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01907 Winter 2017 interior pages.indd 28 12/4/17 12:02 PM
Art & soul Vineyard provides creative spark for Traeger di Pietro By Meaghan Casey ABOVE: Traeger di Pietro and his dog, Blanche. Photo: Rob Skinnon BELOW: “Touch,” mixed media on canvas LEFT: “They Made Up,” oil on canvas They say the choices you make in high school often determine the path you’ll take into adulthood. Traeger di Pietro can’t argue with that. If he could pinpoint the exact moment that lead him to the career he has today, it would all come down to a decision he made as a freshman at Swampscott High School. It was the basic boy-meets-girl scenario. He met a girl — an artist — and wanted to impress her. “I was the baseball kid wearing Chuck Taylors,” said di Pietro, aware he was probably breaking the mold by signing up for art classes. The relationship didn’t last, but di Pietro’s love for the arts did. He went on to study art and play baseball at the University of New Hampshire, transferring to UMaine when UNH cut its baseball program. Eventually, he stopped playing baseball entirely, placing his sole focus on art. After college, di Pietro packed his bags and hopped on a ferry to Martha’s Vineyard, following the lead of his friend Matt O’Neil, a fellow 1995 graduate of Swampscott High. There must have been something in the water that year, as O’Neil, a celebrated local chef; Peter Woodfork, Major League Baseball senior vice president; Todd McShay, ESPN analyst and commentator; Dave Portnoy, “El Pres” of Barstool Sports; Todd Kline, senior vice president for the Miami Dolphins; Brendan Nolan, a writer for ESPN; Jason Calichman, principal of Swampscott Middle School; and Scott Cuticchia, a national recruiting director, have all gone on to achieve exactly what they hoped to do. The nine of them, who grew up playing sports together, from Little League to varsity baseball and football, have remained close friends. “Not only are they an amazing group of guys, but their families have set the paths for all of us,” said di Pietro. “Dolly and Arthur O’Neil are the best team Swampscott has ever had. And I’m still grateful Matt asked me to come down here that first summer to get a temporary job and paint sunsets. That was 18 years ago, and I haven’t left.” Success didn’t come overnight for di Pietro, but it didn’t take very long for him to garner the attention of the island’s gallery owners. He got his first break when Holly Alaimo, former owner of Dragonfly Gallery, took notice of one of his paintings on display at a local restaurant and asked him to submit a few pieces for a show. “I was so clueless, I didn’t even know what all the red dots on the paintings were when I walked into the gallery,” he said. “I was shocked when she told me it meant they sold.” Today, di Pietro owns a home in Oak Bluffs, lives with his two dogs and two cats and shows his art at Field Gallery, Granary Gallery and North Water Gallery, all owned by Chris and Sheila Morse. His work is also at a gallery in Los Gatos, Calif. On the North Shore, a number of di Pietro’s paintings hang at O’Neil’s restaurants, which include the Blue Ox in Lynn and Ledger in Salem. Di Pietro’s style varies from impressionistic to contemporary, and WINTER 2017 | 29 01907 Winter 2017 interior pages.indd 29 12/4/17 12:02 PM
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