Reawaken that drive for art and join the Dartmouth Cultural Center for its spring exhibit, featuring 15 artists from around New England, this April. 

The member-driven show, “Awakening,” kicks off on Friday, April 4 with an artist reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. According to Gallery Director Jill Law, the show will be getting a couple new faces this time around, but also a number of familiar favorites. 

Dartmouth’s Michael Hubert, who has been a member for the last five years, showed off the two paintings he plans to exhibit, including “Into a Light,” which is a blue painting that experiments with the shadows that fall on the snow. 

His other piece deals with a sort of abstract patchwork theme, inspired by “Follow the Drinking Gourd,” a book he would read to kids at the Dartmouth Early Learning Center. The Center was an arts-based independent school for early childhood education run by Hubert and his wife, Christine, for over 40 years until they were forced to close due to the Covid Pandemic.

Hubert has been creating art since high school, noting, “It’s a lifetime of practice.”

For him, the Cultural Center fosters a creative community that allows for engaging dialogue between local artists. “It’s a great resource that we have in the community,” he said.

Dartmouth’s Ann Kenney has also been with the Cultural Center for a little over half a decade. At this month’s show, one of her pieces features her daughter’s home in East Longmeadow. 

Kenney has recently undergone shoulder surgery, which has taken her out of the painting game for the last six weeks, but her daughter has been very supportive. In anticipation of her kindness, she painted the home and plans to gift it to her. But in the meantime, the community will have a chance to check it out.

After her husband died, Kenney began exploring different types of art at the Center’s classes with Law, which proved to be helpful for her. 

Law noted: “Art’s a wonderful thing for rejuvenation.”

Dot Bergen of Little Compton, Rhode Island may have a studio gallery in her backyard, but some of her art will be taking a trip to Dartmouth over the next two months.

An encaustic artist, Bergen paints with beeswax and resin — “one of the oldest painting techniques in the world.”

“It’s fascinating,” she said. “I basically paint with fire because everything has to be heated up and painted when the wax and resin is molten.”

Because the wax hardens within mere seconds, the artist must be deliberate with what they paint. Bergen was formerly trained as an invertebrate zoologist and marine biologist, and her piece “Path to Enlightenment” is inspired by a recent study she read. 

She explained there’s a population of fish who have played a role in eliminating about 30% of the atmospheric carbon created by humans, but a fish food shortage is leading countries to consider fishing those waters, which could have negative effects on climate. 

Given the current political climate, Bergen added it also gives people the opportunity to consider how populations of humans could be exploited before their value and contributions to society can even be recognized.

Her second piece in the show just demonstrates her love for the wax, which is luminous and layerable. “Sometimes I just want to eat it, it looks so luscious," she joked.

According to Law, Bergen and Paula Stebbins Becker will be doing a collaborative show in the gallery next month. 

Lately, Law has been up to a lot of sculpture work for her art classes, so displayed in this month’s gallery are some photographs taken locally, including the colorful reflection of some kayaks in Westport. She shared she also waiting to hear back about a potential opportunity to display her art at a gallery in New York. 

As for at the Cultural Center, “Awakening” will be on display all month long, finishing with a wine tasting night held Friday, April 25 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. by MaryLou Frias. 

Frias said she loves travel, wine and chemistry, so she looks forward to having the community join her in the “beautiful building” to try out eight different wines. There is a required $20 donation for admission. Those interested can register online at https://www.dartmouthculturalcenterinc.org/