Martha Schlueter’s "Grids" and Jim Horn’s "Chair Series" will be exhibited in the Newton Free Library Gallery June 4 – 27. An opening reception for Horn will be held on Wednesday, June 5, 6 – 8:00PM and for Schlueter on Thursday, June 6, 6 – 8:00PM.

June’s Gallery exhibit features the work of two artists who explore an idea through a series of works on the same subject: grids for Schlueter and chairs for Horn. Mesmerizing in their sameness, the works coalesce to create their own two worlds, causing us to contemplate and reflect on how we use these images or structures and how they affect us.

Schlueter’s world is defined by the grids she sees or imagines: "I see grids in gardens with shared borders, in town squares, in the way produce is displayed in the markets, laid out in abutting wooden boxes. I fantasize the gridded street plans of non-existent villages." Working in pastels on rag paper, she draws uneven, densely packed grids, like mosaics or tiles, sometimes flowing like a quilt. Often the central image is made of a pattern of concentric grids with an inner sanctum, a warm core of light. "Sally’s Place" suggests a wide door, forbidding entry, "Playing with Fire" features a book or tablet untouched by the circling flames, and in a golden "Venice at 6AM," the wide open squares might represent plowed fields, with the smaller checkerboard pattern suggesting the city square at sunrise. Although the artist admits that grids "set limits – define boundaries," she finds the practice of grid-making liberating as a symbolic abstraction of her view of the world.

Horn explores another dimension: an object in a room, i.e., a bare wooden chair in an empty room in an old house, portrayed from many different angles, in varied lighting, in different rooms at different times of day, often with a window, door or staircase nearby, but always a similar tone: plaintive, as if the chair were waiting for someone to return. Horn states he is "intrigued by the idea that what we see can sometimes stimulate our memories of past events." His series is an attempt to discover how "the images function as stimuli…, how the light and the arrangements of objects and architecture make an image more or less evocative."

His process is fascinating. Using special three dimensional software on a Macintosh computer, he creates the virtual chair pieces, such as rungs, legs and cross-braces, then assembles them. The room is created the same way, one floorboard at a time, walls are erected, doors, moldings are created. Surface textures are applied to the chair and the room, taken from a close-up 35 mm slide of a tree trunk or a deteriorated paper surface. The chair is lit with virtual lights. The image now looks like a theater set and is ready to be photographed. The photograph can take from 3 – 10 hours to develop depending on how many lights are used, how fine the detail required in the final image. When the photo is complete, the image is adjusted for tonality, color balance and other qualities in Photoshop software then printed with an inkjet printer onto watercolor paper. A painstaking, complex process, but one he loves.

Horn has exhibited at the Boston Printmakers 2001 North American Print Exhibition, Boston Architectural Center Gallery and annually at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts December Exhibition. He has donated work to the Shelter Inc. Auction in Cambridge and participated as a leader at a Massachusetts College of Art Boston Print Symposium.

Schlueter has exhibited at many solo and group shows: at a national juried exhibition of the Women’s Caucus for Art, at Brown University, Wheaton College, Craigin-Fife Gallery in Brookline, the New Art Center and the JCC Starr Gallery in Newton and widely at galleries in the Berkshires. Her work is held in many private collections.

The Red Dress © Bruce Becker

Bruce Becker’s exhibit "Everywhere, Anywhere" will be exhibited in the Main Hall of the Newton Free Library June 4 - 27, with an opening reception on Tuesday, June 4, 7:00PM.

Becker celebrates the ordinary in each of his paintings. Whether it’s a filled martini glass complete with olive, jars of strawberries and peaches or a bright red dress on a wooden hanger, his works are filled with color and light. He keeps his compositions simple with an object or piece of the landscape surrounded by space, creating a sense of abstraction and freedom. Sometimes the subject is placed to the side, heightening that feeling: a violin on a table or a rocky precipice with a red bench, both placed in the left foreground. Sometimes the painting suggests a story: a book laid open on a table in a warm pool of light (who was reading there?), a close-up of a billiard table or an apple/pear duo painted from different angles, placed so provocatively close together that they seem human. Becker paints these "partially depicted stories," expecting the "viewer to finish the tale with his or her own life experiences," he says. Although he is inspired by everything around him, he is more concerned with artistic technique than content as he feels "It’s not what you paint, it’s how you paint it."

