“Face to Face” with Artist/Musician Lennie Peterson Music and Art for a Lifetime of Creative Teamwork (Massachusetts) – The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority will host an Open House and Art tour of the five exhibitions currently featured at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. The evening’s Open House will conclude with “Face to Face,” an exhibition and interactive presentation with Boston-based artist and musician Lennie Peterson. Peterson’s BCEC exhibition features 10 large portraits of seminal figures in the history of music. Five composers rooted in traditional and modern classical forms face five innovators in the history of jazz music. The series of artwork pay tribute to the musical geniuses, celebrating the marriage between music and visual art and the influence composers have on each other. “My earliest childhood memories are of making art and music with family and friends, nurtured and encouraged by my parents and sisters. I feel extremely fortunate that my upbringing has brought me to a place where I can combine my passions of art, music, and teaching.” Peterson feels this upbringing was his training ground for the improvised, creative process of teamwork, where he first learned the value of creative thinking, both face to face and inside the box. “Face time is a very valuable aspect of co-creation in any aspect of life or business. Musicians especially need to have a certain trust and team mindset, whether they are composing, performing, or improvising with fellow musicians. Music and art are perfect metaphors to make that point while thinking ‘inside the box’ of deadlines, budgets, and so on. Those boundaries can actually be an advantage to thinking in a freer, more cohesive manner.” To illustrate, Peterson’s drawings are improvised within a basic frame or outline of the form. The details are then rendered with a stream of consciousness flow, similar, he says, to the process of creating improvisational music. Peterson’s award-winning artwork has been exhibited throughout the United States with several solo shows in New York City and at the Harvard University. His large composer portraits have been purchased from buyers throughout the world, including Japan, Spain, and Wales. Peterson is also a producer, an arts educator, and a former professor at Berklee College of Music. The Face to Face exhibition is dedicated to both Peterson’s father Clifford, a musician, and his late mother Shirley, an artist. The Open House and Art Tour is being held at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center on Thursday, December 1st from 5:30 to 7 P.M. with Peterson’s presentation beginning at 7 P.M. For audience members of all ages and all walks of life, the event is free and open to the public with refreshments and a cash bar available. ###
Back