Vincere Noel’s photographs depict people so otherworldly they almost look like fantasy figures: a woman with a flower garden in her hair, a little girl with glowing balls floating by her head, a pair of hands floating in the darkness. “I want the viewer to see what they want to see: a glow, something remembered, chasing a dream,” Noel said.
Noel, who is studying photography at Manchester Community College, is one of the artists who will show and sell their work on June 4 in “Art in the Park,” the 44th annual art festival at Center Memorial Park in Manchester. The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the green that surrounds downtown’s Mary Cheney Library at 586 Main St.
Noel, 20, takes his photos outdoors, so his models appear in natural environments. He enhances his photos in Photoshop, altering colors and adding fantasy elements, to “capture the essence of a person,” taking inspiration from the styles of photographers Kindra Nikole and Alex Stoddard. One of Noel’s models “has her soul all figured out, all captured.” Another person “sees a light in front of her, she sees herself in it, but it’s getting away from her.”
Noel, who has shown his work at MCC’s Hans Weiss Newspace gallery at at Spectrum Gallery in Centerbrook, calls his series “Soul Searching.” Still, he admitted that sometimes viewers think his work is disturbing. “Spooky is something I hear a lot,” he said, referring to his pieces of hooded figures walking in cemeteries or in murky forests, following glowing orbs.
Noel will be joined at Art in the Park by about 150 other artists: painters, sculptors, photographers, jewelers, potters, metal workers, fiber artists, caricaturists, woodworkers, basket weavers, leatherworkers, glassworkers, collagists, body artists and clockmakers from towns all over the state and a few from Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The artists will set up under tents, so the event can be held rain or shine.
In addition to artworks on show and for sale, a giant mural will be created, participation open to the public, and food trucks and local restaurants will sell food. Musical acts will perform including Legacy, Malarkey, Professors of Sweet Sweet Music, The Tens, Drumming About You, The Guinea Pigs, The Dirge Carolers and Self Suffice.
A portion of the proceeds from the event will benefit Young @ Art, a non-profit organization that promotes art activities among young people. Cynthia Bulaong, who organizes Art in the Park, said last year’s event raised $5,000.
“A portion of the funds was used to purchase materials for teaching art classes for youth such as an airbrushing station used in our ‘Become a Muraleer’ class and to set up satellite locations for other art programs,” Bulaong said. “A temporary mural outside a bank in Manchester was funded and depicted a child viewing a wall mural of an ocean scene with waves and sand castles.”
Bulaong said this year’s funds raised will be earmarked to launch “Mural Wish,” an initiative to give bedroom murals to children facing extreme illness and adversity.
Details: youngatartct.org.
