The Center is proud to host the show French Eyes on Boston, a collection of portraits and landscapes painted by Marguerite Wibaux, who moved to Boston from France in 2017.

Marguerite’s landscapes marry the Renaissance perspective tradition with an American expressionist approach. The paintings engage with the artist’s perceptions of various points of view in Boston. From a pictorial standpoint, the landscape series explores various mediums and techniques, mixing oil and spray paint with acrylic and collage.

But what is a city without its people? The second component of Marguerite’s work explores Boston’s youth through portraiture.

These paintings aim to pay tribute to a rich diversity of styles, personalities, genres, origins, and cultures in a visually thriving and energizing series.

The gallery opening will include a presentation of Marguerite’s work and a reception with light refreshments. Registration required.

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French artist and Boston resident Marguerite Wibaux will lead a workshop on alla-prima, a technique made famous by Matisse.
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Marguerite will lead this fascinating workshop, which will begin with an explanation of the technique and a presentation of the model. The attendees will then be invited to pick up their brushes and produce their own portraits, alla-prima.  Easels, canvas, brushes and acrylic paint provided will be provided to all attendees.

About Marguerite Wimbaux

A member of the Center since 2017, Marguerite has quite the atypical career. After graduating with an MBA from the prestigious HEC Paris, Marguerite worked in advertising for the most-renowned French Maisons, from Cartier and Hermès to Van Cleef, Hennessy, the Italian Cavalli, and Armani.

These past experiences in the realm of couture translate into Marguerite’s art. There is a passion for patterns and an obsession with composition and structure, while staying true to the energy and character of her subjects.

The colorful diversity of Marguerite’s artwork is also influenced by her childhood. Marguerite was born in Argentina, and has lived in Peru, Italy, China, France, and the USA.

Currently, Marguerite’s pieces are commissioned and sent to galleries across the globe, from Milan to New York. 

To learn more, visit Marguerite’s website: https://margueritewibaux.com/

Mix and mingle with Boston’s Francophones at the French Cultural Center

March is le mois de la Francophonie! Join the French Cultural Center as they celebrate the launch of this annual celebration of the French language and Francophone cultures. This is a great opportunity to meet Boston’s Francophone institutions and sample delicious drinks and light bites from their respective cultures!

Come meet representatives from business, governments, and nonprofits and learn more about their community offerings, calendar of events, travels, studies, and work and visa programs.

Come one, come all for what promises to be a festive evening!

FREE – RSVP REQUIRED

Learn from industry leaders how social media can help you successfully build your business.

Join Davio’s Boston and Giovanni Nencini from LUX Imports for a 4 course dinner paired with wine!

Learn more about the School of Fashion Design’s opportunities to continue your fashion education.

Meet faculty the School of Fashion Design, tour their studio classrooms, and see sketching, pattern making, sewing, and draping in action!  This open house can serve as a guided journey through the fashion design learning process from concept to finished garment!

Please note that the program begins promptly.
10 a.m. Welcome | 10:20 a.m. Tour and demos

Somerville’s popular Bow Market comes to Precinct’s patio for one day only!

Precinct Kitchen + Bar invites you to join them on their patio for a one-day Bow Market pop-up.  Vendors include:

• Adelante, custom shoes, handmade by craftsman in Guatemala
• Blue Bandana Relics, a curated collection of vintage Americana and quality American brands.
• Buenas, all sorts of South American goodness you can eat on the spot or take home to use in your own recipes. Think: take-n-bake empanadas, pastry dough to make your own empanadas (and other stuff), and sauces you can use for everything from roasting chicken and salmon, to topping oysters.
• In Season Food Shop, made-to-order meals and drinks, local food products, and a curated selection of grocery essentials
• Maca, chic and cheeky, regular and character macarons that range in flavors from vanilla to blueberry basil cheesecake.
• Peston, unique accessories, fleeky home goods and apparel.
• Happy Cactus, succulents, cacti, air plants, exotic plants, ethically sourced butterflies, crystals, gems, fossils and pretty much anything extraordinary Mother Nature creates.
• Additionally, guests will also enjoy soaps and creams from the Sentas Family Farm and much, more!

Precinct  will be serving their regular breakfast, brunch and lunch menus all day long, so reserve your table and head over!

French Cultural Center’s French Innovation series looks at French fashion innovations.

Fashion plays a significant cultural, societal, and economic role in France. The second program in the French Cultural Center’s French Innovation series will explore this French staple, from the fashion of its royal courts to the country’s indefatigable status as a pioneer in fashion and luxury innovation today. 

