NORTHAMPTON — The arts scene in Northampton has come a long way from the late 1970s, when young artists began moving into vacant spaces in town and staging theater productions, dance performances and more that, along with new businesses, helped spark a revival of the city’s downtown.
Lisa Thompson has witnessed and been part of that change since arriving in Northampton in the 1970s as a dancer. And for the last 26 years, she’s curated myriad visual art exhibits, coordinated theater presentations, and helped produce many other arts programs as the associate director of Available Potential Enterprises, Ltd. (A.P.E.), the Northampton nonprofit organization.
Now Thompson is getting ready to hand day-to-day direction of A.P.E., both at its Main Street gallery and at 33 Hawley, the Northampton Community Arts Trust building, over to new leadership. But she plans to stay involved in the city’s arts scene in different ways after doing her part for years to shepherd things along.
“This is something we’ve been working toward [at A.P.E.] for the last few years,” Thompson said in a recent interview. “We want to make this a smooth transition and to keep developing the kinds of programs that are the core part of our mission.
“It’s been very satisfying to me to try and present artists in the best way we can, to make sure they have a good experience and that [exhibits] benefit the community,” she said.
And, Thompson notes, perhaps the most rewarding part of her job has been getting to know dozens and dozens of artists, curators, interns, and others involved in the Valley’s arts scene over the years: “The relationships and friendships I’ve developed have been so important to me.”
One of those relationships has been with Kathy Couch and Mollye Maxner, who will take over the day-to-day operations of A.P.E.
Couch, a lighting designer, educator, and artist — she’s also the president of the Northampton Community Arts Trust — has been involved with A.P.E. in different capacities for years. As one example, she helped develop a summer program, ARC (Activate, Research, Create), in which artists create shorter, less conventional exhibits at the Main Street gallery that can include things like visitor participation.
Maxner, a Northampton native who recently moved back to the area, has been active in theater and arts education for years and was initially involved in A.P.E. alongside Couch over 20 years ago, when A.P.E. was still located on the top floor of Thornes Marketplace.
“Kathy and Mollye bring a huge amount of background in the arts to the organization,” Thompson said. “They’ve worked very closely before, and they’ll be able to bring that experience to work as we go forward … they understand our priorities.”
Thompson’s involvement with A.P.E. began in the 1970s when she was a member of Dance Gallery, the group’s resident dance company. A.P.E. itself was started by the late Gordon Thorne, one of the co-owners of Thornes Marketplace, and local artists; for close to 30 years the organization used space at the top of the downtown retail building for a range of performances, workshops, and other events.
Thompson left the area for about 18 years but returned in the mid-1990s and began working with Thorne in a number of capacities, eventually becoming A.P.E.’s associate director. The organization had to leave Thornes Marketplace in 2006 when the building was sold; it opened its Main Street Gallery in 2008 and also took up space at 33 Hawley over the last several years.
Thompson credits Annie Woodhull, A.P.E.’s director and Gordon Thorne’s widow, with keeping the organization focused on its mission, especially since Thorne’s death in 2018.
“Annie is someone who really cares about our role as a nonprofit,” she said. “We’re not based on sales, so we can afford to take risks, to work with emerging artists and give them exposure, to see what the community is interested in.”
Thompson’s role in the arts not been limited to A.P.E. She helped create Northampton’s monthly Arts Night Out program, for one, and has worked with Historic Northampton on documenting the more recent history of the city’s art programs.
She’s also a member of the Northampton Community Arts Trust and has been closely involved in the continued development of 33 Hawley. As such she’s excited about the $2.5 million in federal funding the Arts Trust was awarded in spring to complete the last renovations for the building, in particular the 3,800-square-foot black box theater/performance space known as the Workroom Theater.
That work is expected to be completed next year, she said. “I can hardly wait,” she said. “I will definitely be staying involved with that.”
Thompson will discuss her life and career in the Valley’s arts community in a Thursday, Nov. 3, talk that’s part of Historic Northampton’s lecture series. This online talk takes place at 7 p.m. Sliding scale admission of $5-$25.You can register by visiting historicnorthampton.org and clicking on the link for “programs.”
Steve Pfarrer can be reached at spfarrer@gazettenet.com.