Exhibit harnesses art’s potential to effect social change

United South End Settlements’ Harriet Tubman Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of Violence Transformed: The Artist's Voice, one of several signature visual and performing arts events of the 2014 ‘season' which began in February and will conclude in September.  This annual series celebrates the power of art, artists and art-making to confront, challenge and mediate violence. The exhibit is on view from March 11 – April 30, 2014 and will kick off with an opening reception on Tuesday March 11 from 6 – 8 PM. The reception is free and open to the public, located at 566 Columbus Ave in Boston’s South End, which will feature light refreshments, entertainment and an opportunity to meet some of the talented local artists exhibited in the show. For more information about this year's calendar and other participating venues, please visit www.violencetransformed.com.

The work on display documents the ways in which our diverse communities harness art’s potential to effect social change and materially transform our environments. We share the conviction that art and art-making are essential to the well-being and vibrancy of our communities. The following participating artists view the fact and impact of violence thorough diverse lenses: Mryna Balk, Terry Boutelle, Gail Bos, Jane Cooper Brayton, Carol Daynard, Pamela Dorris DeJong, Carolyn Enz Hack, Mary Harvey, Nancy Marks, Jane Rainwater, Hope Riccardi, Beverly Rippel, Christine Tinsley, Carol Wintle. Collectively, their works imagine alternatives to violence and give expression to themes of protest, refuge, survival, healing and commemoration. Their responses differ in kind and in medium.  Included in the exhibits are photography, painting, drawing, collage, graphics, printmaking and mixed media works.

Paired with the artwork are statements that reveal the meaning and inspiration behind the work. Step into others lives as adoptive mothers explore the painful, complicated and dangerous endeavors it takes to keep loved ones safe, using printmaking as a space of rest, rage, and release. Armed with charcoal drawings and monoprinting techniques, artists challenge the viewer with questions such as What is it that pain and suffering looks like? What is it that shame and sorrow look like? How is it possible to depict the price a woman pays for keeping secrets and seeking solace in oblivion?  Other pieces depict seemingly innocent decorative work of botanical silhouettes when upon closer examination, reveals darker truths as the details take the form of grenades and guns.

This exhibition is appropriate for all audiences as the subject matter offers viewers new avenues for participating in and discovering the power of art and art-making to heal and transform human communities rather then highlighting the grotesque. Please bring an open mind and an open heart.