When I went to the opening of BostonArt’s newly renovated space, courtesy of my firm Elaine Construction, on Thursday night, I was struck by the breadth of their offerings.  Located at 21 Drydock Ave in the Seaport, part of the attraction of the space for me is always going to be its ocean view.  To gaze out at the water, even when it’s gray and stormy, grounds me.  Reminds me of who I am, and where I came from.  Not our origin, though we all emerged from salt water, but rather geographically, from my Cape Cod seaside upbringing.  So it’s true that this view, for me, is one of the most beautiful canvases a person could set eyes upon.  Having said that, BostonArt gives you cause to be distracted.

It “artfully” accomplishes many missions, showcasing the artwork as a museum might, storing, restoring, framing and making new again, while all the while workers sit in perimeter offices – presumably doing the hard work of branding, selling, selecting, and advising their clients on just the right pieces and installations for their spaces.  How they manage to remain focused between the view out the expansive industrial windows, and the paintings and photographs that line the walls and are meant to showcase the offerings, but frankly serve as the inhabitants personal collection – is beyond me.  It’s stunning.  It’s fun, bright, subdued, fine, graphic and photographic, art, and sculpture.

Room with a view.

To my delight I spied a painting by my good friend John Jay Vinton in one of the offices and thought, hum, I wouldn’t have imagined his work in an office setting, which got me thinking, is that all they do?  The answer is of course no!  How uninformed can a gal get.  In addition to procuring art for hospitals, and corporate offices they do large scale residential, and wait for it….small scale urban apartments too!  Now we’re getting somewhere.  I stumbled upon this service a few years back, but truthfully thought that I must first have important art, and second, a good deal of it, in order to hire the likes of a consultant.  BostonArt may be my solution.  I saw one piece in particular that I really loved, hanging around, just waiting to be discovered, no doubt, by me.  It would be pretty cool to have them come and assess my “collection”, and make recommendations on how to fill in the gaps, re-frame, group, and all those things they do so well that makes a normal space say – At last…my art has come around.