Cumberland Library to feature local artist

CUMBERLAND — Local artist Michael Perron will be exhibiting a number of his paintings in the Cumberland Public Library’s Hayden Art Gallery during the month of July.

The exhibit will be accessible on the second floor whenever the library is open.

Perron took his first art class junior year in high school and was both encouraged and inspired by his public school art teacher, who saw that he had talent.

He was encouraged to submit pieces for recognition and won. Perron went on to take art classes outside of school and decided to pursue art by attending UMass-Dartmouth, taking a broad slate of studio courses ranging from metal fabrication, furniture design, ceramics, calligraphy, jewelry/metals, and of course, painting.

Perron began teaching in Sharon, Mass., in 1998, where he continues his work as a special education teacher in the public high school. Perron is also a part-time instructor of teen oil painting at Hunakai Studio of Fine Art in Foxboro, Mass.

Perron’s painting styles range from realistic to impressionistic, where the more representational works sometimes tell a story. His subjects sometimes are portraits of his family, landscapes, or stilllifes. He always attempts to capture the constant contrasting light and dark values, common to all subjects, in his painting.

Perron has also exhibited work at the Westerly Public library, and at Hunakai Studio of Fine Art.

For more information about the exhibit or meet and greet event, contact Aaron Coutu at 401-333-2552, ext. 128 or acoutu@cumberlandlibrary.org. Area artists interested in booking a future exhibit may also contact Coutu.