Yesterday we held Le Salon des Refusés at the Arsenal Center for the Arts in Watertown, a stone’s throw from Boston and Cambridge. And, hooray, it was a great success! When we first set up it felt a bit lonely and we wondered if anyone would come. It was so informal—we had no idea even how many artists would show. But show they did! And so did the crowd—much to our amazement.

About thirteen artists hung their work in the space of an hour before we opened the doors to the public. The next two hours—a steady stream of people, friends, people popping in from the theater next door at intermission, fellow artists. I think we had well over one hundred people. It gave us the idea to do an informal show like this every once in a while. It took minimal effort—we cleared the space out the day before, bought some wine and cheese and hung the art. Of course, the space is great!

Someone else said to me—This is theater! It was a fabulous collision of people and energies, chance meetings, inspiration, a look at art and art talk. Just seeing what other people are doing gives us ideas. One friend was showing work for the first time—a real thrill. It’s always great to see friends who’ve taken time out of their Sunday to show up. And thanks to those who were there in spirit! No one sold work but that was not the point. We stirred the energy and that’s a good thing.

As for the art? Splendid, splendid! We’re so beyond judgment—an art in itself! So there! Edouard Manet would be proud, I’m quite sure. And we made sure of this by putting up a poster of Le Dejeuner sur L’herbes. Le Salon is, after all, a tribute to him as well as to ourselves. Let’s just say he’s our inspiration and though our efforts were not so radical as his or so serious—we are marching forward with heads high!

Allan got a chance to hand out flyers for his book,Stories We Need To Know, and to announce his book launch party which will take place in the same space. It also gave us a chance to show the center to friends who came over from Cambridge and other towns around.