Gwen van den Eijnde, of RISD, will enlighten us on French contributions to the world of fashion, from the first mentions of style in the fifteenth century to the liberation of women by Chanel and Dior. 

For a peek into new innovations in the fashion world, Christophe Guberan will introduce us to his Active Shoes research project, which explores the future of shoe production and performance with self-transforming textiles. 

Event in English. A reception with refreshments will be provided after the discussion.

Guests are welcome to explore our eye-opening French Innovation exhibition in our gallery, featuring sketches, models, and more related to this series’ programs.

About the Panelists

Christophe Guberan is a Swiss industrial designer who teaches product design at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The buzzing and innovative ecosystem of the Greater Boston Area allows him to augment his practice while experimenting with new research and technological development.

In 2014, Guberan began collaborating with the MIT Self-Assembly Lab and Founder & Director Skylar Tibbits, a pioneer in 4D printing, to create “active shoes” under the Minimal Shoe project for Design London Museum. Guberan has continued his exploration of material interactions, digital manufacturing, and self-assembly processes. His projects include Hydro-Fold, Liquid to Air, and his most recent collaboration with Tibbits, Rapid Liquid Printing, which tackles speed, scale, and quality challenges in 3D printing technology by printing objects suspended in a gel-like medium.

Gwen van den Eijnde is a Dutch-French designer working in the disciplines of fashion, fine art, and theatre. Through his expressive, avant-garde clothing and costume designs, he creates captivating characters and tells enthralling stories that stretch the imagination. A professor at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), van den Eijnde’s multi-layered approach is informed by his deep knowledge of fashion history and theory; his work is a commentary on the peculiarities of life, often finding subversive humor and fantasy rooted in fact. Van den Eijnde has studied and worked with some of the most esteemed practitioners in his field, including artist Edith Dekyndt in the Atelier Textile of the Ecole Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs de Strasbourg, costume designer Olivier Bériot, choreographer Robyn Orlin, and the revered Hermès atelier, Petit h. Before joining the faculty at RISD, he was visiting professor at the Fashion department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and Head of Textile Design at the Haute École des Arts du Rhin in Mulhouse.

In this illustrated lecture, landscape scholar Judith B. Tankard surveys the inspiration, characteristics, and development of garden design during the Arts & Crafts Movement.

Tankard presents a selection of houses and gardens of the era from Britain and the United States, with an emphasis on the diversity of designers who helped forge a truly distinct approach to garden design. Her lecture is the first event in a series of exhibition programming for The Gardens of Rose Standish Nichols, 1890-1935 opening May 16, 2019 at the Nichols House Museum.

Learn about France’s contributions to aerospace.

It has been 50 years since the supersonic Concorde took flight, and France’s significance in the aerospace industry continues today. In fact, last year the French aerospace industry was ranked second in the world.

For the culmination of our French Innovation series, we invite you to learn more about this top-ranking industry. Specifically, we will focus on French on aeronautic advancements, from hot air balloons and a plane shaped like a bat to current efforts to reduce aircraft emissions.

Aaron Lewis of Ariane­space, the world’s leading commercial satellite launch provider, will tell us what it takes to reach for the stars. Vik Kachoria of Spike Aerospace will uncover the secrets of the next generation of supersonic commercial jets.

Event in English. A reception with refreshments will follow the discussion.

Guests are welcome to explore our eye-opening French Innovation exhibition in our gallery, featuring sketches, models, and more related to this series’ programs.

About the Panelists

Aaron Lewis is Vice President Corporate Communications & Government Relations at Arianespace, a leading satellite launch company. Aaron is also Associate Director of Future Space Leaders, a foundation aiming to advance learning and professional enrichment of young space professionals and future leaders pursuing careers in the fields of space and satellites.

Prior to joining Arianespace, Inc., Aaron was a press secretary and legislative assistant for U.S. Representative Dana Rohrabacher – who is Chairman of the Space and Aeronautics subcommittee. Aaron graduated from St. John’s College Annapolis, Maryland where he studied the History of Math and Science, and Philosophy.

Vik Kachoria, CEO of Spike Aerospace, Inc., is a seasoned aerospace executive with 30 years of industry experience. Vik’s career has included management of, and consulting for, high-growth ventures including supersonic jets, VLJs, air taxis, charter flights, sub-orbital rockets, and solar-powered satellites.