Caomhnórí

Three artists at Western Avenue Lofts are presenting collaboratively about their work and the common threads that link them. Residents of the Western Avenue Lofts, Paul Carlson, a renowned concert pianist, Seiki Imagica, a Japanese Flamenco guitarist and global digital music producer, and Meghan Walsh, an internationally-recognized contemporary stone mosaic artist and architect will present their work and discuss artistic influences in a late afternoon gathering at Loft 112 at Western Avenue Lofts on Saturday, April 1^st, 2023, from 4:45-6:15pm. 

The performance ends that day of Open Studios at the Western Avenue Studios and Lofts that same day from 12-5p. Paul Carlson will be playing rarely played work of Alan Hovhaness, an Armenian-American composer born and raised in Somerville/ Andover who passed away in 2000. Flamenco guitarist Seiki Imagica will be focusing on Japanese traditional music, rich in minor chords. Meghan Walsh, a recent Lowell resident, originally from Salem, MA who has lived overseas and in Washington, DC for most of her adult life, will present her work in the context of the ancient stone mosaic tradition and the current global evolution in contemporary art. 

A small collection of Walsh’s work will be on display at Loft 112 for the first time in Lowell in a collection called Caomhnórí – a word in the Irish language – Gaeilge – meaning ‘guardians’ or ‘custodians’ in English. The word signifies the way that traditional and historical arts can both be preserved but still transform. Walsh uses Irish language words to name many of her works of art and exhibitions to intentionally to call attention to all UNESCO-endangered languages and the critical importance to our collective humanity of what is often invisible and undervalued.