Years ago, albums were revered for their cover art as much as for the music on the records inside. Now, vinyl is back in fashion again—at least at the Town Center Gallery, where member artists have taken their work and placed it on records for the latest show, Art on Record.
Some of the pieces are paintings, some are photographs, and others are more of a collage. All of them offer their own spin on the idea.
“I think it’s gone over pretty well,” said Hattie Stoddard, an artist on the gallery’s board. “Records are coming in already, and we are expecting more.”
Of course, setup hasn’t been without its mishaps. Having just moved into the location in July, the Town Center Gallery artists have discovered the winter sun loves to stretch past the many windows that line the front of the space and warm up the room. That much sunlight isn’t particularly good when your exhibition consists of vinyl records.
“There was one I had done of an orchid,” Stoddard said. “It was in the direct sunlight, and the sun actually warped my record. It just curled right up.”
After she tried to heat it up in the sun again, her husband suggested she place it in the oven, a strategy that worked to straighten it back out.
Stoddard brought the record idea to the gallery after seeing a similar exhibition at a New York gallery.
“It struck me that this is really interesting to see all these circles lined up in rows,” she explained.
So she went about making it happen. After encouraging the artists to start thinking of ideas months ago, she was relieved to see the project finally coming to fruition.
Artist Randee Ward volunteered in the gallery recently to help with the ingathering for the show. A multimedia artist, Ward submitted two records, both consisting of photographs of nature, a major theme in her work. She said she was glad to see such a turnout.
“We’ve had a really good response,” she said. “The records turned out nice.”
Thanks to a $900 grant from Altrusa, Stoddard was able to buy panels for the show, as well as a couple more tables and chairs, which allowed the gallery to not only put on the show, but to make it mobile.
“It’s going to be a traveling show, so it will be cool,” Ward said. “Hopefully, it will bring attention to the gallery and let people know we are here.”
That’s precisely the idea, according to Stoddard. The gallery will be looking for places to be host to the Art on Record show. Stoddard hopes the exposure will generate some attention for the gallery, which was homeless for a year between moving from Town Center East to Town Center West.
“A lot of people still don’t know we’re here,” Stoddard said.
In the meantime, the records will remain at the gallery through the end of December.
Album cover art adorns the walls of Arts Editor Shelly Cone’s home. E-mail your favorite cover art to scone@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Nov 19-26, 2009.
