By CAROLYN BROWN
Staff Writer
It’s not uncommon for a small nonprofit not to have a physical space. It is, however, ironic when that nonprofit itself is called Human Scale Art Space.
STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS
Rick Colson, the founder of Human Scale Art Space, poses for a photo in Northampton. Human Scale Art Space is a relatively new nonprofit that aims to promote and provide education about the arts, especially the visual arts, in the Pioneer Valley.
The Northampton-based organization Human Scale Art Space aims to advance visual arts, especially photography, in the Pioneer Valley. As much as founder Rick Colson, a photographer and owner of the sustainable photography lab EcoVisualLab, appreciates the irony, what’s more important is “the idea of art on a human scale,” he said. “It’s the idea of helping artists. It’s the idea of bringing art to the community. It’s the idea of educating artists.”
Colson’s journey to Human Scale Art Space began with the Colson Gallery, a photography gallery in Easthampton’s Eastworks, which opened in 2016. He’d gotten a good deal on rent, and he was able to fund the gallery’s expenses with the profits from a long career in marketing. At the time, half of the gallery space served as the western Mass satellite gallery for the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester. However, after a year with minimal sales, Colson closed the gallery.
His next endeavor was giving a local house a fully sustainable renovation, adding solar panels, a heat pump, and a second level with wood reclaimed from a torn-down hotel in Bernardston. However, the project was plagued by bad timing – namely, the onset and peak of the pandemic.
“We lost our plumber. We lost our electrician. Several of the people that were involved died. It was really a horrible, horrible time and put a great deal of stress on me personally to get it finished. But we did,” he said. “We got it finished.”
Recovering from the stress involved in putting that together took a lot out of Colson, but he decided he needed to pivot. He decided to create another arts venture – this time, a nonprofit, which would allow him to apply for grants and donations rather than having to fund everything out of his own pocket. Besides that, he said, “I really missed the interaction with artists. I missed collegiality. I missed the art.”
Now, Human Scale Art Space has 501(c)(3) status, and Colson is working on applying for grants to continue its operations and programming. Plus, of course, he’s looking to get the organization a permanent location. That said, they do have an office – it’s in a “net-zero solar-powered facility,” said Colson, “about as sustainable an operation as you can get.” (It’s a space over his garage.)
“Humble beginnings,” he said.
Even without a space, the organization has, and is working to expand, a presence in the community. In November, through a partnership with the Parlom Room Collective, Colson co-hosted a stage photography workshop at Iron Horse with John Elder Robison, a Human Scale Art Space board member, photographer, and bestselling author. Colson said Human Scale Art Space has also formed positive relationships with the Northampton Center for the Arts, Big Red Frame, AIRSpace Gallery, and other organizations and venues, and they’re aiming to grow their reach.
Still, as Colson looks to the organization’s future, he wants to be responsive to the specific needs of artists in the Pioneer Valley. In a follow-up email, Colson wrote, “We would really like to know what artists in our community want or need in the way of education and other opportunities. What would help them? What would help the community? We want to hear from them about how we can be helpful.” (If interested, email rickcolson@humanscaleartspace.org with your suggestions.)
“We’ll find a way to be a support for artists in the area one way or another,” Colson said. “We may not ever have a physical space, but we don’t necessarily have to.”
After all, in the chaotic current moment, art is a lifeline for so many people.
“Art is a way that people connect. It’s a way that people contribute to their own mental health,” Colson said. “Art is a way to share. It’s a way to form relationships. It’s a way to communicate. It’s a way to develop friendships. It’s a way to develop a community around you, and all of those things are perhaps more important now than they’ve been in recent history.”
The organization’s upcoming events include a reading from Colson’s memoir in mid-April and a Polaroid photography workshop in June. The dates and locations of some other upcoming programming, including a large-format photography workshop, a photo exhibition of Superfund sites, have not yet been determined.
For more information, visit humanscaleartspace.org.
Carolyn Brown can be reached at cbrown@gazettenet.com.
