Project Art History: A Timeline
Sergei & Leslie purchase a 19th-century mill between Main Street and the Westfield River in Cummington, MA. Once a cotton mill (1812-1841), the building served as a whetstone cutting mill, a woodworking shop (1859), and later the Cummington Manufacturing Company. It also became one of the first buildings in Cummington with electricity. Soon after Leslie and Sergei purchased the mill in 2004, construction began to create apartments, studio space, offices, and gallery space.
Sergei Isupov in front of Project Art during construction, 2005
Project Art, 2003, pre-construction
Hilltown 6 Pottery Tour began as a grassroots effort by six ceramic artists opening their studios to the public. What started as a modest weekend event has grown into an anticipated annual destination, drawing collectors, curators, and visitors from across the region. The tour offers rare access to working studios and showcases the range, rigor, and relevance of contemporary ceramics being made in rural New England.
Meanwhile, the Renovation at Project Art was well underway, with the development of our studios and offices. Sergei Isupov received a kiln delivery to produce large works. The kiln had to be air lifted through what is now his personal studio.
Kiln Delivery to Project Art, 2005
Kiln Delivery to Project Art, 2005
The town of Cummington launches Reflections, a grant funded public art project to create new works reflecting on the land and history of the area. Sergei Isupov debuts “Miss Comet”, a 9’ sculptural mosaic of ceramic shards sourced from local pottery studios. Throughout the process, unwanted, forgotten, chipped, broken plates and other treasures, including “mudsharked” river shards were left at the sculpture’s base to be incorporated. Donations came with tales of family histories, prior ownership, unfortunate demise or abandonment. Ceramic shards include fragments of work by Michael McCarthy, Paul Scott, Mark Shapiro, Eric Smith, Mara Superior, and Connie Talbot. Part archaeology, part commemoration, each object tells a story and provides an opportunity to reflect on the present and history in this small but deeply connected Western Massachusetts community.
Sergei Isupov & Kadri Parnamets, “Miss Comet”, 2022 Mosaic Installation at Project Art.
