The truth is a bit less glamorous, however it is still super exciting for us. Earlier this year, This Old House started filming the new season and as part of their This Old House Tour, they were participating in a re-design of an 1887 Victorian-era two-family in Cambridge. which happened to be in Abodeon’s Porter Square neighborhood.

While the cast and crew were leaving the facade and a majority of the exterior largely as is, the interior was receiving a fairly intense deconstruction, resulting in a much more open and modern room footprint. This re-design is heavily inspired by the home owner’s Scandinavian heritage.

In the 3rd Episode of the series, the home owner, Sally, comes to Abodeon with Kevin O’Connor, host of This Old House, and asks Dale to pull together pieces for her home that are representative of the Scandinavian style, so that she may visually illustrate to Kevin the look she is going after. (Episode #1103)

Dale and everyone here at Abodeon had such a great time that day and we’d love for all of our readers to tune in when Dale makes his big screen debut. (TV is a big screen compared to our smartphones and iPads, so don’t downplay this honor for Dale by pointing out the obvious!)

Full episodes are available on their website here in case you forget to set the DVR.

- Michele J Martin

“…in art that the heart, the head, and the hand of a man come together.”

John Ruskin
British cultural theorist and architectural critic

Those words deeply inspired Roy Davidson, becoming the early philosophy on which he founded the School of Practical Art in 1912. 100 years later, the school, since renamed Art Institute of Boston, continues to facilitate the intellectual and creative growth of passionate young artists.

The Storefront Art Project

To kick-off their Centennial Celebration, student and faculty artists of the Art Institute of Boston are sharing their work with the community in a very public manner, via a unique exhibition of storefront window installations along Massachusetts Avenue, between Harvard and Porter Squares. Abodeon is honored to participate in this celebration of the arts. The installations will hang until October 13th, 2012.

For more information on exhibiting artists : Storefront Artists

Abodeon’s Installations

Our interior window installation was created by Kate Castelli, a local Cambridge artist. In the pictures below you’ll see Kate hanging her installation, as well as images of the finished piece as seen from Massachusetts Avenue. You can read more about this work on her website.

“100 Chairs” Sumi ink on handmade paper, twine, metal clips

Artist Kate Castelli, alumni BFA in Illustration, 2008, Art Institute of Boston Cambridge, MA

Our exterior installation was a truly collaborative artwork.  The painting was created by Percy Fortini-Wright and 14 young students in a 2012 summer school session “AIB Pre-College Mural Painting”. For a list of the student artists: Mural Artists

According to Fortini-Wright’s Artist Statement, the title of the piece was decided as a group, the motivation being that “As teens they felt that the phrase was appropriate for their journey as young artists. Since the Art Institute of Boston has played a major role in their artistic development they wanted to use imagery associated with the departments that cultivated their broad experiences.”

The pictures below show our own Dale Anderson installing the collage to our brick exterior with the help of Cedric, one of the artist’s friends. The title of the work is a perfect fit for Neighborhood Nine, maybe they’ll let us keep it up after the show ends?

“As We Grow” Spray Paint on panel

Lead Artist Percy Fortini-Wright, adjunct AIB faculty BFA Fine Arts, 2003 MFA in Visual Arts, 2008, Art Institute of Boston

The next 100 years

The Art Institute of Boston will soon be breaking ground on a new Arts Campus in Porter Square, Cambridge. The design, led by architect Simeon Bruner of Bruner/Cott Architects will be a mix of historic preservation, adaptive reuse and new construction. Mr. Bruner was lead designer for award winning projects: MassMoCA (N. Adams, MA) , Piano Craft Guild (Boston, MA) and Crown and Eagle (Uxbridge, MA).

Designed in the International style of modern architecture made famous by architects such as Le Corbusier, Rudolph Michael Schindler and Alvar Aalto, the Arts Center will be built with an emphasis on sustainability, making it eligible for LEED Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. The main building will be a mix of glass curtain walls and concrete, while a glass-enclosed connector reaches out and unites “what will be” with “what was” as it joins the historic church. The connector is designed to act as a general Arts Common for students and visitors, while the church will house the Art Institute of Boston’s Art Library.For proposed image renderings or to find out more about the Art Institute of Boston’s new Arts Campus: AIB Arts Campus

-Michele J Martin

Ion is also introducing an even more compact LP 2 GO which converts LPs only.  Think of them as the iPod of turntables – you can take them anywhere. – Terri

U 431 low chair in oak or walnut.  Produced from 1955 to 1958.

C 275 side chair in oak or walnut designed in 1957.

T 621 bench with cushion designed in 1955.

T 539 magazine table in oak or walnut, designed in 1949.

T 390 low table with magazine rack in oak or walnut from the 1950s.

4074 low table in oak with formica top, designed in 1970.

Combining mid century with antiques isn’t a revolutionary idea.  It softens the lines of modern, and adds layers of visual and textural interest that can make a space richer and more unexpected.  In our loft, Dale and I combine mid century furniture with a mix of antique primitives, ethnic carvings, and industrial pieces.  We love the unknown craftsman, and the sculptural aspect of everyday implements from a hundred years ago.

The good news is that with a bit effort and luck anyone find intriguing elements for very little money.  You just have to think outside the box and enjoy the hunt.  Here are a few details from our loft (I’ll show more of an overview at a later date).  – Terri

This 40-inch piece of driftwood (that grew around a stake) resembles a bird.  We mounted the driftwood ($20 at a antique shop in Maine) on a railroad tie discarded in our neighborhood.  Voila!

A view from above at a connected bandoleer of WW2 cartridges ($15 from a flea market) rolled up into one of Dale’s bowls.

This top of an old apple picker encages a stone found on the beach.  I rubbed the stone with powdered graphite, and buffed it until it looked like steel.  Picker $27.  Stone $0.

Above our kitchen cabinets, an antique cupboard door ($40) sets the stage for carved figures by Mexican artist Hippolito, purchased in the early 80s.

An antique fishing net holds a gourd that also has a powdered graphite stain.  Below are circa 1930s bronze doll head molds found at Brimfield about 10 years ago for $100.

An old fish with iron teeth carved from a buoy swims in front of the Boston skyline.  Found at a Texas flea market in the 90′s for $75.

An antique spinning wheel rests on the top center portion of our 60s Cado wall unit from Finland.  Below it are cast baby shoes from my mom, brother, sister, and me.  Wheel: $40.  Shoes: Priceless.

The sides and back of a 19th century Conestoga wagon found at Todd’s Farm Flea Market in the late 90s for $200.  We mounted the pieces on the wall as a gigantic triptych with the back floating in front of the side panels.  One of our favorite pieces!

FYI, we were supposed to close at 9pm last night but our staff decided to keep the doors open until the last customer left at midnight.  We thank them for their perseverance!  Cheers – Terri