The first show at The Barn Project, a new summer gallery in East Boothbay,  opened July 6 in a natural venue for Maine – a barn. That show, “Yellow Night,” featured the work of Ash Ferlito and Ilse Sørenson Murdock. The opening night show was moderated by Cultural & Artistic Development Director Dorothée Charles from The Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art. The exhibition focused on the relationship between human beings and our shared natural environment with flora and fauna, as well as our responsibility for its preservation.

This inaugural show was also our introduction to The Barn Project’s curator Susan Long and her new vision of bringing the outside in. 

“It’s not a traditional gallery,” said curator and founder Susan Long of New York City. “I come from the ‘white square box’ gallery space. You hang the art on those walls and it illuminates them. Here, here I had to embrace the rustic … So now I’m questioning why we have to hang art in a white space. This space (a barn) brings the outside inside. I call it the Barn Project, because that’s what it is. I want the artists to do what they want in it. I see it as curatorial with a shared collaboration between artists.”

Her first “white square box” space was the Virgil de Voldère Gallery in Chelsea (New York City),  where she was co-owner and co-director with her former husband,Virgil de Voldère  from 2005 to 2014.  Long has been director of The Barro Gallery and The Elkon Gallery, both in New York City. And she is an artist. After art school, Long lived in Italy for five years learning to carve in marble. She returned stateside to earn her master’s degree in art history planning to return to Italy to carve and teach; however, while she was earning that degree, she met her former husband. They created the “Slingshot Project,” using the lobbies of residential buildings as temporary, or pop up, gallery spaces, primarily on the Lower East Side. After she earned her degree, the couple married and opened the de Voldère Gallery. They also participated in eight art fairs across Europe for 10 days each year.

Long has been visiting the Boothbay region since she was in her 20s, and has family here. In fact, the barn is on family property. “A barn is quite unorthodox I know, but I read recently that artist Emily Treehorn was doing a show on Monhegan, in a barn,” Long said, adding, after a pause, “Maybe we’ll create a barn gallery network in Maine! There will be two shows each summer here. If I can find another space somewhere, though, I’d like to do another show.” 

Long will be continuing the color themes for future show titles, working through the spectrum of a rainbow and coming full circle. “I love color. Ash and Ilse and I were talking about how we know the colors of the rainbow and the brain sees the spectrum of the rainbow as we do. So, essentially, we have a rainbow inside of ourselves.”

The East Boothbay venue affords her the opportunity to bring more than the outside in: There is a small stage in the barn. Long will be looking for dancers this winter: “I’ve had dancers who interacted with sculpture before, and this stage will be perfect for this. And I’ve worked with a sculptor who worked with dancers. We’ll see.”

The upcoming show, “Blue: A Spatial Dialogue” opens Saturday, Aug. 10 and continues through Sept. 15. The show features the work of Boothbay-based artist Douglas Gimbel and Argentinia native Alejandra Seeber based in New York City. Seeber and Long have an enduring relationship: Seeber was among the 15 artists showing at the Virgil de Voldère Gallery. 

Opening night, a moderator and the artists will be in attendance. Long likes having a moderator at each opening, and the dynamic created by having them and the artists in the beginning conversation. For the new show, Long will be working on getting someone from Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, of which Seeber is a graduate, or someone from Rhode Island School of Design, Gimbel’s alma mater.

Gimbel will have 14 paintings, including a triptych “with an underwater feel,” and some of his wood sculpture/totems in the show. “I think Doug sees his paintings as a form of meditation. He can think about art in so many different ways and that’s interesting. He has so many different things going on in his mind about the work. I think Doug embraces his environment and yet somehow manages to bring a real contemporary feel to his work. He carves huge pieces of wood, which is not easy, with undulating textures that are so beautiful ... His waves are perfect. He’s using a material that’s very artisanal, and he’s blasting it with this contemporary surface, that’s very abstract and very cool.”

Seeber will have a collection of paintings and glass spheres, “speech bubbles,” she made in Italy with Murano artists, suspended above Gimbel’s totems. Long said the idea, in Seeber’s mind, is the speech bubbles listen in on the conversations being had by Gimbel’s totems and join in. Long thinks part of their dialogue will be about the environment. Each person experiencing this show will come to their own conclusions and be drawn into both internal  conversations and with others.

“Alejandra’s paintings are colorful and bold in contrast with Doug’s,” Long said. “They are two artists from opposite places – hot and cold, north and south … This is going to be an interesting conversation.”

For more information about The Barn Project at 29 Summerhaven Lane, East Boothbay, and the upcoming show, “Blue: A Spatial Dialogue,” running Aug. 10 - Sept. 15, visit https://www.thebarnproject.art