangle. These narratives are ancient, primordial – the shape a river bed takes as it curves and cuts, over time, through the earth, or the oxidized color and texture of organic matter. Transparent layers of oil over a washy, acrylic ground create the surface from which these compositions emerge. As always for Ms. Arthur, the process is intuitive, a kind of deep listening – allowing images to move through, to manifest, transforming the blank page into a world.
126 Main Street, Northampton
Michael Tillyer & Anna Bayles Arthur
Sculpture and Painting
Through June 5
Michael Tillyer:
Putting something into sculpture is a troublesome challenge. Fussing around with all the material elements that all take place in the physical world leaves little room for imagination, but in the best outcome, there it is, a little something that connects to what it means to be living. That’s why I like it as a vocation. It’s like magic.
Anne Bayles Arthur:
The tendency toward pairing down that has been very much a part of this strange season of quarantine, has also found its way into the compositions of Anna Bayles Arthur. Long treks into the swamps and meadows on the periphery of Northampton, have been replenishing her vocabulary of forms. In this body of work, Ms. Arthur’s longstanding interest in visual relationships and dialogues between forms, has become more refined. The explicit organicism remains, but with a new economy; the narrative has become simply the drama of forms relating within the rectangle. These narratives are ancient, primordial – the shape a river bed takes as it curves and cuts, over time, through the earth, or the oxidized color and texture of organic matter. Transparent layers of oil over a washy, acrylic ground create the surface from which these compositions emerge. As always for Ms. Arthur, the process is intuitive, a kind of deep listening – allowing images to move through, to manifest, transforming the blank page into a world.
Nancy Stark Smith
February, 1952 - May 1, 2020
Tributes to Nancy from folks at A.P.E.
-For a long time, I just knew of Nancy Stark Smith as I saw her move at A.P.E. in the beauty of her strength. The mind bender, earth shaker, gravity tender, force of nature.
Then once at a gathering she asked me what I did. I explained my work with children. She asked if I would write something for CQ. The process of her editing while sitting with me met every dead end, loose thread of my thinking, every “um” or pause in conviction, every vagueness or shadowy hiding. She exposed and caught and challenged my words into clarity. At the end of her dedicated hours, I knew my own work and myself better.
The best part was to be close to her essential and loving rigor. It was beyond feminism; in this case, it was really standing behind being a woman. It seemed all her actions were like that. She couldn’t just stop at dance, she had to make things conscious. (She is saying now, what do you mean by "things"?) I mean your curiosity, Nancy. Almost anything in your path, you would want to know more about. And if you brought your observations forward to others, you would want the garden of them not to have weeds.
With admiration and gratitude, Annie Woodhull, Director, A.P.E.
-As we mourn the passing of our dear dancing friend and mentor Nancy Stark Smith and celebrate her generous life, I am mostly wordless: sweeping the studio floor, pulling weeds from the garden, planting an heirloom rose in her honor. Anything close to the ground feels best, appreciating how Nancy would cultivate the conditions for exploration and growth in all situations. And how much we loved and enjoyed dance-able floors.
Since meeting and working with Nancy at Thornes Marketplace in 1977 in early “sharings” of contact improvisation, there has been such a deep unfolding of our creative work and exchange! When I type words today, I hear her (CQ) editing voice, encouraging choice. I bow, instead offering to you her own views and movements at the Somatics Festival 2019: Celebrating the Work of Janet Adler, Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen and Nancy Stark Smith and the 45-year Heritage of Contact Quarterly hosted by A.P.E. and SCDT this past September.
Knowing that thousands of people around the globe are now moving alone or in virtual groups in her honor, perhaps it might be heartwarming to enter her three-hour workshop, listen to her views, and share in her stories about the years developing contact improvisation and Contact Quarterly in this community as well as internationally over four decades. Together, we can honor—in her words—“the depth and continuity of connection, unique and precious.” The website at www.somatics2019.com ( thanks to Mandy Kimm and Scotty Hardwig) offers Nancy's generosity and vitality, encouraging us to breathe deeply and stay “inspired”. It feels so important to keep moving, keep making, keep imagining!
Andrea Olsen, former member of Dance Gallery and current board member of A.P.E.
"For the past five to six years a good portion of my creative work has been focused on constructing solo pieces. Two of my few guiding principles:
1. Hoping that Nancy Stark Smith will be in the audience. Hoping to construct a thing which will intrigue the 'eye' and the mind of this consummate artist.
