Change Arrives in Boston SoWa
Fountain Street to Close; Beacon morphing into ShowUP
by Marjorie Kaye
“Limitless Translations” installation view, at Fountain Street January 2024.
Excerpt below. Read the full article in Artscope Magazine
There are great seismic shifts in the realms of the arts presently, and many of them are taking place in the Boston area. It is no secret that the creative economy is the foundation and cornerstone for the building up of once difficult and avoidable parts of the city into thriving and desirable destinations. The SoWa art + Design district is one of those areas. The last twenty years have seen infinitesimal changes, and the momentum keeps growing and morphing, both reflecting trends in creative output as well as maintaining a bottom line of recognizable gallery structures.
When Marie Craig and Cheryl Clinton brought Fountain Street to Boston in 2016, it had already had six years under their care in Framingham, in a large space in a converted mill building that rapidly fell out of code to the point that the gallery and the artists whose studios were based there were forced to move.
It was then that Craig and Clinton decided to bring the gallery to the SoWa District in Boston, where it has occupied a large exhibition space and has attracted a diverse audience of artists and collectors alike. With its vast success, both aesthetically and as a very important component of the Boston gallery world, the recent announcement by Craig of the closing of this vibrant exhibition space was an unexpected rip in the space/time of the Boston art community.
In parallel to the bright and magnetic qualities of the gallery, it is closing on a similar optimistic and positive note. It is like a perfect soufflé, every step of it carefully attuned to the beginning, middle and end. Craig did exactly what she set out to do. In her words, it wwas a ‘great run’, and she feels it is now time for new gallerists to step up and find their footing. She considers herself extremely fortunate, loving the work, the artists, and the community.
But primarily, Fountain Street is about the artists. Although much of the decision-making is in Craig’s lap, she freely gives the credit for the gallery’s success to the artist themselves. She compels the members to search for what it is that inspires them and then provides a place for experimentation within a solid structure. She has watched Sarah Alexander go from watercolors to steel stucutres. Allison Maria Rodriguez started at Fountain Street to become a nationally known video arist.
The potential for growth due to unlimited creative freedom has been and remains a hallmark of artists’ experiences as members of Fountain Street. Exhibiting artists are paired according to common sensibilities, not necessary according to what is obvious. If the concept lines up , the rest will follow. And sometimes, when it is when the work is strikingly different that the most cohesion is reached within an exhibition. The Sidewalk Video Gallery has been an opportunity to present groundbreaking work from all over the world. Video work can be difficult to land exhibition space, and Fountain STreet ha s championed the potential of this expansive discipline.
When considering the future on both the personal and communal levels, Craig has a hopeful vision. She is looking forward to more time in her own studio, focusing on the trajectory that will follow when she has the personal freedom to expend. She was experimenting with cyanotype before the trend emerged and has brought the medium to new levels.
As far as the future of the art community in general, Craig has high hopes for the Boston area. She sees energy and purpose, exciting and compelling directions happening. She believes that artists will always find ways, no matter what happens around them, such as high rents and sutdio shortaeges. She fels that there will be new spaces, new types of collectives, and is waiting to watch it unfold. Fountain Street has been a great propeller forward for the creative landscape in Boston.
Read more in Artscope Magazine.