This past weekend, I was ecstatic to attend my first gallery opening since March, when shelter in place restrictions began. I was equally ecstatic that this was at Lacoste, in Concord; that it featured the work of a 20-something Newton native, female artist; and that. in keeping with the Lacoste tradition of sponsoring diverse and female artists the gallery will be donating 18 per cent of sales to the Black Lives Matter cause. And also: that I learned a lot.

The exhibit.
The exhibit, “In Response to George Ohr,” features the work of Newton, MA ceramicist Lily Fein, who. in January 2020, traveled to Louisiana and Mississippi to to study the work of George Ohr -an American ceramic artist and the self-proclaimed “Mad Potter of Biloxi.” ^[1] 

Ohr, born in 1857, died largely unknown in 1918. For decades, his pots sat in a garage behind his sons’ gas station in Biloxi.  But “his work is currently viewed as ground-breaking and a harbinger of the abstract sculpture and pottery that developed in the mid-20th century. His pieces are now relatively rare and highly coveted^,,” according to Wikipedia.

Fein writes that she “was attracted to how Ohr inverted the metaphor of the vessel–what one would expect to live in the inside of the hollow object manifests itself on the exterior of the pot. In turn, as much as a pot references the human body, Ohr put the insides of human bodies on the outside of his pots. He made the underlying connection between the vessel and the body overt: putting excremement in teacups and making vulva piggy banks. [This is Anita: Ew…sounds gross]. He was not shy, which posthumously gave other clay artists permission to play.”

Fein went South thinking that seeing Ohr’s work in the stacks at the New Orleans Museum of Art and at the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum in Biloxi would bring “revelations and new approaches” to her own work. As she moved through the stacks and and “made work” in the South, she realized that that she needed to claim her relationship to Ohr apart from him and the objects and persona he created–asserting her own narrative through repeated motifs and gestures–“in conversation with Ohr’s signature twists and folds, but continuing to change.”

Whereas Ohr used a pottery wheel in creating his vessels, Fein’s work begins with coiling the clay, and pinching it. She then alters the pieces and changes their form. Often pushing out from the inside of the vessel, creating rib-like features, she squeezes parts of the exterior to create folds, and sometimes uses a needle to methodically poke holes in the surface and create a new texture. “I am continually reminded of how Ohr claimed his clay gestures in his lifetime while I continue to develop my own, in mine, ” she writes.

Unaware of any of this upon entering the gallery, my friend Chrissie and I did not know quite what to make of Fein’s work–but found it beautiful, intriguing, and sometimes humorous. For example–I probably shouldn’t admit this– one vessel looked to me like someone’s legs sticking upside down out of a wine jug. Chrissy discovered an image of a corresponding Ohr vase on the site of the Museum of Metropolitan Art, below.

Lucy Lacoste, the gallery founder and owner, explains that “Ohr’s pots have a flamboyant sensuality often bordering on the erotic. They can have a visceral, direct sexuality, as can be seen in his famous money bank—the front is a vulva and the back, a breast.”

I couldn’t readily find an image of the money bank online–so will leave that to your imagination. But here’s one of Ohr’s pieces that one might perhaps, consider sensual/sexual:

Lacoste explains that “Lily Fein’s sensuality is intuitive, organic, implied—naturally reflecting the outer female sex organs.  This is evident in her Vulva series.  The edge is important. The clay reflects the way she touched and pinched the clay—as if it were skin. ” Link to video

In Fein’s show, I found one work especially interesting. It was roughly shaped, with shiny royal blue glaze on the inside–and a flat-finished outer surface that Fein said she had stuck many times with a needle–and was meant to look “bruised.”

Commitment to Diversity
Regarding the gallery’s commitment to diversity, Lacoste writes on her website:”Like many other businesses in the arts, we are searching for ways to fight the injustices that remain prevalent in this country.  

“Now more than ever, it’s important to go beyond saying we stand with oppressed communities. We must take measurable actions.  We do agree that if we are not part of the solution, we are part of the problem. 

“Out of regard for the important protests occurring across the country, we postponed the Fein opening June 21. To amplify voices less heard, Lily Fein and the Gallery are committing 18% of sales from this exhibition to the Boston chapter of the Black Lives Matters organization. 

“Our statement is brief out of respect for those with lived experiences who are leading the way to human rights for all.”

Earlier, Lacoste presented $2,500 to Emerson Hospital for its  COVID-19 Relief fund. The money was raised by the sale of work by Montana ceramic artists Beth Lo and Adrian Arleo and by Lucy Lacoste Gallery.

Numerous recent Lacoste exhibits have been devoted to the work of women from a multitude of backgrounds.

