Kim and Scott Cunningham left their mark on the Jaffrey Civic Center.
After serving nearly 10 years as co-directors in the 1990s, as they readied to leave the position, the Civic Center honored them by naming the upstairs gallery space — one that the Cunninghams had helped to improve during their time there — after the couple.
Throughout August, the Cunninghams, both artists themselves, will be honored once again, with a dedicated show of their artwork in the gallery that is named in their honor, titled “Clay, Steel, Ink and Paint.”
Scott Cunningham recalled that when the two came on as directors, one of their mandates was to revitalize the upstairs gallery, which he said had walls of burlap and plywood. The couple repainted the room, which Kim Cunningham said took 28 gallons of paint and constant trips to the hardware store.
Since their leadership, the Civic Center has undergone further improvements, including a hydraulic lift added to give access to the top floor, and a recent renovation of the upstairs classroom in the Cunningham gallery.
“The place is looking fantastic,” said Kim Cunningham. “We’re just so impressed with how great the building looks.”
While both said they have had pieces in previous Civic Center shows, they have never had a dedicated exhibit. The show will feature both of their artwork, which they said ranges from a variety of both 2D and 3D media, including Scott Cunningham’s paintings and his steel metalwork sculptures, and Kim Cunningham’s ceramic artwork, block prints and found material sculptures and collages.
“We’re covering all the bases here,” Scott Cunningham joked.
Kim Cunningham was a career illustrator for 25 years, working as an illustrator for Brookstone, Eastern Mountain Sports and Cobblestone Magazine. She also studied printmaking, and one of her current specialties is block prints.
Kim Cunningham said many of her subjects are related to the natural world, landscapes and a series on Mount Monadnock. She also experiments with combining her block printing with her other medium — ceramics.
Scott Cunningham was the former gallery manager for the Sharon Arts Center.
He usually works on a larger scale than many of the works he’ll have in the upcoming exhibit, with his steel sculptures often being person-sized. Scott Cunningham works in his blacksmithing shop to forge steel into free-form shapes.
“They’re abstract,” he explained. “But they have a lot of motion in them.”
One of the pieces that will be included in the exhibit is “Two Curves,” a smaller sculpture created out of construction I-beams scavenged from scraps from a friend’s steel-framed house.
The exhibit will also feature paintings by Scott Cunningham, who mainly works in casein paint, a fast-drying water-based paint made by mixing pigment with a casein binder, a protein found in milk.
“It produces very bright colors,” he said. “It’s a very old kind of painting.”
This method of making paint dates back to at least prehistoric times, with milk proteins and pigment found on tools as old as 49,000 years old.
He also uses metal pieces from his sculptural work to burn into paper to create “Fire Drawings” similar to branding.
Scott Cunningham recently released a new book, “This Sculptor’s Path,” which is available at the Toadstool Bookshop in Peterborough and will also be available at the Civic Center for purchase during the exhibition. Kim Cunningham’s book “Block, Paper, Chisels” will also be available for purchase during the exhibition.
“Clay, Steel, Ink and Paint” will be on display from Aug. 1 through Sept. 12. There will be an opening reception for the show on Aug. 1, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Civic Center. Visitors can view the show for free during Civic Center hours Wednesday through Friday, from noon to 5 p.m., or Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.