Arpeggione presents "Brushstrokes"
May 9 in Roslindale
May 10 in Peabody
ROSLINDALE:
Friday, May 9 at 7:30 pm
The Substation, Roslindale
Collaborators:
Nancy Rourke is a renowned Deaf artist, muralist, and activist who has gained international recognition. She was born deaf, and her parents were not aware of her condition until she was six years old. Nancy is an enrolled member of the Mesa Grande Band of Mission Indians in the Kumeyaay Nation, located in San Diego County.
She graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in graphic design and painting from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Over her career, Nancy has showcased her work in solo and group exhibitions across various countries, including England, France, Russia, Canada, South Africa, and the United States. Notably, three of her large-scale paintings are part of the collection at the Silesian Museum in Katowice, Poland. She was involved in the Guggenheim Museum painting a picture for the Deaf Poets in 2024.
Nancy discovered her artistic purpose after engaging with the De’VIA movement around 2010. De’VIA, which stands for Deaf View/Image Art, encompasses artwork that reflects the experiences of Deaf individuals from a cultural, linguistic, and intersectional perspective; the term was coined in 1989. To date, she has created over 47 murals in public spaces and Deaf schools across the country. She was honored with a Ford Foundation Fellowship in 2024. Currently, Nancy resides in Colorado.
Stephen Bates: “In my art I am creating the impression of movement and much of my painting is inspired by music. My paintings are collages, using watercolor and acrylic paints… The collage technique allows me to set up a rhythm as I work, not unlike that of a jazz musician, improvising on stage… I am a professional musician, I played clarinet in the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, DC for thirty six years… When I start a project, I begin with a gesture or single shape to which I add another, and another, allowing the artwork to grow, allowing for improvisation to dictate the creation of the project. This results in a painting that is not rectangular…
I am influenced by the artwork of Kandinsky, Bonnard, and the music of Richard Strauss. The influence of Kandinsky has to do with his distribution of color. He balances paintings with groups of colors called color chords, again a musical image. Bonnard's color also suggests for me a musical effect. In the case of Richard Strauss, his orchestration is dense but brilliant with a sense of color. Thus I hear sound from Kandinsky and Bonnard and see color from the music of Strauss. This experience can be described as synaesthetic… Using this ability I give my paintings the effect of sound, and the sensation of movement.”
The Children’s Center for Communication/Beverly School for the Deaf provides highly specialized academic programs to support the individual learning and communication needs of students from birth through age 22 and includes preschool, elementary, middle and high school students.
Arpeggione is working closely with staff at CCC/BSD to design this program. Arpeggione will present an outreach concert for the students at CCC/BSD and participate in a residency with Nancy Rourke on art and music.
PEABODY:
Saturday, May 10 at 4:00 pm
Peabody’s Black Box Theater
ArcWorks Community Art Center
In “Brushstrokes”, the members of Arpeggione will explore the relationship between visual art and sound. Can music be expressed in color and line? Can painting be translated into sound? How can we make concerts accessible for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, through exploring this relationship between the arts? How can hearing audiences and musicians experience music through embracing the visual, spatial, and sensory richness that Deaf culture naturally values? The program will feature live art alongside musical performances, to create a joyful, accessible, immersive performance.