The current Lacoste show will be on view through June 27, 2020 at 25 Main St., Concord, MA. Link to Website

–Anita M. Harris
Anita M. Harris is a writer, photographer and communications consultant based in Cambridge, MA.

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, also in Cambridge.

The other day I was half way down a narrow path leading down to fresh pond when a gray-haired guy in no face mask started up the path in the opposite direction. I motioned to him to wait until I got to the bottom–but he kept going, moving closer and closer to me. “Sir!” I shouted. “Please social distance.” He ignored me (well, he was wearing earphones but he looked right at me) and kept on walking. I pulled as close I could to the opposite fence and turned away from him as he went by, feeling frightened, and, then, shaken. After I’d quarantined for three months, worn a mask and stayed six feet away from folks in supermarkets, on streets and near my condo, had some arrogant middle-aged guy given me a death sentence?

On Saturday, I decided to avoid Fresh Pond and run on the river, in Allston, many people were wearing face masks, but a group of people stood, chatting, on either side of the path. One of them–again, middle aged–wore no mask. A runner coming toward them from the other direction–stopped to ask them which side he should run on to get six feet away…The maskless guy said, “You’re fine.” I said. “You’re not wearing a mask.” He said, “I don’t need a mask, I’m outside.

Two days later, I was in the parking lot at Target, in Watertown, on my way to pick up some coffee, curbside. A young woman stood near me, mask-less. “Where’s your mask?” I asked. She replied, “I’m outdoors, I don’t need a mask.”

I then headed from there to Home Depot, across the street, hoping to pick up some flowers and cherry tomatoes to plant on my balcony. It was my third try.

The first time, heading in–had to go inside; asked the person monitoring the door if there were any rules; he said no. Walking through the store, I heard the occasional loudspeaker announcement to stay six feet away from the next person….but no one was doing that. I made it to the outdoor shop, getting increasingly tense; there were no shopping carts; to get one, I would have had to go back out, then back in again through the store. I decided to check the prices, instead, and come back another time, but shoppers were standing shoulder to shoulder, so I left.

The second time, the same thing thing happened. I picked up small fuschia and seedling lettuce plants. But I needed potting soil; the bags were too heavy for me to carry and, again, there were no shopping carts available. I was afraid to walk through the main store again, as folks had been going every which way, with carriages; so put down my goods, walked out, and asked the guard if I could speak with a manager. I wanted to tell him I thought this was a dangerous situation and ask if would be possible for them to mark floors with direction signals and six-foot distancing, like they do in food stores. The guard called and asked a manager to speak with me, I waited for a few minutes, but no manager ever came.

On Sunday, I tried one last time, but, again, though folks were wearing masks, there was no social distancing. I gave up–and drove to two different farm stands. They were less crowded…but were sold out of medium sized pots of cherry tomatoes, and had no lettuce. Oh, well. I did pick up some flower and basil plants at my local supermarket.

Today, on Fresh Pond, between 7:30 and 8 am I went by at least 7 people without masks–including three, old enough to know better, who were not even carrying masks. Two of them walked side by side in the center of the path, making it difficult for anyone stay far enough away from them; the third was smoking a cigarillo.

As a communications consultant, I’m willing to concede that the rules and restrictions are not entirely clear. Early on, the advice was that masks were ineffective; when it changed to say while they don’t protect those wearing them from catching the virus, they will protect others if mask-wearers are carriers. It’s possible that some people are not aware that that the advice has changed, are unclear about the meaning of changing statewide rules, or don’t realize that many localities, including Cambridge and Watertown have stricter regulations.

Statewide:
Governor Baker’s statewide order-–  effective Wednesday, May 6 requires face masks or cloth face coverings in public places where it is not possible to be six feet away from other people. This applies to both indoor and outdoor spaces. It does not mean HAVING a mask–holding onto it at waist level or wearing it around your neck; it means wearing the mask, even outdoors, if you are less than six feet away from someone.

City of Cambridge:
As of April 29, 2020, Cambridge requires that face coverings be worn in all public places, businesses and common areas of residential buildings. The order took effective at Wednesday, April 29, and applies to everyone over the age of five years old, with exceptions in alignment with guidelines provided by the Centers for Disease Control or Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Violations may be punishable by a $300 fine. It applies to: sidewalks, streets, parks, plazas, bus stoops, non-residential parking lots and garages, and any other outdoor area…which is open and accessible to the general public.

