Vibrantly colored paintings, sculptures and handcrafted items lit the hall of the ICA Watershed, an exhibition space across the harbor from the Institute of Contemporary Art. Artists sat behind their own tables, chatting and laughing with attendees.
The East Boston Artists Group hosted Harboring Creativity, an art event from Nov. 16-17 where over 40 local artists from East Boston showcased and sold their works.
This year marked the second time East Boston Artists Group hosted this event in collaboration with the ICA, said June Krinsky-Rudder, the event coordinator and co-founder of East Boston Artists Group.
To showcase their works in this event, artists must live, work or have studios located in East Boston, a neighborhood separated from Charlestown and Downtown Boston by Boston Harbor.
This year, Krinsky-Rudder said the exhibition provided 46 tables for artists, and over 200 visitors signed up for the event.
“It’s just a nice community event,” Krinsky-Rudder said. “I definitely feel like it’s been a little bit busier this year.”
Krinsky-Rudder said events like this help people remember “how to have conversations,” especially after the pandemic, and showcase “art in the neighborhood.” She said she experienced this firsthand and met many of her neighbors for the first time during last year’s event.
After seeing the exhibition, Marissa Phoenix attended the reception with the purpose of “meeting the local artists and finding out what their inspiration was about.”
Phoenix said the most impressive piece she saw was one about gun violence by Walter Kopec, which she described as “interesting and also meaningful.”
She connected it to her experience as a volunteer at Not Another Child, an organization that aims to support families affected by gun violence.
For Maryellen Cahill, a fiber artist, this year marked a change from her previous participation in Harboring Creativity. Cahill’s table featured an array of colorful coasters made of upcycled denim.
Cahill, who comes from a family of artists, said she grew up “always being inspired” and has created art “almost all” her life.
Last year, she represented the Atlantic Works Gallery at their shared table, but this time, she decided to “branch out” and host her own individual booth.
“It feels more familiar since now it’s my second year,” she said.
Cahill’s table featured an array of colorful coasters made of upcycled denim.
With a full-time job in the apparel industry, Cahill works with different textiles on a day-to-day basis and spends her free time stitching at home and in her studio. While maintaining a career alongside her second job in art can be “difficult,” she said it brings her joy, since it offers “no stress, no deadlines.”
“I’ll have an idea, and then I just work through it,” she said. “Sometimes, it’s exactly my vision, and other times it goes in a different direction as I’m working … I love it.”
Krinsky-Rudder said after the success of this year’s Harboring Creativity, she looks to “continue doing it every year.”
She said the group will participate in Boston Design Week in the spring and look to become a non-profit group in the future.
“I’m kind of excited,” Krinsky-Rudder said. “I have no idea what’s going to happen, but the fact that we’re generating so much interest, I think it’s going to lead to some good stuff.”