Listen to a musical performance by Ian Hassett.
The Ian M Hassett Foundation has truly expanded its reach this year, getting its original goal of a mobile arts exchange for local students running full bore, awarding thousands of dollars in grants, and now collaborating with CORE Winery to offer the foundation’s first visual arts exhibition. The exhibit, which is currently showing with a reception scheduled for Oct. 16, is titled Unseen No More, and showcases the work of artists the foundation has awarded grants to over the last three years since Ian Hassett passed way.
The exhibit will be the first time each artist has shown their work publicly, explained Ian’s mother, Stefanie Hassett. This dovetails with the foundation’s mission statement of supporting and empowering young emerging artists.
“We’ve been able to develop some relationships with some of the artists, and that’s been a blessing for us,” she said, “because in a way we can kind of visualize how Ian may have grown and developed as a person and as an artist.”
CORE Winery is also labeling some of its wines with Ian’s artwork, with proceeds going to the foundation. The exhibit at CORE Winery shows until mid November, Stefanie explained, but the reception event on Oct. 16 will be a warm-up to the foundation’s annual fundraiser event, Form Over Function, scheduled for Oct. 24 at Presqu’ile Winery.
Form Over Function will feature lots of activities, including the display of the art exchange trailer, art making, dinner, demonstrations, raffles, auctions, and live music. Brynn Albanese and Duane Inglish of Café Musique will perform a range of their repertoire with their dueling violin and accordion, respectively, Stefanie said.
Ian’s artistic career actually began in music, his mother explained. He studied piano for several years before he jumped into visual art.
“He was very eclectic. He started with music, and we always said music was his solace, that it was his release, and then he found art, and [it] became his passion,” she said. “In honoring him, we want to honor all aspects of who he was.”
That’s why Inglish and Albanese were invited, Hassett explained, because after hearing Café Musique perform in the past, she knew they shared the same affinity her son had for classical music. They’ll show up prepared with more than a few playful arrangements of themes from opera and other classical repertoire, she said.
This year, the foundation’s newest addition is the art exhibit at CORE Winery, but the fundraising and support garnered at Form Over Function helps the foundation look forward to more in the future as well, Stefanie explained. A music scholarship is in the works, she said, as well as grants for local arts teachers.
Stefanie also counted the support received from the Corey and Murphy families of CORE and Presqu’ile Wineries respectively as massively helpful to the foundation’s cause, along with the efforts of numerous volunteers and donors helping with the events. With their help, she said, there’s no telling how many local artists can be reached, continuing her son’s passion for creativity and art.
“The foundation has kind of taken on a life of its own in three years,” she said. “We never expected it to be this far along in what we’re able to do, but we’re just so happy to do it.”
Arts Editor Joe Payne can be reached at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
RECORDING COURTESY OF STEFANIE HASSETT
This article appears in Oct 15-22, 2015.