‘Drawing from the Body’ keeps on moving

For those who didn’t know, art in North Adams is diverse. The umbrella all the galleries, shows, and exhibits lie under is rather large, so there is something for everyone. Through the programming series MCLA Presents! and MAYA IV art gallery of DownStreet Art, we get “Drawing from the Body.” This exhibit combined video, choreography, and even audience participation.

MAYA IV Gallery hosted audience members for the two-night show Thursday and Friday of last week. Showcase artists Polly Motley and Molly Davies kept audiences moving –literally- between two rooms with a dance taking place in one and video mixing going on in the other.

“‘Drawing from the Body’ took our students and audience some place they might not have gone before,” explained Director of Special Programs Jonathan Secor. “But, even better was having Polly work with our dance students for two classes and offering video workshops to our students, as well as Williams College students.”

Choreographer Polly Motley has been featured in several New York City galleries, as well as Jacob’s Pillow in Becket, Massachusetts. Molly Davies, the film artist, has had films of hers showcased at the Whitney Museum of American Art in NYC and the Venice Film Festival.

“Having Polly and Molly with us for a week, with their beautiful work and beautiful energy, was a true treat,” Secor said.

MCLA Presents! continues its 2011-2012 series with “Stew and the Negro Problem,” a musical combination of jazz, rock, and hip-hop on Oct. 22 at 8 p.m. in the MCLA Church Street Center.

This performance is part of the annual Margaret A. Hart ’35 Scholarship Concert, a scholarship funded in honor of the first African-American female graduate MCLA when it was State Teachers College at North Adams.

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