Since 2007, the Attleboro Arts Museum has been an active partner in the NEA Big Read: Attleboro. In this National Endowment for the Arts program, participants are encouraged to read the same book at the same time and extend their connection to the chosen text through local arts and culture activities.

This year the City of Attleboro will be reading the novel Circe by Madeline Miller. In response, the Attleboro Arts Museum presents Scylla: The Ugly Truth Revealed, an invitational exhibition inspired by Millers award-winning novel.

The book reimagines the life of Circe, sorceress of the Odyssey. To escape her lonely existence and the cruel gods of her youth, Circe seeks the company of a mortal fisherman, falls in love, and grants him immortality with the help of a magical herb.

When another nymph, Scylla, lures him away, Circe succumbs to jealousy and uses the herb to punish Scylla and reveal the ugliness within her. Scylla turns into a six-headed sea monster who will smash ships and feed on mortals for the next thousand years.

From Sept. 11-18, Scylla: The Ugly Truth Revealed will appear in-gallery at the Attleboro Arts Museum and online at attleboroartsmuseum.org. The exhibition features interpretations of six-headed, ravenous monsters.

The creatures depicted in Scylla are designed to spark reflections and conversations that address emotional and behavioral monsters that can lurk within individuals, museum Executive Director and Chief Curator Mim Brooks Fawcett said. The monsters on view may or may not have six heads and twelve legs, but they will be persistent, powerful and require taming.

On Saturday, Sept. 12, an NEA Big Read 2020 Kickoff and two reservation-only exhibition afternoon viewings will be held at the museum. Space is limited due to state and local health and safety mandates. Reservations are required by Sept. 11

Exhibiting artists will include Laura White Carpenter, Monica DeSalvo, Liz Sibley Fletcher, Ann-Marie Gillett, Ellie Huntress, Gwendolyn Lanier, Madeleine Lord, Susan Medyn, Emily Oliveira, Theresa Pedrotti, Ellen Shattuck Pierce, Nora Rabins, Lisa Redburn, Linda Rogers, Abby Rovaldi, Heather Stivison, Kerry St. Pierre, and Jess Tracey.

Attleboros NEA Big Read 2020 is funded by Bristol County Savings Bank; a grant from the Attleboro Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency; and the Rotary Club of Attleboro.

NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.

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Attleboro Arts Museum will help kick off Big Read with 'Ugly Truth' exhibition - The Sun Chronicle