SCENE + SEEN
The Floating Gallery
An Art Space with a New Twist
By Abby Remer
Our lovely island is surrounded by water, so a floating gallery makes perfect sense. Founder, painter, social practice artist, and curator Marion Wilson encountered the vessel during the pandemic while taking her daily walks. Entranced by both the boat and locale on Lagoon Pond, she acquired it from retired boatbuilder Rick Brown in 2021. Wilson repurposed the houseboat into the Floating Gallery, a unique mobile art studio–the only one of its kind in the nation–that hosts intriguing exhibitions and cultural events.
A recent portrait show this Summer titled “Your Face is A Clock” examined beauty and annihilation, women, sexuality, queer identities, body politics, pastiche, and effigy. The group show celebrated who we are as individuals and communities, defying simple categorization. The show featured photographs, oil paintings, acrylics, watercolors, prints, fabric, and even carved lipstick. And while the styles varied widely, each piece was a stirring image that struck at our very core.
Past exhibitions have been environmentally based. “This summer, though, thinking about the times that we’re in right now, says Wilson, “I wanted a show that was a little more strident, talking about some of the issues and challenges we are living with as a society.”