Miami - A Subject of Gagnon by Teresa Sullivan

Miami - A Subject of Gagnon

by Teresa Sullivan

Marc Gagnon has lived in South Florida since 1997. Gagnon ventured in Miami as early as February of 1997. Gagnon moved to South Florida after being laid off from Fleet National Bank. Gagnon frequently did fashion photography on Brickell Ave, Key Biscayne, Coconut Grove and South Beach in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Gagnon also did some art shows in Miami at the Mansion and the State. Gagnon recently did a piece on the City of Miami which includes surrounding areas of Coconut Grove, and North Miami Beach.

Below is the art collage with some of the images included in the piece. If you wish to buy the collage, it is $250 for a 16 X 20 piece on drymount board and signed by the artist. You can send the check payable to Marc Gagnon Inc., 131 Daniel Webster Highway, #246, Nashua, NH 03060 or 1844 N. Nob Hill Rd, #226, Plantation, FL 33322.

Marc Gagnon Discovers and Works with five New England Models

Marc Gagnon Discovers and Works with five New England Models

By Teresa Sullivan, Marc Gagnon Inc.

Marc Gagnon, photographic artist, has an educational background through a Bachelor’s Degree program and a Masters of Education program in career counseling through Rivier College out of Nashua, NH. In the early 1980s he developed six extraordinary models and talent out of Salem, Manchester, and Nashua NH as well as out of Westford, Framingham and Tewksbury Massachusetts.  The managing and developing of these models were not intentional.  Gagnon used his educational background of group dynamics to help develop them as professionals, develop their portfolios,  landed them local modeling gigs to show prospected agencies that they should sign them, as well as landed them commercial and acting gigs.  Each one of the people was signed to agencies in NYC which included CED, ICM, William Morris, Wilhelmina and Click. “A common quality amongst New Englanders,” says Gagnon “is to credit others for their help and ideas.”  Gagnon made numerous trips to visit photographer Jean Renard, who was out of Boston located on Berkeley Street, down the hall from Copley 7 Models.  Jean Renard himself has been instrumental in the helping of models’ careers; such as Nikki Taylor from South Florida.

Gagnon has once again found 5 potential superstar models both with the look, intelligence, creativity, as well as the substance to move forward in their careers. He has found Ashley Lacroix, Heather James, Erica Langston, Eva St. Laurent and Susan Gidley.  Ashley Lacroix is attending Bauder College for fashion merchandise. Erica Langston is attending Middlesex Community College in communications and media studies.  Heather James is attending Simmons College in communications and media studies. Eva St. Laurent is majoring in Healthcare Management at University of New Hampshire. Susan Gidley is at University of New Hampshire majoring in communications and media studies.

It was actually these five models that found Marc Gagnon.  On every Friday, all of Gagnon’s staff wear the company polo shirts in the Nashua, NH, Burlington, MA, Fitchburg, MA and Framingham, MA areas, All five of the models recognized the names on the shirts and inquired if Marc Gagnon was looking for models to develop or use for his art pieces. Gagnon has planned some 80 or so collages which these 5 models will be the models used in some of these pieces. John Brody of Our Town News out of Coral Springs will be featuring these models.

Gagnon goes back and forth from Coral Springs, FL to Nashua, NH every other weekend. It has been a little bit difficult in finding the same caliber of models in Florida. He is currently working with Elina Sol as well as Robert Jackson. Gagnon has a couple more prospects in the area of Florida that have not come to fruition.  Below are pictures of Ashley Lacroix, Heather James, Erica Langston, Eva St. Laurent, and Susan Gidley and that order. After is Elina Sol and Robert Jackson out of Florida.

