On Thursday, November 29, PRESS: Letterpress as a Public Art Project will open its sixth DownStreet Art 2012 installation, “Captured Life.” An opening reception will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.This exhibition showcases the works of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) four graduating Art Majors: Adriana Alexatos, Sarah Howard, Kimberly Lavigne and Julia McDonald. Every graduating art major creates a final exhibition as part of MCLA’s Senior Art Project.

This thesis show is coordinated by MCLA Assistant Professor of Art and PRESS founder Melanie Mowinski. PRESS is pleased to host the sixth installment of the senior art show since the art major’s inception four years ago.

Captured Life, features a spectrum of mediums from photography, printmaking, mixed media collage, charcoal drawings, paintings as well as sculpture. The artists express a multitude of subject matter, from the humorous to the macabre.

Adriana Alexatos

Adriana Alexatos creates work that aims to amuse and inspire through contrasting images and symbols within relief printmaking and collage. Inspired by Day of the Dead folk art and a set of outdated encyclopedias Adriana plays with concepts of death and reality. For Adriana the procedures involved in the making of a complete piece are every bit as exciting as the resulting composition.

Sarah Howard

Sarah Howard works within the field of photojournalism. Working as assistant photographer at the North Adams Transcript, Sarah has been supplied with the joyous experience of photographing people, places and events. Her images consist of celebrations, sporting events, disasters and annual events of Northern Berkshire County.

Kimberly Lavigne

Kimberly Lavigne focuses on mixing photography, typography and collage to create a visceral response. Kimberly’s work captures different points of life that are expressed in very personal views. Her work has grown with how she has overcome these obstacles.

Julia McDonald

Julia McDonald is profoundly interested in studying the processes of preservation and decay. In her mind, preserved things are wonderful, but the truly beautiful relics wear their age in rust and crackle. Logic insists that a life is best quantified after its completion. But while this stands, the passage of time ultimately hides the trials and triumphs of most individuals. At a certain point, an object as simple as a medicine bottle found in the woods or a worn tombstone bereft of its letters can stand as the only evidence left of a person. That item captures their life.