John Simpson's art students from UMass' Commonwealth Honors College turn ninth floor of One Financial Plaza into imposing studio and gallery in downtown Springfield

Space donated by Evan Plotkin helps the visual arts make a comeback along Main Street.

Evan Plotkin has always had a passion for art. Knowing this, it comes as no surprise that the president of Springfield-based NAI Plotkin, a full-service brokerage and management company in the region, is using his resources to better the city through art.

Plotkin’s latest endeavor involves the ninth floor of One Financial Plaza, 1350 Main St., in downtown Springfield.

In late April, Plotkin was approached by John Simpson, an art professor at the Commonwealth Honors College of the University of Masschusetts at Amherst. Simpson was losing his studio space where he stored his artwork and taught due to a problem with the fire suppression system that caused the building to be condemned.

Simpson needed a place to store his paintings on short notice, so Plotkin, co-owner of One Financial Plaza, offered him the empty ninth floor.

“Well as often happens to me, there are things that seem to be problems that turn into opportunities and it’s somewhat serendipitous that this whole situation with the studio came about,” Plotkin said.

What started as a temporary fix to Simpson’s problem soon turned into something much greater. The pair quickly realized that the ninth floor had potential to be much more than a storage space. “The space on the north side has the best light, beautiful views of the city, tile floors and sinks. It was perfect for a studio. I told Simpson to take the space and use it and we’d go from there,” Plotkin said. The ninth floor, which had been unoccupied for six years, has now been transformed by Simpson and his students. “They cleaned and painted and hung paintings and created what is up there right now, which is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful,” Plotkin said of the transformation. The entrance to the gallery is painted in UMass-Amherst colors – maroon and white – and self-portraits of the artists whose work is on display hang on the walls. Above the double doors that lead into the gallery is a quote from author John Updike, “What art offers is space – a certain breathing room for the spirit.” The artwork inside is a mix of the work of Simpson and that of his students. The pieces range from life-size sculptures of Egyptian figurines, to giant mandalas, to replicas of famous paintings. The level of skill shown in the artwork makes it hard to believe that none of Simpson’s students is majoring in art.

Simpson teaches a class of roughly 15 students from Commonwealth College, a smaller college within UMass for top high school students. No prior experience studying art is required to enroll in Simpson’s class; students simply need to obtain “instructor permission.”

For the past few years, Simpson has based the class’s final project on the Springfield Symphony’s final show.

This year, the symphony performed Gustav Holst’s “The Planets Suite.” The students’ works inspired by the 1918 composition – in which Holst pays tribute to seven of the planets in Earth’s solar system and the mythological figures for which they are named – are on display in the lobby of One Financial Plaza, where they will remain until they are replaced by next year’s pieces.

According to Simpson, next year’s theme will be “Fate, Life, and Death,” in association with Springfield Symphony’s final performance of the season, scheduled for May 4, 2013, of Mozart’s Requiem in D minor and Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.

“It’s always fun. It’s never tiring to hear my students say ‘This is the best class,’” Simpson said of class feedback.

Plotkin and Simpson hope that the studio will help further partnership efforts between Springfield and the university, where various departments have been involved in programs for city youth.

The university also has a joint research project with Baystate Medical Center through the Pioneer Valley Life Sciences Institute, located on North Main Street.

“Art has always been the best thing I’ve experienced,” said Plotkin of what seems to be a family passion.

Plotkin sculpts in his spare time, and enjoys singing with his wife, Martha, and three children, Tess, Julian and Sam, often with the Dan Kane Singers.

Sam Plotkin, who attends college in Nashville, Tenn., is already developing a reputation has a singer-songwriter.

Evan Plotkin’s nephew, Nathaniel, is a visual artist and some of his work is scheduled to go displayed at Elms College in Chicopee on Sept. 6.

Evan Plotkin is also involved in a public art collaboration with Chesterfield artist James Kitchen, the Springfield Business Improvement District and WGBY-57, Public Television for Western New England.

The initiative seeks to turn Springfield into a sidewalk gallery space with more art installations and walking tours.

Approximately 18 of Kitchen’s metal sculptures have been installed throughout downtown. Kitchen also has 52 pieces on display inside the former federal office building at 1550 Main St., One Financial Plaza, Tower Square Park and the MassMutual Center.

There are also plans to install a 35-foot bird sculpted by Kitchen out of scrap metal at One Financial Plaza.

Plotkin says the bird, a phoenix, symbolizes the city of Springfield “rising from the ashes.”

“We’re creating a new conversation – creating another narrative about Springfield. That’s the narrative we need to focus on and keep having . . . one where we are a cultural center of the region.”

Two decades ago, downtown had more galleries and art installations. Large-scale painted sneakers from the 2010 “Art and Soles” can be seen stepping from various city locations, and area artist Bob Markey’s glass mosaics of dancers enshrined on the inner wall of the railroad bridge on Dwight Street.

Besides the Springfield Museums at the Quadrangle, other similar venues in the city today include the Pan African Historical Museum USA and Valley Photo Center, both in Tower Square, and the Dane Gallery at Indian Orchard Mills.

Several of the city’s educational institutions also have galleries.

Currently, the UMass studio/gallery is open to the public by appointment. To make an appointment, contact Evan Plotkin at evan@splotkin.com.

To learn more about the work of Kitchen, visit his website at www.jameskitchen.com/