Civil Rights Journey of Marc Gagnon

Civil Rights Journey of Marc Gagnon

By Teresa Sullivan

Marc Gagnon grew up in a State that had limited exposure to minorities. Gagnon went through his first 14 years of education without actually meeting one Afro American person. He first met Jaretta Copeland, Director of the Nashua Soup Kitchen in 1980. Gagnon served on the Leadership Committee then. Jaretta was a single mom, Afro American from Brooklyn, NY looking for a better life in NH. She has been a proponent for people of all races in her whole life.  She is now a caseworker in NH. It was not uncommon for people to state racial statements, probably because of the lack of minorities in the State. Statements like “what am I black,” when not being served expediently in a restaurant was common.  In 1992, Gagnon visited the University of Massachusetts to attend a speaking engagement given by Dr. William Cosby, ED.d.  Marc Gagnon thought the speech was a comedy act. In reality, the presentation was about humanitarian pursuits, specifically racism. In that gathering, Gagnon was touched and felt the pains of others that were victims of racism and close minded people; people he never met.  He met up with Dr. Cosby and made a commitment that he would do his part to speak up for those who did not have the same benefits that non minorities have. 

In the late nineties, he began searching out minorities to work with as models. Marc Gagnon even did an Ebony Magazine advertisement which the picture is shown below.  Gagnon began to utilize minorities in fashion shows for known charities.  Many people took objection with this. In 1997, a television station with a deep history of racism made Gagnon a target.  Gagnon was attacked on the news show late on night in January 1997. It just happens that some years before, the same station refused to air Welcome Back Kotter because they opposed forced busing.  Gagnon worked for a two week period of time for a collections agency as a consultant after being laid off from Fleet Bank which he worked for them for 14 ½ years.  At the time the News show slandered Gagnon, Gagnon was not working for the collection agency and the News station stated he did and never mentioned Gagnon’s 14 year history with Fleet. It was the goal of the station to damage Gagnon’s reputation.  On a separate note, a couple of people began harrassing Gagnon during this time and even stalked Gagnon's parents while driving to the Manchester Airport to pick up Gagnon from a vacation.

Gagnon pushed forward as an artist to speak up for civil rights through his artwork. He has gained the support of Bryant Gumbel as pictured below. His work hangs in the King Center which the piece was accepted by Coretta Scott King. Gagnon has been featured on NBC News showing off the Civil Rights collage. There have been a number of featured articles about Gagnon’s stance for civil rights which is shown in this blog. Gagnon had the recent pleasure of meeting the son of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Martin Luther King III, pictured below. Below are also letters from Mrs. Lyndon Johnson, Coretta Scott King, a letter from Artists VS Racism, as well as a couple of collages that Gagnon created in support of the rights of many. Gagnon has been pursuing this aim, at least since 1992, some 21 years he recollects. As he has been quoted “three minutes of attacking me on TV will not hold me back.”  As you can see when Gagnon had a studio, half of the staff was part of a minority culture. The picture was taken back in 1984. Also below is model and actress Elina Sol, which Marc Gagnon personally manages. Elina Sol was worked with many black music people and Elina supports Gagnon's work on civil rights.

NBC News Interview

Portsmouth, New Hampshire collage

Portsmouth, New Hampshire collage

The Portsmouth NH collage is one of Marc Gagnon's favorite places to visit periodically. Marc has been to First Night (New Year's Eve), and you will see him frequent well known restaurants in the area. Portsmouth is also home to Strawberry Bank as well as the Birthplace of John Paul Jones, legendery Naval hero in the American Revolution.

The piece can be purchase for $200 for a 16 X 20 dry mount piece. Checks can be sent to one of the following places:

Marc Gagnon Inc., 131 Daniel Webster Highway, #246, Nashua, NH 03060

Marc Gagnon Inc., 1844 N. Nob Hill Rd, #226, Plantation, FL 33322

Here is the collage:

Your Lot in Life

Your Lot in Life

     by Teresa Sullivan

This collage is about the story of Sodom and Gomorrah from the Book of Genesis from the Bible. The inner part of the collage is about this story, while the outer part of the collage compares the story to America. In the story, Lot and his wife are told by God to leave the city and not to look back. Lot's wife turns to look at the destruction of the City and is turned into salt.



