February 2022 | ALONG ROUTE 16 | Page 3
The Creative Life at the Jackson Art Gallery By Kathi Caldwell-Hopper Photos courtesy Melanie Barash Levitt Melanie Barash Levitt has been drawing since she could pick up a crayon, and it shows. Years of dedication to painting and drawing led her to eventually find her way to Jackson, New Hampshire. That move, in 1995, brought her further into the life of an artist when she opened a studio and gallery and began teaching art classes. These days, her business, the Jackson Art Studio & Gallery, is thriving, and has withstood the months of the pandemic, the lockdown and all the changes each has brought to everyone. Melanie would surely agree the desire to make art and purchase artwork is universal and COVID has not stopped that need. If anything, the pandemic has caused people to evaluate what is important in life, and items created by the hands of local artists, rates high. While some art businesses have closed in recent years, Melanie has a gem of a gallery where she offers art classes and also has the work of talented artists on display and for sale. Moving to Jackson was a lifestyle change for Melanie and her husband, Daren. They discovered Jackson when driving around the area. “My husband used to go rock climbing up here and we thought Jackson was a cute town,” she says. The couple were in their 20s and willing to leave city life for a smaller community. With a degree in graphics from the Rhode Island School of Design, Melanie was doing well in her field of art. “At the time, I was working as a graphic designer in Boston. I worked on the Olympic games design team in Atlan-
Melanie plein air painting. ta, Georgia and I also worked in Boston,” Melanie recalls. Her first job as a graphic artist was in Boston, and later she worked in Japan, where she taught
art at an international school. (This was a valuable opportunity, because it gave her teaching experience.) Once the couple settled in Jack-
son, Melanie continued her work as a graphic designer, and was also teaching art in the local elementary school. Eventually she taught kindergarten through 6th grade and then teen studio art classes. While she enjoyed teaching, Melanie felt it might be time for a change from her work as a graphic designer. “Things fell into place after we had a fire,” she says. While the conflagration in her studio could have proven a disaster, Melanie turned it around and was determined to continue. She was at a crossroads and trying to decide if she should continue with graphic design or move towards fine art. She had been thinking about opening a gallery, then the fire happened. The studio nearly burned down but with insurance, Melanie decided to redo the space as a gallery. She also offered art classes to students, something she was comfortable doing. Melanie says of the early days when she started the gallery, “We had a lot of artist friends and decided to invite 10-12 artists to show at the gallery. The work was in all different mediums, and after getting started, we added more and we now have over 30 artists exhibiting at our gallery. Some of the artists worked at the gallery and used the studio space, which showed our customers artists at work.” As well as the exhibit space, Melanie was focused on featuring art classes. With experience as an art teacher, she could offer classes, and invite other artists to teach as well.
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