Becker has exhibited in Colorado, Virginia, Delaware and locally at Brickbottom Open Studios, New Art on Newbury Street and by invitation for Collage New Music as a fundraiser for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. This winter he was commissioned by a World Trade Center trauma team to create a painting for a group of September 11 survivors to mount in their new New York office. He has sold portraits, murals and design work to, and been commissioned by, many individuals and corporations. For 18 years he has worked in the commercial/graphic arts industry, producing award-winning promotional campaigns. Currently he is President of the advertising/marketing firm Market Place One.

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To view the artist's website, please click here.

Cinema Discussion Group
This group engages in discussion and critique of significant films. Led by Paulette Idelson, the group meets on the third Tuesday of the month at 7:00PM in Meeting Room A. Meeting Date: June 18: "Some Like it Hot." Attendees are encouraged to view the film before the meeting.

Boston Symphony Orchestra violist Edward Gazouleas and pianist Frank Corliss will perform works by Schubert, Marin Marais and Rebecca Clarke at the Newton Free Library on Sunday, June 2, 2:00PM. Seating is limited.

Gazouleas is third chair violist of the Boston Symphony (BSO) and Assistant Principal of the Boston Pops Orchestra. An active chamber musician, he appears regularly with the Boston Conservatory Chamber Players, Collage and in solo recitals. He has performed with members of the Muir, Audubon and Lydian String Quartets. Previously he was a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony. He currently serves on the faculty of the Boston Conservatory.

Corliss is rehearsal pianist for the BSO and serves on the faculty of the Walnut Hill School. He is also the pianist and assistant conductor of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. He performs throughout the U.S. as a chamber musician and accompanist and has appeared frequently in the Boston Symphony’s Prelude Concert series. Recently he completed a concert tour of Eastern Europe as an Artistic Ambassador for the United States Information Agency.

The New England Opera Club (NEOC) will present a Tribute to Roland Hayes at the Newton Free Library, Sunday, June 9, at 2:00PM. John Tischio, President of the NEOC, will speak about Hayes’ life and accomplishments, interspersed with recordings of his concerts. Performers will include baritone Ernest Triplett, accompanied by Frederica King, and the Jubilee Singers of Newton North High School, under the direction of Sheldon Reid and Genithia Hogges. Hayes’ daughter, Afrika Hayes, and his granddaughter, Zaida Lamb, will speak as well.

Hayes was the first African-American to earn acclaim in the United States and Europe as a concert artist. Born in Georgia in 1887, he moved to Brookline in 1925 where he resided until his death in 1977. Following musical training at Fisk University in Nashville and in London, he began touring the country, including recitals at Jordan Hall and Symphony Hall in Boston. Although at first he found difficulty securing professional management and had to arrange concerts himself, once he returned from his tour of Europe, he had developed an international reputation. Hayes became famous not only for his beautiful tenor voice, but for his mastery of the European classical repertoire and for his furthering of the Negro spiritual. In 1924 he received the NAACP’s Spingran Medal and he also received many humanitarian awards including the 2002 NEOC Jacopo Peri Award, posthumously.

Tischio has lectured several times at the Library. In addition to local and regional speaking engagements, he leads opera tours in this country and abroad.

A distant relative of Felix Mendelssohn and Martin Buber, Katsenelenbogen was born in Israel and began studying piano at the age of five with Aida Barenboim, the mother and teacher of pianist/ conductor Daniel Barenboim. Since then, he has performed by invitation in concert and on radio around the world, including New York, throughout New England and in several European countries, as well as in Australia and Israel. Now making his home in Boston, he holds a jazz faculty position at the New England Conservatory and is named on the Massachusetts Cultural Council Performing and Touring Roster, a select list of artists. He is a solo or featured artist on more than a dozen recordings for Jazzis, CDI, Savage, Oasis and his own production company, Eyran Records. Most recently he composed and recorded the score for the film "Jimmy" by Swiss director Guido Franco and released his 6^th solo CD, "It’s Reigning Kats & Dogs & Bogen."

"Cadence" magazine has glowingly reviewed his recordings: "…his playing…is at times introspective, at times explosive, but at all times dynamic and challenging….You cannot help but be moved by his performance."

Bach was one of the first composers to treat the cello as a solo instrument; his inventive techniques became the archetype of how subsequent composers wrote for the cello. This program juxtaposes one of Bach’s masterpieces with two later works following in that tradition. Stewart will offer remarks on his piece and the cellist will elucidate the connections between the three works on the program.

