NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The public library and Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art have started a collaboration in an effort to bridge the gap between artists, their work, and the community. 

 

They will kick off their collaboration this Wednesday at 6 p.m. by welcoming Mass MoCA artist-in-residence Alison Pebworth who will be creating "Spirit Drawings" for every participant. 

 

Pebworth defined "Spirit Drawings" as the manifestation of the intimate act of connecting with another person. 

 

She will sit with each patron and as they look into each others eyes, she will draw the feelings that come from their spirits colliding. 

 

Pebworth started making the drawings two years ago to try to comprehend the isolating feelings that came with the pandemic.

 

When working on bigger projects, she said she tends to get "stuck in her head" and is not seeing art flowing out of her. The process of creating spirit drawings gave her an outlet to leave the confounds of her mind to feel and cultivate flow, she said. 

 

The process evolved to what it is now after Pebworth challenged the teenagers who would come by her studio to look into her eyes. 

 

"I love interactions with strangers and so this was a way to directly engage with people. Looking in their eyes and having this intimate relationship especially coming out of the pandemic, where we can't touch and we can engage it’s a way to directly interact without forcing it with a specific conversation or anything and just kind of just letting it feel and flow out." she said. 

 

"It's also a challenge for me to let myself go and to free up my stuff and not overthink it and just kind of let it flow out and I'm relying on the person to sit with me to facilitate that."

 

The art process can be a mystery for some due to the barrier that exists between the artist and their work, the museum's Director of Public Programs Lisa Dent said, and when someone goes through a museum, the audience is responding to the objects on display not the artists who create them.

 

The library will be collaborating with the museum to provide opportunities to meet artists and see first hand their artistic process. 

 

The "mystery" behind the art process, and sometimes art itself, may have people choosing not to visit a museum because it can feel intimidating, Rebecca Cuscaden Marvin, the museum's school programs manager, said.

 

The library can build a bridge not only to the community but to the younger generation of artists who may visit the library with their families or school. 

 

"Connecting with that community more through the library is so essential to us and to grow in our school programs and making sure that families feel welcome to come to our space as well," Marvin said. "So kind of in viewing more of the arts and bringing artists in and showing the creative process in a space where they already feel comfortable is essential."

 

The intentions of the library is changing with society, library Assistant Director Ryan Miller said. 

 

Libraries are no longer just resources for books, he said, they provide a safe space for anyone to come in out of the heat, or cold, and utilize resources including programming, free museum passes, and technology. 

 

"The fact that we are one remaining free space that people can come in I think is something that even as a librarian, I forget that I am able to work in such a unique environment," Miller said. 

 

"Everything's free. And anyone can come in, get a library card, take anything they want and bring in a home."

 

When Miller started this job three months ago, one of his biggest goals was to cultivate a relationship with Mass MoCA because of the important roles both institutions play in the community.