Watertown:
As of May 4, 2020 any individual who is age five (5) years or older, and not otherwise exempt per CDC guidelines, shall be required to cover their nose and mouth with a clean mask or face covering
(e.g. disposable mask, cloth mask, face shield, bandana, scarf) when in or at any location open to the general public including all indoor locations open to the public, outdoor premises of private locations open to the
public, and all public outdoor locations (e.g., parks, playgrounds, athletic facilities, sidewalks, streets, public squares, paths, and all Town property).

Regulations in many other communities across the state.
https://www.nbcboston.com/news/coronavirus/these-cities-and-towns-in-massachusetts-are-requiring-masks-and-face-coverings/2115307/

Please help everyone–and yourself– stay safe.

–Anita M. Harris
Anita Harris is a writer and consultant based in Cambridge, MA.
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, also in Cambridge.

For some unfathomable reason, in the Peoples’ Republic, folks either do not know or do not care that the city’s covid rules now require both face masks AND social distancing, even in parks like Fresh Pond–with a possible $300 fine.

Running on Fresh Pond this morning before 7 a.m., I found that many people were respecting the order, but several runners ignored the requirement.

Social Distancing
A couple with white hair insisted on staying two abreast in the center of the path, refusing to budge when I asked them for some distance. They went so far as to tell me both that I should not have stopped on the path and that I should walk slower, until they got ahead of me. I am usually mild-mannered, but I confess, I lost it–resorting to the F-bomb–before I turned and sped up my pace in hopes of out-distancing them.

When I asked another woman –nicely–for some distance, she laughed at me .

Masks
When I reminded a twenty-something couple that masks are required, they ignored me; when I asked if they knew they could be subject to the $300 fine, the guy told me I should be heading clockwise. True, that’s a guideline, but it’s not a requirement, because not everyone goes all the way around the pond. I said, “I can’t make it all the way around.” He said, “That’s not our problem.”

Soon after that, I ran into a dog friend I’ve nicknamed “Smiley.” His human asked me how I was doing; I mentioned some of the above. She said she goes out even before 6:30 because “After 7, it’s too anxiety provoking. ” She added, “I don’t understand why people won’t help; we’re all in this together.”

I don’t “get it,” either. Yesterday, I asked a man, his wife with baby carriage and two children–none wearing masks– for some distance; they refused to move. He said, “I have a mask.” True….he did have a bandana, but it was around his neck. One day last week, when I reminded a runner (less than 6″ away) that masks are required, he called me a M’fucker. Also last week, a guy walking with his kids in Central Square pulled a knife on a runner who was not wearing a mask.

I’m very concerned about divisiveness and anger that’s plaguing our neighborhood, our city, and our country….but having lost a close friend to the virus, and nearly lost another, I find it difficult to keep calm..and to keep my mouth shut. I go outside a couple of times a day to relieve stress during this difficult pandemic; it’s not working!

Anyway, in case you have’t seem the new regulation, here it is:

Cambridge Face Covering Order

The City of Cambridge issued an emergency order requiring that face coverings be worn in all public places, businesses and common areas of residential buildings. The order takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, April 29, and applies to everyone over the age of five years old, with exceptions in alignment with guidelines provided by the Centers for Disease Control or Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Violations may be punishable by a $300 fine.

“While we are grateful to those in Cambridge who have been heeding our previous mask advisory and taking this issue seriously, we are concerned about the number of residents who continue to shop, walk, run and bike throughout the city without proper face coverings,” said Mayor Siddiqui and City Manager DePasquale in a joint statement. “We must all do our part in flattening the curve and make sure we are preventing the further spread of COVID-19. This mandate emphasizes the importance of wearing a face covering, not as an option, but as a requirement in our effort to combat this pandemic together.”

The order applies to everyone over five years old “without limitation, when on, in or about” public places, defined as:

• Sidewalks
• Streets
• Parks
• Plazas
• Bus stops
• Non-residential parking lots and garages
• Any other outdoor area or non-residential parking facility which is open and accessible to the general public.

The mask requirement also applies to anyone working in or visiting an essential business, as well as shoppers and consumers. Masks must remain on throughout shifts or visits to those businesses. The businesses covered under the order, include:

• Grocery stores or supermarkets
• Pharmacies
• Laundromats
• Dry cleaners
• Hardware stores
• Restaurants, cafes or similar establishments where prepared foods, meals or beverages may be purchased
• Local government buildings
• Commercial office buildings
• All essential businesses defined in Governor Baker’s March 23, 2020 Executive Order

In residential buildings of two or more units when people cannot maintain a 6 foot distance, masks will be required prior to entering any common area, including:

• Lobbies
• Hallways
• Elevators
• Stairwells
• Laundry rooms
• Garages or parking lots
• Walkways
• Yards and other outdoor common areas
• Mailrooms and other indoor common areas

–Anita M. Harris
Anita Harris is the founder of the Harris Communications Group, and the author of Ithaca Diaries and Broken Patterns: Professional Women and the Quest for a New Feminine Identity.