Kim has given solo recitals throughout the United States, Korea, Italy and England. An active Boston area performer, he has appeared with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops, the Boston Classical Orchestra, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra and the Boston Modern Orchestral Project and is a regular guest artist for the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber Music Society. He serves on the faculties of the New England Conservatory Extension Division, Longy School of Music and other colleges.

Stewart is a composer of chamber music, songs and choral music. Recent performances include premieres at the Ernest Bloch Festival in Oregon and locally with the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra. A former member of the theory faculty at New England Conservatory, for the past seventeen years he has served on the faculty of the Harvard University Music Department.

Violinist Barbara Englesberg and pianist Esther Ning Yau will return to the Newton Free Library on Sunday, June 16, 2:00PM. Romantic and Impressionist style music will be featured by three women composers Ethel Barns, Lili Boulanger and Rebecca Clarke, as well as a divertimento by Stravinsky based on a Russian folk tune.

Englesberg is assistant concertmaster and a founding member of the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, a member of the Handel & Haydn Society Orchestra and of the Leonora Quartet. She has performed with Boston Ballet, Boston Lyric Opera and many other organizations. Recent performances include the Scarlatti Festival in Italy and the 92^nd Street Y in New York City. Englesberg coaches chamber music and serves on the faculties of Northeastern University, All Newton Music School and the New School of Music.

Yau is an active soloist and collaborative pianist. She has performed at Jordan Hall, the Chinese Cultural Institute in Boston, UCLA Song Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Hong Kong Government House, Taipei National Concert Hall and the Museum of Arts in Puerto Rico. She serves on the faculty of the New School.

Gardening expert William Cullina will speak on his new book Native Trees, Shrubs, & Vines: A Guide to Using, Growing and Propagating North American Woody Plants. His talk will take place on Thursday, June 13, 7:15PM at the Newton Free Library. A booksigning will follow the talk, with books provided by the New England Mobile Book Fair, co-sponsors of the event.

This landmark book is a comprehensive reference to almost 1,000 native woody plants, written in lively, informative prose and illustrated with 200 photographs. An invaluable guide for gardeners, landscapers, naturalists, restorationists and nursery owners, it points out the benefits of ecological gardening. Besides explaining what to look for when selecting the best native plants and how to use and grow each plant, Cullina includes tips on successful habitat restoration, how to attract specific species of birds and butterflies and where to find the right native plants for any type of garden.

Cullina is nursery manager and propagator at the Garden in the Woods, the showplace headquarters of the New England Wild Flower Society. He has traveled extensively in the United States and Canada, studying and photographing the plants in this book, many of which he grew himself. He writes for major gardening magazines and speaks widely.

Author William Eisner will present "You’re Always Too Young to Retire: Writing as a Second Career" at the Newton Free Library on Friday, June 21, 10:30AM. The program will include a reading from his new short story collection, Done in by Innocent Things, a discussion providing insight into the writing process and practical advice on getting published.

Written with wit, grace and intelligence, Done in by Innocent Things contains a novella and stories which explore the human condition in surprising ways. This feisty collection brings the reader face to face with the definitive moments in the lives of a diverse cross-section of characters.

Eisner has always been pulled in opposing directions – to the practical world of science and the imagined world of fiction. As a young man, he received a degree in engineering, then spent several years in Paris studying liberal arts, writing, and working on engineering projects. Later he rose to the position of general manager at Rockewell International’s aerospace operations and then CEO of Electronics Corporation of America. At the age of 63, he returned to writing full time. His first published novel, The Sevigne Letters received glowing reviews and was successfully adapted for the stage. His stories have been published on the Internet at HotRead.com and in several journals. A former resident of Newton, he now resides in California.

The Green Decade Coalition will present a talk on Home Energy Conservation: Problem and Opportunity at the Newton Free Library on Monday, June 17, 7:00PM. Speakers will include Barney Freiberg-Dale, a member of the Green Decade Board of Directors, Peter Cleary, Kyoto Program coordinator and Chris Granda, Senior Energy Consultant at Vermont Energy Investment Corporation.

The talk will address what a homeowner or renter can do to conserve energy and information about Green Decade’s new Kyoto Program which will offer support for homeowners wishing to make home improvements, referrals to contractors, rebates for energy efficient appliances and more.

Tea will be served; please bring your own mug. Further information about Green Decade may be found at www.greendecade.org.