Art Meets Internet in New Main Street Gallery
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"I just kept walking by these huge walls and thinking, 'These would look good with art on them. Look at all this window space. I can do so much,'" said Morin on Tuesday, owner of IO Digital Services and Gallery, in his new office at 71 Main St., which formerly housed Gateway, a men's clothing store.
"I don't need much, just a computer and a place to meet people so the rest of this space was just going to waste," he added.
On Thursday night, the city native will host his first gallery opening, featuring pieces from local artists, many of which are digital works. Slated for 6:30 p.m., the combination grand opening of Morin's business and formal gallery debut is an opportunity for residents to learn about what Morin calls "digital artistry."
"My bread and butter comes from making and managing Web sites but what I'm really doing here is two separate things. I came in to do business but decided there was something else I had a passion for," he said.
Morin's business, MediaX productions, oversees nearly 100 Web sites, most in the county. After he began working with digital artistry to create multimedia sites for local businesses more than four years ago, Morin worked from his home. He decided to move to his new downtown location as his business grew to encompass the production of television commercials, graphic design, motion graphics and multimedia projects.
<L2>Morin's clientele includes the city of North Adams and local businesses such as Berkshire Medical Management, Ernie's Auto Sales, Jae's Inn and Steepleview Realty. He is also responsible for the construction of BerkshireFineArts.com and the upcoming site BerkshireDiningReview.com.
The decision to include artwork in the front two rooms of his office came earlier this year and, through an already established network of friends, Morin was able to acquire dozens of pieces for his first show. Along with some of his own digital manipulation works, the gallery opening will display art from Edward Cating, Peter Schoeffer, Kelly Lee, Susan Rose, Daniel Field, Gillian Jones, Evan Bates, Michael Miller, John Dinerstein, Jubee, JenniGood and Jake Spitz.
"For the first show, it was mostly first-come, first-served but I don't know what it will be like next time," said Morin.
Morin said he plans to host three or four shows a year, to correspond with the changing of the seasons. The first show will run from the first day of spring (March 20) to the first day of summer (June 21).
Morin said in a statement that he hopes to be a part of the city's downtown revitalization.
"Downtown North Adams is happening again. People who haven't shopped downtown in a while really should give it another chance. Businesses have all but laid out the red carpet for shoppers as most business here are ones that are born of local citizens rather than that whole corporate business model we've all come to love so dearly," he said.
The aspiring Internet mogul, who fell in love with computers at a young age, hopes his presence on Main Street will allow him to experiment with project he's long dreamed of attempting.
"Most people these days have a rather large collection of videos, pictures and other media of themselves and/or family members. I desire to put them all together in a scripted sense - kind of like making a movie about them or a directed photo/video album. This would be a truly unique item that I can see being treasured by ones that love/loved the subject," he said in a news release.
In addition to the gallery and his online business, Morin hopes to soon hire others to work in his office, helping the local economy with job creation.
The IO Digital Services and Gallery will host a grand opening on Thursday, March 20, from 6: 30 to 8:30 p.m.