2. Hoping she will laugh. My god, the light from her face when she smiled. When she laughed".
Peter Schmitz, choreographer, dancer, actor, teacher.
I first got to know Nancy when she brought her Contact Improvisation jams to A.P.E. on the third floor of Thornes. These were highly anticipated events since we knew they would be packed full of energized movers and dancers. Nancy's energy was infectious--she radiated warmth, curiosity, intelligence, humor, and generosity. She was an investigator with a keen eye, strong body and clear presence. I was intimidated by her creative force but equally drawn to her. Gordy, Kathy and I always laughed at the end of these jams because, invariably, there would be holes in the A.P.E. walls that came from her work with such high intensity contact movers.
Later I came to know Nancy in a circle of women friends and my admiration for her as an extraordinary human being grew. She asked me to be on the board of CQ and I served for a few years, deepening my respect and gratitude for her undying vision and commitment to the magazine and the people around it.
Nancy touched so many people deeply and in so many essential and meaningful ways. We are all the better for knowing her.
With honor and love,
Lisa Thompson, Associate Director, A.P.E.
-My time working at CQ as Associate Editor with Nancy Stark Smith happened to align with her diagnosis of ovarian cancer, and the subsequent two years during which she was undergoing treatment. During this time together, Nancy and I edited and produced three issues of CQ with the help of many: Lisa Nelson, Melinda Buckwalter, Shaina Cantino, and Sarah Lass, among others. I witnessed Nancy's superhuman amounts of strength, reserve, and commitment in action, as she indefatigably laid her hands on every draft of every page of each of those issues, sometimes much to my chagrin…her care and attention to editorial process and production gave me a new level of understanding of the term "detail-oriented.” Thanks to Nancy, I now more than ever, believe that god (or spirit, or the holy, or the sacred, or the transcendent) is truly in the details.
Which is to say, that Nancy taught me something about the sacredness of this work—namely, this work of articulating bodily experience into language, and of being in exchange with and in relationship to each other through editorial process. Through her leadership at CQ and her devotion to the written word, Nancy has left a legacy that validates all of our needs for the experience of embodiment to be communicated and understood.
In seeking to honor and be accountable to Nancy’s legacy, I want to try, try again, and then try harder for the following: connection, dialogue, and exchange with community; honing an articulation of dancing experiences and experiments in order to be in relationship to each other and the world; and lastly and importantly, holding profound humor, play, lightness, and curiosity alongside a steadfast belief that our work is serious and matters.
Inextricably woven into my memories of our hard work together is Nancy’s eruptive laugh, bright smile, and mischievous wit. Thank you Nancy for the improvisation, for your storytelling, and for highlighting what matters.
—Meredith Bove, CQ Associate Editor, board member, A.P.E
February, 1952 - May 1, 2020
Tributes to Nancy from folks at A.P.E.
-For a long time, I just knew of Nancy Stark Smith as I saw her move at A.P.E. in the beauty of her strength. The mind bender, earth shaker, gravity tender, force of nature.
Then once at a gathering she asked me what I did. I explained my work with children. She asked if I would write something for CQ. The process of her editing while sitting with me met every dead end, loose thread of my thinking, every “um” or pause in conviction, every vagueness or shadowy hiding. She exposed and caught and challenged my words into clarity. At the end of her dedicated hours, I knew my own work and myself better.
The best part was to be close to her essential and loving rigor. It was beyond feminism; in this case, it was really standing behind being a woman. It seemed all her actions were like that. She couldn’t just stop at dance, she had to make things conscious. (She is saying now, what do you mean by "things"?) I mean your curiosity, Nancy. Almost anything in your path, you would want to know more about. And if you brought your observations forward to others, you would want the garden of them not to have weeds.
With admiration and gratitude, Annie Woodhull, Director, A.P.E.
-As we mourn the passing of our dear dancing friend and mentor Nancy Stark Smith and celebrate her generous life, I am mostly wordless: sweeping the studio floor, pulling weeds from the garden, planting an heirloom rose in her honor. Anything close to the ground feels best, appreciating how Nancy would cultivate the conditions for exploration and growth in all situations. And how much we loved and enjoyed dance-able floors.
Since meeting and working with Nancy at Thornes Marketplace in 1977 in early “sharings” of contact improvisation, there has been such a deep unfolding of our creative work and exchange! When I type words today, I hear her (CQ) editing voice, encouraging choice. I bow, instead offering to you her own views and movements at the Somatics Festival 2019: Celebrating the Work of Janet Adler, Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen and Nancy Stark Smith and the 45-year Heritage of Contact Quarterly hosted by A.P.E. and SCDT this past September.
