Art Markets Final Project 

Mairead Smith 

The Plymouth Center for the Arts, located on North Street in Plymouth, MA, is an art gallery with a rich history. According to their website, this art center had its beginnings some 50 years ago, as the Plymouth Outdoor Art Show, on the waterfront in Brewster Gardens, and it “quickly became a tremendous success attracting artists and visitors from all over the region, with 20 years on the waterfront and then moving to several different locations until 2008 when the organization opened Plymouth Center for the Arts on North Street in the historic Russell Library”. The Plymouth Center for the Arts celebrates expression and creativity, and their mission is to bring people of all ages together to inspire them to discover and learn. The preservation of their historic property is also something that they value, to further enrich the community. 

Walking into the building, which is in fact the restored Russell Library Gallery, the interior of the space felt very warm and welcoming, and soft friendly chatter could be heard from distant corners. Warm sunlight streamed through the windows, reflecting off the glass frames of many art pieces. Tables in different areas of the gallery provided people with brochures and

informational packets, stating that the Art Center provided art classes for people of all ages, with a variety of courses available to take, such as watercolor painting, and ceramic lessons. I visited this gallery many years ago and the imprint still lies vaguely in my memory. Returning back gave me a wave of nostalgia to my childhood as I recalled my previous visit with my family. Walking through, I passed by a couple small smiling families, giving me the impression that the demographic of this space was very family based. 

My experience in the Plymouth Center for the Arts offered a bit of a contrast to the descriptions of art spaces that were provided in what I read of 7Days in the Art World, by Sarah Thornton, and other resources that I have consumed describing professional art spaces. Though the traditional white gallery space and basic setup matched those described in these resources, this particular art gallery included works from people of all ages, such as kids as young as elementary school age. I think this made the space feel less cold and technical, and instead felt light hearted and had a welcoming feel. This contrast may also be magnified by my position as a viewer, which I imagine is very different from that of someone involved in curating, creating, or facilitating the artworks and the gallery. 

The variety of mediums that were displayed in the gallery was also very wide, ranging from oils, to acrylics, to watercolor, to photography. Many works featured landscapes and seascapes, featuring boats, beaches, and towering trees. This does not come as a surprise, considering the nature in the town of Plymouth, and the location of this gallery being a short walk to the waterfront. Fishing and boating are also very valued within this town, and I noticed many paintings depicting sailboats or people fishing. 

One painting that stood out to me was a painting titled A Whaler of a Day, by Mary Calhoun-Donelan, an oil painting in which a family was shown on a blue and white motor boat, looking towards a lighthouse in the distance, painted red against a peaceful blue sky. This again hit me with nostalgia, as it brought back memories of boat rides with my family that paralleled this painting. 

Throughout my visit to this art space, observing the art work, reading about the background of the building, and taking in the environment around me, I was amazed to see the amount of beautiful art that is present in my community, that I wasn’t fully aware of before. As someone who does not often visit galleries, but has a strong interest in art and creating art, this experience was very inspiring for me, and encouraged me to continue to create artwork myself, 

and to become involved with the art market. In the future, I want to take advantage of living in a community that cares so much about art, because I feel that in the past I haven’t always been aware of how lucky I am to have grown up within a community with these values.