The Nave celebrates its fifth year with an October anniversary party

Art of all genres pleases the eye at the Nave Gallery in Teele Square. ~Photo by Julia Fairclough  This volunteer-run gallery is for the community By Julia Fairclough The rectangular, white-walled room in the Clarendon Hill Presbyterian Church is alive with sculpture and works on paper by several artists exploring their interpretations of structure and configurations inherent in living digitally. We are in the Nave Gallery in Teele Square, where the artist statement for this show "Physical Digital" (which has since passed) talks about how data, meta-data, information, references, keys, passwords, hyperlinks, applets, status bars, transactions, and other digital ephemera can provide a bona fide relief but "is often an annoying companion that we are forced to live with daily." This volunteer-run gallery that prides itself on welcoming art expression of all genres and to all sorts of artists-new and veteran-as part of a community enterprise often features unique approaches as this. And to commemorate its existence for the past five years, the Nave will host an anniversary party on October 15 from 7 to 10 p.m. at the gallery at 155 Powderhouse Boulevard. Read more details at the conclusion of this article. "This is all about community enforcing community," said Karl Gustafson, the church's pastor and Nave Gallery co-founder. "We try to do group shows to bring new people to a different space and to encourage that kind of energy." The gallery, which is a project of ArtsSomerville, also offers independent music performances in the church's sanctuary. Because the Nave enjoys a minimal rent, the gallery can focus on the more conceptual and unique work that makes people think about art, rather than buying art, said Susan Berstler, the director of ArtsSomerville. The Nave strives to hold themed shows for a common idea. The Nave also puts out larger group shows because the space is so large. It's ideal for video work and installations since there's ample floor space. Video projectors are used when possible. The gallery committee comes up with ideas, such as the show that Gustafson is curating (Oct. 24 to Nov 22), "Geomorphics: Changing art for a Changing Landscape." Sometimes the committee invites proposals from guest curators who come up with an idea. The Nave has featured a great range of exhibits. Over 400 artists have shown there, spanning more than 50 shows. It was solely a local effort at first, but now artists from all over the world have submitted their work. "It's pretty amazing, considering we are volunteer run," Berstler said. "It's definitely a labor of love. We have incredible people who support us with their time and energy." Right next to the gallery is the sanctuary, where the Nave performances occur. Over 33 shows, that unsurprisingly are diverse-ranging from acoustic, to jazz and avant gard-were booked in 2008, said Randy Winchester, a committee member in charge of the Nave's music program. "There's a huge mix of musicians just within a five-mile radius of the Nave," said Winchester, also a musician who plays metal rods and cymbals. It's important to support these musicians and have music in the community, he said. "A lot of musicians may not want to play in a big concert hall, bar or club." As a fun idea, Winchester decided to record the concerts and put them online. He just uploaded show number 67 on the jamendo music site at http://www.jamendo.com/em/artist/artsomerville. This takes the shows to an international level as jamendo is the number one music site, Winchester said. It's free and offers great exposure. The Nave's shows are in the top 100 downloads. It all started back in the summer of 2003, shortly after Gustafson became the pastor of the church. The congregation that used the white, rectangular room decided to vacate. Gustafson, an artist himself, thought it would be an ideal space for an art gallery. The room was in bad shape; the ceiling falling in, so Gustafson had to renovate the entire space. Some folks from the community, like Somerville Arts Council Director Greg Jenkins and Berstler also joined the effort to create the Nave. By May of 2004, the Nave opened its doors for its first show. "For the visual arts, there were few places for people to show their work in a non-commercial gallery setting," Gustafson said. "It's a perfect space." It was also a personal dream for Gustafson, who creates sculpture in his studio in his free time, to open up a gallery. Spirituality and art goes back thousands of years, until the two broke apart in the 18th century when art became more about personal expression, he added. "So it's interesting to bring the two together," he said. However, the Nave is nonsecular and not affiliated with the church, but is more a partnership with the city of Somerville. Visit http://www.artsomerville.org/nave/about.html to read more about the Nave and some upcoming shows. Since the Nave is celebrating its five year anniversary this year, volunteers are using this opportunity to reach out to the community, said Tori Costa, a volunteer in charge of organizing this event. There will be a silent auction, with work donated primarily from Nave artists. There will be a special raffle for a tin lunch box made by Skunk, a local artist who creates metal sculpture. Music, food and a cash bar will also be happening. Costa is still looking for sponsors from the community. Anyone interested can contact her at 617-259-8386.