INTEGRARTE EXHIBITION AT THE HUDSON OPERA HOUSE
Carole Osterink
ccSCOOP Editor
On Saturday, August 30, the culminating exhibition of the work produced in Bruno Pasquier-Devignes’s Integrarte workshops took place at the Hudson Opera House. Extraordinary sculptures crafted from found materials were displayed in virtually every available space in the building. They were in the West Room and the workshop. They lined the Center Hall Gallery, where they shared the space with Jack Mallard’s narrative portraits. They were perched on the stairs leading up to the still-to-be restored auditorium. They spilled out onto the sidewalk. They hung on the scaffolding that surrounds the historic building, which is currently undergoing roof replacement and cornice repair.
Pasquier-Devignes calls the art experience Integrarte because it brings people from different backgrounds together to make art. During the month of August, there were three workshops at the Hudson Opera House, which met once a week, and between twenty and thirty people—adults and young people over 12—attended each one. Pasquier-Devignes uses the term “social integration” often when he talks about the experience. The workshops involved a wide range of participants, from recognized local artists to young people with and without artistic aspirations to adults with no particular artistic experience but a willingness to toss aside inhibitions and be inspired to create.
Pasquier-Devignes tells of two girls—twins—who attended a couple workshops but didn’t engage with what was going on and didn’t produce any art. In the third week, however, inspiration happened, and together they created a striking cardboard sculpture of a bride and groom dancing at their own wedding, complete with a wedding cake and a “Just Married” sign.
Christina Malisoff, an artist who works as program assistant at the opera house, helped out with the workshops and also created her own work, which was part of the show—a colorful elephant that evoked the gaudy exuberance of the circus. Malisoff shared the story of a woman—a nurse who works at a nursing home in Massachusetts—who got involved when the workshops were almost over. She happened to see some of the artwork under construction in the opera house and decided she wanted to get involved, too. In very short order, she produced an outlandish figure with a carrot nose and a “Welcome” sign, which was displayed beside the entrance to the grand staircase leading upstairs to the auditorium.
The term social integration could also be used to talk about the audience that turned out for the exhibition. There were the artists—both adults and kids—who brought their families and friends to see their work. There was the gallery crowd who decided to take in the show as a prelude to the usual Saturday round of openings on Warren Street. There were those just passing by the opera house—both tourists in Hudson for the day and local people—who, curiosity piqued by the art out on the sidewalk, were lured inside to see more.
The refreshments served also contributed to the idea of social integration. There was wine for the grownups, soda and apple juice for the kids, and, in keeping with the show’s delightful sense of humor, a big bowl of animal crackers for everyone.