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, a PR and digital marketing firm based in Cambridge, MA.

Once again, the Lacoste Keane gallery in Concord MA presents a stunning new show–in which ceramicist Ani Kasten uses the concept of visual poems to reflect on issues such as environmental collapse, social collapse, and inner and outer strife. 

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In the show, Kasten creates sculptural compositions from fragments and debris. While some vessels are quite large, other, smaller pieces Kasten calls “poems,” are three-dimensional objects which she likens to written verse. A poem, says the one-time literature major, ” shears away everything but the most essential, evoking an emotional response through the sparest communication, constructing concepts and feelings into a hewn verbal form, without engaging narrative or logic.”

Kasten uses earth materials like clay and rocks as a metaphor to explore ideas of decay, disintegration and renewal. “Working in clay is about the search for balance between the natural tendencies of the materials and the craft that is brought about by contact with the human hand,” according to the gallery writeup. “Faced with monumental forces of nature and entropy, a sadness and feeling of futility is provoked with the notion that human hubris seeks to create lasting structure and survival in the face of decimation by forces outside of our control—earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, tornadoes, violence and war. “

In this work, Kasten “reveals emerging structures and constructs under stress, made by the human hand but fighting against collapsing infrastructure. They show the cracking, warping and erosion that are natural expressions of the material, and explore the beauty and sadness in building from wreckage, such as a little robot made from scavenged shards of something former, with two little ears made from fossilized hornets’ nests.

Kasten says that “In the act of scavenging, building and creating the visual poems, ” she is “searching for beauty and harmony in the act of piecing back together what may seem like meaningless detritus of a collapsing world, reclaiming a tenuous and fragile feeling of meaning and purpose.”

In my view, she is successful in doing so. The pieces look delicate–as if they could fall apart at any second. But with their pastel colors and seemingly -haphazard-yet-powerful shapes reaching out in many directions, they exude tremendous energy–inviting the viewer to enter into Kasten’s exploration and expression of the tenuous-yet-enduring relationships of natural and human forces.

At Lacoste Keane Gallery, 25 Main St Concord MA 01742, through February 8, 2020.

—Anita M. Harris

Anita Harris is a writer and communications consultant based in Cambridge, MA. New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning public relations and digital marketing agency, also in Cambridge.

It’s not every freshman writing instructor who stays in touch with a student for more than 50 years, but Cornell University Professor Emeritus James McConkey was one who did…and I was the lucky student.

McConkey was my freshman writing instructor in 1967–I used to go out to his farm to exercise his horses–and he helped me through the student takeover of Willard Straight Hall, from which 130 black protestors emerged–several of whom brandished rifles.

(Jim told me recently that he sat with Dan Berrigan during the Barton Hall Takeover; also counselled University President Perkins–and tried to be a voice of reason throughout all of that). We stayed in touch for some 50 years; he and I held a joint book-signing in the Cornell Store during my 45th college reunion.

I am glad I got to seem him just before he passed away. 

In early October, Jim, his son Larry and daughter-in-law Diane McConkey were on their way back from visiting another of Jim’s former students on Northern Maine ( some 9 hours from Ithaca) and invited me to dinner at the Publick House, near Cambridge, , where I live, and where they were spending the night.

At 98, he told a few funny stories about his mother, who lived to 100 at least…and I  joked that his social life was better than mine. He was still driving–and told us that he would be driving the ten miles from his farm to lunch with friends several times the next week. He seemed frail–but sounded fine when I called to thank him a few days after our dinner.

Anyway, I’ve posted an obit Larry wrote at http://ithacadiaries.com. The Cornell obit is at https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2019/10/writer-emeritus-professor-james-mcconkey-dies-98 . And here’s a link to tributes from Diane Ackerman, Brad Edmonson and Robert Wilson that appeared in the American Scholar .  https://theamericanscholar.org/remembering-james-mcconkey/#.XdMM61dKg2w   .  —

–Anita M. Harris
Anita Harris is a writer and communications consultant based in Cambridge, MA. Her books include Ithaca Diaries, a memoir and social history of her undergraduate years at Cornell; and Broken Patterns, Professional Women and the Quest for a New Feminine Identity. She is currently working on a creative nonfiction book tentatively titled “Harrisburg,” which is about her experiences founding an alternative newspaper in Pennsylvania, during the trial of the Harrisburg 8.