A dancing octopus in a tutu, reaching for the moon. It’s a vivid image, one that artist Jason Hart of South Dennis, created for the Woods Hole Film Festival two years ago.
He landed the job after attending our inaugural Creative Exchange meetup in February 2022, held virtually to explain new updates to the program to benefit artists, arts leaders, and individuals working in the arts sector. At the end of the session, the festival’s Executive Director Judy Laster mentioned she was looking for an artist to design its image for last year’s event.
“Jason contacted me afterwards and he seemed like a great fit for a variety of reasons, not the least of which he is talented,” Laster said. “He was just great to work with and we’ve continued to work with him. It’s a lot to ask somebody to create an image that really portrays the festival in a way an audience is going to understand, and he is very capable of doing that.”
A graduate of Syracuse University with a degree in English and fine art, Hart moved to the Cape nearly 30 years ago. “My parents used to come here in the summer for two weeks every year and I always loved it,” he said. “When I finished up at Syracuse, I was trying to figure out what to do so I came to Cape Cod.”
Over the past 25 years, Hart has enjoyed a full-time career as a creative professional, doing graphic design for print shops, magazines and newspapers, a greeting card company, and IFAW. He currently balances his artistic pursuits – he writes and illustrates children’s books – with a full-time job as an art teacher at St. John Paul II in Hyannis.
“Art is kind of the core of who I am,” Hart said. “It gives me a place to go where I am in total control over everything I’m creating to put the real world aside as an escape.”
As a self-described introvert, Hart recommended the AFCC’s Creative Exchange meetups to all artists, not just because he landed work from it. “When you’re around your kind of people, it is easier to be yourself,” he said. “And being an artist tends to be a solitary pursuit, so it is good to get out of the office and be around other people. These meetups have really become a good resource for artists.”
The 33rd Annual Woods Hole Film Festival begins on Saturday, July 27th and runs through Saturday, August 3rd. Click here to see the full lineup of films for this year’s festival.
You can view more of Jason Hart’s art at his website, https://storieswithhart.com/.