Referenced in Wikipedia:

Sodom and Gomorrah (pron.: /ˈsɒd.əm/;^[1] pron.: /ɡə.ˈmɔr.ə/^[2]) were cities mentioned in the Book of Genesis and throughout the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and Deuterocanonical sources, as well as the Qur'an. According to the Torah, the kingdoms of Sodom and Gomorrah were allied with the cities of Admah, Zeboim and Bela. These five cities, also known as the "cities of the plain", were situated on the Jordan river plain in the southern region of the land of Canaan. The Jordan river plain (which corresponds to area just north of the modern day Dead Sea^[3]) has been compared to the garden of Eden,^[Gen.13:10] being a land well-watered and green, suitable for grazing livestock.
Divine judgment by Yahweh was then passed upon Sodom and Gomorrah along with two other neighboring cities that were completely consumed by fire and brimstone. Neighboring Zoar (Bela) was the only city to be spared during that day of judgment.^{[Deut.29:23][Gen.10:19]} In Abrahamic traditions, Sodom and Gomorrah have become synonymous with impenitent sin, and their fall with a proverbial manifestation of God's wrath.^{[4][5][Jude 1:7]} Sodom and Gomorrah have been used as metaphors for vice.

America's Sanctuaries collage

America's Sanctuaries collage

by Teresa Sullivan

America's Sanctuaries collage is a very unique piece of artwork created by Marc Gagnon. The piece is based on the literary work of American Script Writer and Producer Gene Roddenberry. Back in the 80s, he wrote a script which was essentially the history of the world. The time was the year 2008 where the economy was suppose to deteriorate which would lead to a great depression. By the year 2020, there would be a Sanctuary in every major city of the United States. In these sanctuaries would house the unemployed, indigent and eventually the mentally ill.  The clip below is from the show Deep Space 9 which shows life in the sanctuary walls. Today, there are some major cities in the USA considering the creation of these sanctuaries. Is this coincidental?

Deep Space 9 concerning the Sanctuary Districts
The name of Gagnon's collage is America's Sanctuary.

The Boston Massacre collage by Marc Gagnon

The Boston Massacre collage by Marc Gagnon

    Blog by Theresa Sullivan, Treasurer of Marc Gagnon Inc.

Marc Gagnon, Photographic Artist, who has over 114 art pieces in permanent collections did a piece on the Boston Massacre, a critical historical event in American History.  John Adams, the man who United a country toward the signing of the Declaration of Independence was the pivotal character in the Boston Massacre incident. Below is the account of the event and then the collage:

The town of Boston was a very uneasy city throughout the 1760's. This uneasiness quickly turned to belligerence in the early part of 1770. Tensions had been mounting from the beginning of the year with various clashes between British sympathizers and colonists. However, in early March the tensions erupted into bloodshed.   On March 5, 1770 a small group of colonists were up to their usual sport of tormenting British soldiers. By many accounts there was a great deal of taunting that eventually lead to an escalation of hostilities. The sentry in front of the Custom House eventually lashed out at the colonists which brought more colonists to the scene. In fact, someone began ringing the church bells which usually signified a fire. The sentry called for help, setting up the clash which we now call the Boston Massacre. A group of soldiers led by Captain Thomas Preston came to the rescue of the lone sentry. Captain Preston and his detachment of seven or eight men were quickly surrounded. All attempts to calm the crowd proved useless. At this point, the accounts of the event vary drastically. Apparently, a soldier fired a musket into the crowd, immediately followed by more shots. This action left several wounded and five dead including an African-American named Crispus Attucks. The crowd quickly dispersed, and the soldiers went back to their barracks. These are the facts we do know. However, many uncertainties surround this important historical event:

• Did the soldiers fire with provocation?
• Did they fire on their own?
• Was Captain Preston guilty of ordering his men to fire into a crowd of civilians?
• Was he innocent and being used by men like Samuel Adams to confirm the oft-claimed tyranny of England?

John Adams defended the British soldiers in a court of law. He defended them well and they were found not guilty as it was found that one of the people in the crowd (a colonist) shouted out "Fire," which resulted in the soldiers firing their flintlocks.