CPA Letter of Support-Barry Moser.docxTo the Northampton CPA Committee
When R. Michelson Galleries opened in 1979 I was teaching at the Williston Northampton School and was pleased to be asked to be Michelson’s inaugural exhibit. Since that time, Michelson
has stood solidly behind my career for 40 years. I had my 50th birthday exhibition at the gallery, and my 75th birthday exhibition at the gallery and my recent 80th birthday exhibition.
When my Pennyroyal-Caxton Bible was published in 1999, the work was exhibited at R. Michelson Galleries prior to touring Museums throughout the world. The documentary about the making
of the Bible, “A Thief Among the Angels” was mostly filmed at R. Michelson Galleries, and in my recently completed autobiography I speak about how the gallery was often a meeting place,
and created a community of artists.
I now teach in the art department at Smith College and regularly suggest my students venture downtown and check out the exhibitions at the gallery. None have ever regretted doing so.
The gallery has played an important part in the arts educational of generations of students.
Michelson has supported many dozens of artists in the same way that he has championed my career, and I cannot imagine a downtown Northampton art scene without R. Michelson Galleries
at its center. I know artists that have moved to Northampton just because of the fine arts and illustration scene that the gallery has fostered.
I do not know much about city finances, but I can imagine that Michelson’s clients bring more dollars into the Northampton economy than they are asking for to help preserve this architectural
wonder in the city’s center.
Barry Moser
Artist/Educator