Inspired — an exhibition of the work of local artists Maria Fonseca, Larry Terry, and TJ Reynolds — has been extended. The exhibition, presented by Arts Arlington on December 9, can be enjoyed at Arlington Town Hall through February 28.
On December 9, Arts Arlington presented Inspired, a Black Joy Project event at Arlington Town Hall. The celebration of movement, rhythm, heritage, and community included live music, original art works (including textile art), a hands-on creation station, and delicious refreshments.
Upstairs was an exhibition of the work of local artists Maria Fonseca, Larry Terry, and TJ Reynolds. Educator and Emmy Award-winning journalist Crystal Haynes—chair of Arlington’s Martin Luther King Jr. observance committee—conducted interviews with the artists, providing context for their work, and discussing sources of artistic inspiration.
Photographer Maria Fonseca’s portraits displays the joy expressed by Cuban Santería dancers. She gained permission to attend and photograph a Santería ceremony in Havana. Through graceful, energy-filled photographs, Maria—who has a background in anthropology—captures the ceremony’s beauty and dynamism. Over half of all Cubans engage in Santería practices, and Maria’s work provides a glimpse into this important influence on Caribbean culture.
Larry Terry’s lyrical saxophone playing is known to local jazz and R&B fans, but he’s also a visual artist who creates intricate oil pastel drawings. Larry sees making art and music as meditative practices that allow him to explore rhythm, texture, pattern, and space. He fills his images with repeating geometric forms, boldly outlined and filled with harmonious but contrasting colors. Larry’s pastels are reminiscent of exciting 1950s jazz album covers, and they radiate an inviting energy and intensity.
Artist, educator, and musician TJ Reynolds’ portraits are distinctive, intense, and mesmerizing. He uses white acrylic markers, brushwork, and stenciling on black, and says he enjoys evoking the effect of light on melanated skin. TJ’s style combines close lines, crosshatching, and unexpected shapes and squiggles, but step back and they resolve into lifelike facial features. In his precise but free-flowing work, TJ likes breaking boundaries and exploring areas of cultural, ethnic, and artistic intersectionality, whether it be visual, poetic, or musical.
The event also included a stunning one-day exhibition of 20 quilts by Sisters in Stitches Joined by the Cloth, Arlington’s African American quilting guild. Their vibrant quilted art works featured techniques, materials, and imagery inspired by African American culture and history. Quilts incorporated elements such as African printed fabrics, swirling batiks, geometric kente cloth patterns, embroidery, and gold thread. Sheila Rae Lutz’s hand-worked details included embellishments like shell buttons, appliqué, and beadwork.
Textile pieces by Naomi Henry, Tarsha-Nicole Taylor, Juanda Gikandi, Lesyslie Rackard, Sheila Rae Lutz, and Tina Guthmann paid homage to such diverse and inspiring figures as Dr. King, jazz divas, and Black Panther. Lesyslie Rackard’s patchwork portrait of a laundress at her ironing board conveyed the dignity, care, and beauty inherent in textile work. Tarsha-Nicole Taylor underlined the vitality and diversity of Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood with a quilt spelling out ROXBURY in Braille, American Sign Language fingerspelling, and even Morse code.
In addition to the exhibition of quilted art, the ground floor included a craft area where visitors were welcome to sit and create while listening to musical performances by Larry Terry and Friends. This trio featured saxophonist, percussionist, singer, and artist Larry Terry, bassist Dan Fox (director of the Arlington Jazz Festival), and guitarist Neal Itzler (who teaches at Berklee College of Music). They played a beautiful program of jazz standards, R&B and pop tunes, and holiday music.
Visitors to the exhibition were invited to enjoy delicious free refreshments generously donated by Arlington eateries Za and Cookie Time and Boston-based, Black-owned restaurant Rhythm N’ Wraps.
By Laura Grey
