New England is home to a particularly successful community of studio furniture artists whose challenge is to balance aesthetics and utility. Rosanne Somerson, Head of the Furniture Department at Rhode Island School of Design, guides Greater Boston Arts through the work of three of these artists. Tommy Simpson is working on "Garden of the Heart," a thirty-by-forty-foot sculptural garden composed of dozens of pieces that will host an original dance by Pilobolus Dance Theater. Steven Whittlesey finds his raw material from the driftwoods he collects while combing the beaches near his Cape Cod home. Mitch Ryerson converts forgotten tree stumps on public streets into sculptural places for people to rest. Through these various approaches to furniture-making, Greater Boston Arts explores the concern that links them all: how to make work that is at once practical and artistic.

Entry: a furniture invitational
Clark Gallery
145 Lincoln Road
Lincoln, MA
April 25 - May 18, 2000

For more information call (781) 259-8303
or visit www.ClarkGallery.com

Stephen Drury

Greater Boston Arts profiles Boston's self-proclaimed classical music rebel Stephen Drury. Refusing to recognize conventional ideas about stylistic categories and historical genres, Drury instead stresses the links between composers by taking on a demanding personal repertoire that extends from Beethoven to Stockhausen. His performances are noted both for a mastery of technique and a programming bravado that stresses thematic continuities. Greater Boston Arts follows Drury from an informal dinner at home to the classrooms at New England Conservatory of Music to the solitude of the rehearsal room as this charismatic iconoclast explains why we should re-think our accepted notions of music.

Stephen Drury plays with the Boston Philharmonic

April 29, 2000
New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall

April 30, 2000
Harvard University's Sanders Theatre

For tickets to the April 29 concert call Jordan Hall at (617) 536-2412. For tickets to the April 30 concert call Sanders Theatre at (617) 496-2222. For concert information call Boston Philharmonic at (617) 868-6696 or visit Boston Philharmonic

Lee Mingwei

Greater Boston Arts explores art in the experience with the work of Lee Mingwei. This 36-year old artist creates pieces that can only exist through their interaction with the audience. For "The Living Room" at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Mingwei creates an informal living room and acts as host, conversing with visitors about various personal objects he has brought into the installation. At the Davis Museum's "Letter Writing Project," Mingwei invites the visitor to write a personal letter that he or she has always intended to write but for one reason or another has never put to paper. In "Reflections," also at the Davis, two individuals enter opposite sides of a wood-and-scrim chamber. Their images appear to merge in a mirrored glass divider between the participants. Greater Boston Arts speaks with Lee Mingwei about the Buddhist philosophy that informs his artistic process and offers viewers an experience of his emotionally powerful artwork. For more on Lee Mingwei's work in Boston, visit the highlight.

The Living Room
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
2 Palace Road
Boston
February 27 - April 30, 2000
For more information call (617) 278-5107
or visit Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Empathic Economies
Davis Museum and Cultural Center
106 Central Street
Wellesley College
February 24 - June 14, 2000
For more information call (781) 283-2051
or visit Davis Museum and Cultural Center