LYNN — Creating an art exhibition takes time and hard work.
Curator Jocelyn Almy-Testa of the Lynn Museum/Lynn Arts shared some of the process with visitors using her exhibit that featured paintings by Jeff Fioravanti as an example.
“Getting a space ready for something like this usually involves patching holes, clearing floors, painting walls, and a lot of measuring,” she said. “It’s a long process.”
Shows typically take a month to prepare, she said. But this show, featuring a Civil War theme, was prepared in three days.
“A lot of this art was laid out and prepared on his living room floor,” she said.
The artwork featured several pastel and some oil paintings, showing scenes where the Civil War was fought and how they look today.
Fioravanti, a Lynn native, took photographs of the scenes and transferred them to the paper through sketches and paintings.
“It’s amazing he transferred that just from photos,” said Joseph Zenga, a visitor from Tewksbury. “To see it translated is phenomenal.”
Almy-Testa also talked about the grouping of paintings and artifacts that go with the show.
Paintings can be grouped based on size, medium, theme, features, or even quality, Almy-Testa said as she pointed to one painting that hangs alone on a wall. It depicted the woods, which she, along with some of the visitors, said was particularly impressive.
Along with the paintings were artifacts such as swords, medals, clothes, and instruments from the era that were donated to the museum or belong to the artist.
“Positioning is key,” Almy-Testa said. “You don’t want to block all the painting.”
After everything is in place and the exhibit is ready for showing, you could imagine the feeling of accomplishment for curators like Almy-Testa.
“It’s like Christmas,” she said.
