‘So much love and energy in the room’: Fowler portrait show features 62 works

Lining the walls of the Fowler Branch Library are the faces of grandparents, children, and other loved ones, captured in delicate pencil, pastels, and even wire.

The community portrait show, organized by ArtScape, features 62 works submitted by 42 area artists. Many pieces are family portraits, a theme that organizer Ann Sussman said emerged naturally.

“I didn’t tell them to bring only family portraits, but that’s what they did,” Sussman said. “I think you can really see the love in the art because of it. That’s what blew my mind — the love. There’s so much love and energy in the room.”

The collection spans generations and media. Sussman herself contributed three portraits under her artist name, Benet, including a painting of her son from 20 years ago. She noted that the personal nature of the work seems to change the way people move through the space.

“People go by and check every single one out. It’s just what they do,” Sussman observed. “They see the work, and they just smile.”

Acton artist Marcia Schloss, who submitted three pastel portraits of her grandchildren, said she was drawn to the medium because of its familiarity.

“I grew up coloring,” she said. “I didn’t watch cartoons. I just colored, and now I get to color, and people call it art.”

She said she entered the show because of her friendship with Sussman and her appreciation for the library’s role in hosting community art exhibitions.

Artist Edward Feather submitted four photos for the show. He said he wants people to linger on the images on display.

“[I hope] that it makes them pause as a viewer and really think about that person,” he said. “Think about what’s going on with them, what was happening in their life.”

He said one photograph shows his son on an early morning flight. 

“The sun rose over the Atlantic Ocean and just had that incredible light that was coming in and hitting him as he was looking out the window,” he said. “It was an amazing opportunity that I couldn’t pass up.”

The exhibition runs through April 11, with organizers planning a closing reception that month.

For Sussman, the exhibition’s power lies in the way humans interact. Unlike a landscape or an abstract piece, a portrait asks for a different kind of recognition.

“We’re built for connection and for mirroring and for seeing each other,” she said. “We’re a social species, and we get excited to see each other.”