There will be two opening artist receptions at the WOW Center.:
The exhibit features more than 35 images, including large 20” X 20” color mounted prints, accompanied by smaller black and white portraits that offer personal views of the seniors, as well as brief bios and quotes of the individuals expressing what life, family and community. means to them.
The subjects were selected by Hughes with the assistance of artist James Johnson-Corwin and WOW President Bob Plasse, co-curators of the downtown gallery. They worked with Tina Gorman, Special Projects Coordinator of the Westfield Council on Aging to identify folks who would be willing to participate.
Celebrating their exceptional lives and accomplishments, the exhibition features familiar faces like Judge John Greaney, Dr. Gurpal Kingra, Maria Perez of East Mountain Country Club and Edie Sullivan, mother of two Mayors. Other individuals include line dancing instructor Clara Sanborn, former postal supervisor Red Fallon and artists John Gnatek and Ron Edwards. Rose Agouda, Joanie Cepek, Gene and Betty Paulson, Hal Demers, Clara Sanborn, Irene Macutkiewicz, Dick McCorkindale round out the honorees.
Working at a temporary art studio set up at the Westfield Senior Center, Hughes photographed his subjects, while Plasse interviewed them. Many of them were visited outside of the studio at their homes and even places of work to provide a fuller glimpse of their active lives.
Hughes is a regional professional artist from Montgomery, whose work has been exhibited at numerous venues, including most recently at Forbes Library in Northampton and the Arno Maris Gallery at Westfield State, as well as the Museum of Fine Arts in Springfield, the Boston Science Museum and the Danforth Art Museum in Framingham.
The Essence of Aging is part of the “Journey Stories” programming that WOW began two years ago to bring focus to the many segments of Westfield’s diverse community, including celebrations of the Black and Puerto Rican experience.
Hughes’ photography was part of the popular Journey Stories: Faces of Westfield photo exhibit that honored the entire ethnic tapestry of Greater Westfield in May of 2024. The next “Journey Stories” program is slated for this September, when WOW explores the LatinX experience.
Journey Stories is produced by Westfield on Weekends Inc. in association with the Westfield Council on Aging. It is funded in part with grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, Westfield Cultural Council and the City of Westfield’s Downtown Cultural District.
Westfield on Weekends, a 501 (c)(3) volunteer non-profit which seeks to enhance community life through accessible and affordable programming that celebrates the diversity of life in Westfield.
Bill Hughes was introduced to photography at the age of eight when he learned to mix chemicals and develop film in his father’s portrait studio in Lumberton, North Carolina, while observing his father, who also worked for the Associated Press as a photographer.
After graduating from high school, he traveled as a musician in a US Navy Band throughout the Far East. He attended the University of Oregon and the University of Michigan, ultimately earning a BA in Music Education from Westfield State University. Later, he worked in a variety of jobs, including as a New York City taxi driver, a musician in off-off Broadway theater, and as a movie extra for “spaghetti westerns” in Almeria, Spain, in 1969.
In the early 1990s, he began photographing the Latino community in the North End of Springfield, Massachusetts, creating the “Palante” series while studying with photographer Robert Aller at Holyoke Community College. His work was later influenced by the late photographer, historian, critic, and writer Ben Lifson, and later by Frank Ward, also a professor of photography at Holyoke Community College.
In recent years, he has photographed on the streets of Berlin, Prague, Paris, the Greek island of Hydra, New York City, and Venice Beach, California, visiting yearly.
Hughes lives in Montgomery, Massachusetts, with his wife, where he works in his private studio.
Journey Stories is produced by Westfield on Weekends Inc. in association with the Westfield Council on Aging. It is funded in part with grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, Westfield Cultural Council and the Downtown Westfield Cultural District. Sponsored by The Arbors of Westfield and Reminder Publications.
