Visitors are welcome to touch and explore art in a new exhibit by artist and Windham resident Tony Prizio on display until the end of July at the Windham Public Library.
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| A unique new hands-on exhibit by Windham artist Tony Prizio at the Windham Public Library features a collection of 500 different works ranging from as large as a sheet of paper to as small as an index card and will be displayed through July 31. PHOTO BY ERIN ROSE |
Prizio has curated a collection of 500 different works ranging from as large as a sheet of paper to as small as an index card, and divided them into different easels, crates and boxes. Visitors are asked to take a crate or easel and go through the selected art pieces to see what sparks their inspiration or starts their mind thinking.
“I’m encouraging people to pick up one of the crates, and take a seat and thumb through them,” Prizio explained. “Art is instructive; it’s supposed to bring you out of the shell you’ve built around you so you can expand your view to see.”
The works range from photographs, both new and from the past, to collages, pen and ink and watercolors, and include some realism, pointillism, and pieces for the viewer to interpret. They are on top of the stacks on the second floor, as you exit the stairway, along with some works hung around the area.
“Some of the pieces, to one person they may look incomplete or just an idea, but to other people it may look like a cool piece,” Bannen said. “It does really make you look at things.”
The artist hopes that viewing the pieces will help others expand their mind as to what art may be, and potentially inspire them to start to create works of their own.
“It’s as simple as a scribble or a doodle on a piece of paper that’s representative to the way you’re thinking or what’s on your mind,” Prizio said.
Prizio was inspired to shift to smaller canvases after retiring and needing to create in a way that considered his smaller surroundings.
“I used to be able to paint in a large barn and in an attic space, and now, I live in an apartment, so I don’t have a ton of space,” he said. “I started making a lot of desktop items in paint, collage, pen and ink, and drawing.”
Retired after a career in construction, Prizio has spent his life making art and even majored in painting and sculpture at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, New York.
“I did not make my living that way [through art], because you can count on two hands the number of people who have actually made successful living from painting or sculpture,” he said. “Throughout it all, and I’m 76 years old, I’ve painted and made drawings and whatnot the whole time.”
Exhibits that infuse artwork into the library’s stacks help bring art to those who may not otherwise have access, Bannen said.
“It’s important especially since not everyone can get into places like galleries or museums,” she said. “To be able to look at and interact with art because you just happen to be at the library, and here’s something like this, whether you’re looking at art on the wall or sitting down and interacting with it, I think it’s important.”
“That might be the only time that someone is exposed to it,” Bannen said. “Like Tony says, if it gets someone thinking about ‘hey maybe I can do this,’ I think that’s great.”
Prizio is a longtime visitor to the Windham Library making the exhibit more meaningful for the staff who have gotten to know him over the years.
“I love getting anyone in to show their work at the library, but it’s extra special when it’s someone you’ve interacted with and chatted with, and you find out there’s an aspect to them you didn’t even know about,” Bannen said.
The exhibit will continue through July 31. More information can be found on the library’s website at https://www.windham.lib.me.us/. <
