By Stephanie Peters
Artists from Roxbury, Mission Hill and Jamaica Plain made their presence known last weekend when they opened their doors to the public for the sixth annual Roxbury Open Studios.
Over 150 artists at 25 scattered locations displayed their artwork, offered demonstrations and eagerly spoke with visitors from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
For many artists, it was an opportunity to gain exposure, increase awareness for the arts and maybe even sell a few paintings.
“Open Studios is great because it creates a sense of community. It brings people together for the purpose of art and really educates,” said Arthur Birkland, a Mission Hill artist who displayed his digital photography and paintings at the Frankin Square Gallery.
For those with time to walk through the neighborhood and visit the individual locations, what they found were home studios, smaller galleries and even an inconspicuous glass and metal studio, all of which were marked with banners and balloons out front.
“I was surprised to learn there were so many artists in the neighborhood,” said Christina Lapierre, a sophomore human services major.
One such artist was Bill Commerford, a 68-year-old watercolor painter whose collection of artwork engulfs his home and studios, located on Delle Avenue in the Victorian Mission Hill neighborhood. His artwork adorns nearly every inch of wall space in the four-story home he shares with his wife, Kat. What doesn’t fit on the walls occupies shelf space, floor space and countless stacks of boxes.
“Right now I’m using the computer to try to catalog all of the paintings and drawings I’ve done in my life,” Commerford said.
“Can you tell now why I have no idea how many paintings I’ve done?” he said, as he showed off his attic studio.
For Commerford, the incr-eased artistic presence in the neighborhood comes as no surprise.
“I predicted this would happen when we moved here back in the ’60s,” he said. “It has been slow happening, but it is great for the community.”
A few streets down from Commerford’s studio sits another one of Open Studio’s attractions, Diablo Glass and Metal. Diablo, owned and operated by three local art students turned real estate agents, is a workshop teaching facility and gallery specializing in blown glass creations. “Diablo is my creation,” said Anne Sasser, a graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. “We started in 2001. We do classes, workshops and we make things for people on commission.”
Stops for the event have included restaurants, a governor’s mansion and most notably home decor designer Todd Oldham.
The event was not only an opportunity to purchase art, but a first-hand look into the lives of the artists and work they do.
Two artists casually talked and joked as they sculpted a glass goblet while Sasser explained the process to a growing crowd of onlookers.
“I’ve worked here since it opened.
