"I really wanted to attend an institution that was somewhat of a community -- something small -- and to connect with professors and with the administration and have them know my name. And, because of MCLA's internship program, I was able to get my foot in the door at a very prominent company which jump-started my career."
Christina Barrett '03 Director of Marketing & Communications, Berkshire Chamber of Commerce
News & Press Releases
May 9, 2008
NORTH ADAMS, MA – For the first time, students at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA), along with Dr. Tony Gengarelly, chairman of the Fine and Performing Arts Department, have produced a major publication. A project of the advanced museum studies class, the book, “Exploring Nirvana: The Art of Jessica Park,” highlights Park’s career as an artist as well as her lifelong struggle to overcome the developmental disorder of autism.
Sponsored by the Shield Institute/Pure Vision Arts, in New York, NY, the book will be introduced on May 28, at the opening reception for the art exhibition, “The Art and Life of Jessica Park,” at MCLA Gallery 51, 6-8 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, and marks the first time that “Exploring Nirvana” will be available to the general public.
Told in various accounts by art and autism professionals, as well as by fine and performing arts students who had the opportunity to work with Park, the book is result of four years of dedicated work. Students contributed 26 essays and helped with fundraising and marketing. Columbia University professor Dr. Oliver Sacks, whom The New York Times called “the poet laureate of medicine,” wrote the book’s foreword.
“Our museum studies classes have been doing exhibitions all along, but the book project is a new addition we hope to continue. It involves yet another process of bringing the work of an artist to the attention of the public, which is what arts management is all about,” Gengarelly said.
“‘Exploring Nirvana’. . .is an important and comprehensive chronicle that elegantly enlightens us about the life and work of an extraordinary woman and important contemporary artist,” said Pamela Rogers, director of The Shield Institute Pure Vision Arts studio.
Professionals from the field of autism also praise the publication.
According to Dr. June Groden, director of the Groden Center, an autism research institute in Providence, R.I., the book is “a student project with professional results” that will appeal to many readers. And, Ann Telfer, president of the Ann Arbor Autism Foundation, said, the book is “a gift not only to the 1.5 million families affected by autism, but to the entire world. . . . ‘Exploring Nirvana’ should appeal not only to individuals interested in or affected by autism, but to anyone with an interest in visual art and the process of artistic creation.”
The project, which involved 34 MCLA students and spanned four years, began in spring 2004 with an exhibition of Park’s art at the College’s 94 Porter Street Gallery, which drew hundreds of visitors. The popularity of this exhibit led to the idea of a catalogue of Park’s work, which became a course called “Topics in Arts Management: Art Book,” in fall 2004, where students did research about autism and Park, and wrote essays about her paintings.
Nine students from the spring 2004 exhibition, joined by 10 students new to Park and her art, created an initial group of 18 entries that serve as the basis for “Exploring Nirvana.” Eleven of these students continued to work on the book project into the spring of 2005 and, in the second course on the subject, “Art Book II,” students generated eight more entries, developed a book layout, and raised money to support its publication. Having begun as a 54-page catalogue, “Exploring Nirvana” grew over the next three years into a 96-page volume with 86 color illustrations.
In spring 2007, yet another museum studies class – involving seven more students – organized a traveling exhibition, “The Art and Life of Jessica Park,” to provide a context for the release and marketing of the book. The first venue for the exhibit is MCLA Gallery 51.
“It is through this kind of experiential learning that so much about human nature and the working world can be understood and then combined in a project that invites all students on various levels to participate and to share their insights and enthusiasm about the remarkable art of a truly extraordinary person,” Gengarelly said.
The exhibition, “The Art and Life of Jessica Park,” will run through June 22. “Exploring Nirvana” will be on sale at the gallery for $19.95. MCLA Gallery 51 is at 51 Main St., North Adams. The Gallery is open daily, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information about the exhibition, call 413-664-8718, or go to www.mcla.edu/Gallery51 . For more information about “Exploring Nirvana,” go to www.mcla.edu/JessicaPark or www.jessicapark.com .
