Renowned assemblage artist Maureen McCabe of Old Lyme, who is also a professor of Art at Connecticut College, is participating in the Chester Historical Society’s third annual creative challenge, “Bone Arts.” A silent auction of all the submitted pieces will be held March 23.
The challenge, titled “Bone Arts,” uses “a bag of bones” (handles for crochet hooks and flatware made in the 1930s and ‘40s by Bishop and Watrous Novelty Works in Chester from beef bones from Argentina) as a starting point for imagination.
This spring, 50 artists have responded to the Bone Arts Challenge to use the simple bone handles to create finished pieces of art, jewelry, sculptures, photographs, etc. These will be exhibited and sold by silent auction at the Chester Historical Society’s “Bone Arts” Reception on Saturday, March 23, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at the Chester Meeting House.
The “bones,” which came from Sosse and Jack Baker’s backyard at the Chester Gallery, directly in front of the old Bishop and Watrous factory, inspired McCabe to create her assemblage, titled “Medium Rare.”
McCabe describes her piece: “I was mesmerized by Eva Peron on a recent trip to Buenos Aires to learn the tango with my husband. Images of this popular – and tragic – figure were everywhere. I fell under her spell, visiting her tomb not once but twice. I bought an Evita paper doll set, which I have incorporated into my contribution to Bone Art. Eva stands on a rubble pile of bones, unearthed from Sosse Baker’s back yard (beef bones from Argentina). Bone chips are refashioned as buttons on her blood red channel suit. Piercing her heart is a meat tag from a famous restaurant that we visited. The back of the tag says, ‘Medium Rare.’”
Tickets for the reception at $25 are available by calling Sosse Baker at the Chester Gallery, 860-526-9822. All proceeds benefit the historical society’s preservation of Chester history and its educational programs.
For more information, visit chesterhistoricalsociety.org.