Knowing that thousands of people around the globe are now moving alone or in virtual groups in her honor, perhaps it might be heartwarming to enter her three-hour workshop, listen to her views, and share in her stories about the years developing contact improvisation and Contact Quarterly in this community as well as internationally over four decades. Together, we can honor—in her words—“the depth and continuity of connection, unique and precious.” The website at www.somatics2019.com ( thanks to Mandy Kimm and Scotty Hardwig) offers Nancy's generosity and vitality, encouraging us to breathe deeply and stay “inspired”. It feels so important to keep moving, keep making, keep imagining!
Andrea Olsen, former member of Dance Gallery and current board member of A.P.E.
"For the past five to six years a good portion of my creative work has been focused on constructing solo pieces. Two of my few guiding principles:
1. Hoping that Nancy Stark Smith will be in the audience. Hoping to construct a thing which will intrigue the 'eye' and the mind of this consummate artist.
2. Hoping she will laugh. My god, the light from her face when she smiled. When she laughed".
Peter Schmitz, choreographer, dancer, actor, teacher.
I first got to know Nancy when she brought her Contact Improvisation jams to A.P.E. on the third floor of Thornes. These were highly anticipated events since we knew they would be packed full of energized movers and dancers. Nancy's energy was infectious--she radiated warmth, curiosity, intelligence, humor, and generosity. She was an investigator with a keen eye, strong body and clear presence. I was intimidated by her creative force but equally drawn to her. Gordy, Kathy and I always laughed at the end of these jams because, invariably, there would be holes in the A.P.E. walls that came from her work with such high intensity contact movers.
Later I came to know Nancy in a circle of women friends and my admiration for her as an extraordinary human being grew. She asked me to be on the board of CQ and I served for a few years, deepening my respect and gratitude for her undying vision and commitment to the magazine and the people around it.
Nancy touched so many people deeply and in so many essential and meaningful ways. We are all the better for knowing her.
With honor and love,
Lisa Thompson, Associate Director, A.P.E.
-My time working at CQ as Associate Editor with Nancy Stark Smith happened to align with her diagnosis of ovarian cancer, and the subsequent two years during which she was undergoing treatment. During this time together, Nancy and I edited and produced three issues of CQ with the help of many: Lisa Nelson, Melinda Buckwalter, Shaina Cantino, and Sarah Lass, among others. I witnessed Nancy's superhuman amounts of strength, reserve, and commitment in action, as she indefatigably laid her hands on every draft of every page of each of those issues, sometimes much to my chagrin…her care and attention to editorial process and production gave me a new level of understanding of the term "detail-oriented.” Thanks to Nancy, I now more than ever, believe that god (or spirit, or the holy, or the sacred, or the transcendent) is truly in the details.
Which is to say, that Nancy taught me something about the sacredness of this work—namely, this work of articulating bodily experience into language, and of being in exchange with and in relationship to each other through editorial process. Through her leadership at CQ and her devotion to the written word, Nancy has left a legacy that validates all of our needs for the experience of embodiment to be communicated and understood.
In seeking to honor and be accountable to Nancy’s legacy, I want to try, try again, and then try harder for the following: connection, dialogue, and exchange with community; honing an articulation of dancing experiences and experiments in order to be in relationship to each other and the world; and lastly and importantly, holding profound humor, play, lightness, and curiosity alongside a steadfast belief that our work is serious and matters.
Inextricably woven into my memories of our hard work together is Nancy’s eruptive laugh, bright smile, and mischievous wit. Thank you Nancy for the improvisation, for your storytelling, and for highlighting what matters.
—Meredith Bove, CQ Associate Editor, board member, A.P.E
Please visit and support the publication she started 45 years ago
CONTACT QUARTERLY
MORE ON NANCY:
CONTACT QUARTERLY TRIBUTES
FACEBOOK: NANCY STARK SMITH HARVEST
NEW YORK TIMES OBITUARY
DANCE MAGAZINE
UNPACKING THE UNDERSCORE
Somatics Festival, September 2019
Workshop led by Nancy Stark Smith as part of the Somatics Festival in Northampton, MA.
Please visit the website to find an abundance of materials from the festival, including recordings of workshops and panel discussions between Nancy, Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, Janet Adler, and Andrea Olsen.
Photo by Robert Tobey
During the pandemic A.P.E.@Hawley and SCDT present a 2019 ARTIST RETROSPECTIVE
See the projects and artists HERE
See the projects and artists HERE
