Rural infrastructure

 

''Covered Bridge'' (oil on canvas), by GEORGE GARDNER SYMONS, in the collection of the Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, Mass.

Chief Ricci's suicide and other Cianci regime history

 

"Fragile Remains'' (collagraph and trace monotype print), by JOAN HAUSRATH, at the Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, Mass.

For new arrivals in Providence, and citizens with amnesia: Note  this excerpt of  an April 25, 2007 article by Bill Rodriguez in the Phoenix:

''Now that Buddy Cianci’s scheduled July 27 prison release date is approaching, Providence documentary filmmaker Cherry Arnold is getting around to a theatrical release of Buddy, following a successful victory lap on the film festival circuit....''

“'During the screenings outside of RI, in New York for instance, there were more gasps and audible reactions where people who didn’t know Buddy’s story were, I think, shocked by some of what happens, like the police chief [Robert E. Ricci] committing suicide [in 1978] and the assault details,' she notes. “'Outside of RI, lots of people ask during the Q&A why he was able to run for mayor again as a convicted felon. They’re very curious about that.”'

Then there are the sweetheart pension deals  and running City Hall as a criminal operation. But, hey!, nobody's perfect! The heavy price of statesmanship!

As H.L. Mencken's line goes:

''Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.''

But takes longer to dry

 

"The Night Wash'' (Vietnamese nickel lead on black rice paper, on loan from the New Britain (Conn.) Museum of American Art and now on view at the Art Complex Museum, in Duxbury, Mass.

Summer horror

 

"Are We There Yet?'' , by Evelyn Dunbar, at the Alden Studio Gallery, at the Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, Mass.

Soothing to see if not smell

"Shimmer'' (pastel), by LIZ HAYWOOD-SULLIVAN, at the Art Complex Museum, in Duxbury, Mass.

New England's salt marshes are soothing to look at, if not necessarily to smell, especially in the summer.  In any cases they clean coastal waters and act as vast protein factories because of the fish and shellfish they nurture.

From Siberia to Suriname

"Maynard Spring'' (oil on canvas), by GEORGE NICK, at the Art Complex Museum, Duxbury.

It's always a bit of a shocker: A few weeks ago all was brown, gray, black and white, and now, after a couple of warm, wet days, southern New England turns into jungle-like lushness.

'Lame Deer' and 'culled' ones

 

"Lame Deer (Big Eagle)'' (oil on French linen), by ROBERT S. NEUMAN, in the "Robert S. Neuman: Lame Deer Series,'' at the Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, Mass., Feb. 23-May 18.

Soon there will be many fewer deer on Block Island, as a Connecticut firm is being brought in to "cull'' the herd, whose population, and that of the deer ticks that carry Lyme disease, have swollen. Brutal world.

Evoking a past gritty prosperity

 

"The Factory'' (watercolor), by STEPHEN H. HOLLAND, at the Art Complex Museum, in Duxbury, Mass., in the Duxbury Art Association's annual winter juried show.

Our artificial selves

 

Detail of "Swarm'' (hydrocal and wood), by STACY LATT SAVAGE,  at the Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, Mass.