April 19, 2018

Summer vacation hasn’t started yet, but several art locations are hosting collections of student art from the 2017-2018 school year and you should make your way over to check them out. Here’s a listing of the local offerings, as well as a few other upcoming events.

First off, because it’s happening today, April 19, I should mention that the Delaware College of Art and Design is hosting ArtParty from 5:30 to  8:30 p.m. You should check this event out. There will be a live auction and the DCAD Tattoo Parlor for the more adventurous of us. In addition, there will be plenty of art for sale at two art shows: one comprised of collected artwork donated by DuPont through United Way or contributed by alumni, and local professional artists; the other, consisting of work by current students of DCAD. You can also get your caricature or silhouette created by Jerry’s Artarama. While you’re there, write a wish for the future of DCAD and add it to the Wishing Tree! ArtParty tickets are $50. Combine your purchase with a ticket for the Delaware History Maker Awards ($60), and pay a total of $100 for a Rock The Block ticket! So pop by, enjoy refreshments, music, and plenty of art in Wilmington.

“Art of the Forge” show opens  at the Oxford Arts Alliance located at 38 S. Third Street Oxford, PA 19363. Reception opening is from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. Friday, April 20th. The show runs through May 26th, with the artist talk and demonstration April 28th. The exhibit features some of the area’s finest artist-blacksmiths and metal,artists. This is a unique showing of forged metal art featuring the work of Curtis Bohn, John Damiani, Luke DiBerardinis, Ellen Durkin, Lele Galer, Bruce Jerrall, Kerry Rhodes, Rob Sigafoos, and Michael Walker. The piece pictured above according to Galer  “I found the gorgeous twisted pipes in the garbage of Rob Sigafoos and I forged and welded the rest.”

Chester County Art Association will be hosting several student art shows this month. On April 23rd, they will be hosting the opening reception for the  Chester County High School Art Show at their main location from 5 to 7 p.m. This show will be on view until April 28th. You can check out over 500 artworks from high school students in the area. Artists from Avon Grove, Coatesville, DHS East, DHS West, Downingtown Cyber Academy, Downingtown STEM Academy, Great Valley, Kennett, Octorara Junior/Senior, Owen J Roberts, Oxford Area, Phoenixville, Conestoga, Tredyffrin/Easttown, Unionville, West Chester East, West Chester Bayard Rustin, and West Chester Henderson will all be represented. Reception from 5  to 7 p.m. on April 23rd. Coming down on April 28 will be the Art Goes to School show at Exton Square Galleries as well as the Technical College High School Show. Check these out before they come down!

On April 28 and 29th, Kennett Square will be hosting their annual art show Student Art on The Square at The American Legion on State Street. High school artists from the area will participate in a one weekend, two day event where they can showcase their work. Linda Theis, owner of Kennett Jewelers, has been putting this show on for the past several years with great success and I look forward to seeing the impressive amount of student talent that will be on display. While you’re there, check out the Artists On The Square event that will be taking over Broad Street. Activities include, paintings/illustrations/jewelry for sale, sidewalk chalk art, children’s activities, faerie hair, KBC beer garden and live music! Both events run from 12 to 5 p.m.

On Saturday, make a night of it and head down State Street to Contemporary Kennett: A Pop Up Art Event above Nomadic Pies from 5 to 8 p.m. This show, which is hosted in an adorable little apartment, will feature work by six local artists; I should mention that I’m among them, for full disclosure, as well as Emily Townsend, Rebecca Ayscough, Caitlin Kelley, Monserrat Saldivar and Lauren Mulhern. Small bites will be provided by Sarah Bates of Brewer’s Hideaway Farm (although, get there early if you want to catch these) as well as a fun vintage popcorn machine (because POP up art!) Contemporary Kennett is a smaller event hosted/dreamed up by the PopUpArtKSQ, creators of Home Is Where The Art Is: Pop Up Art Tour in November and looks to create that same magical feeling of discovery. Expect to hear more from them in the coming months!

Tune in April 25th to Art Watch on WCHE1520 from 1 to  1:30 p.m. This Wednesday, Lele Galer, artist, hosts wine expert Eric Miller and his guests Sommelier Nichele Konopi of Savona Restaurant and beer expert Russell Burda of Lionville Beverage. Until next time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to Barbara Moore of Barbara Moore Fine Art, Jacalyn Beam’s work “just pulls you in.” Friends and admirers of Beam’s art were pulled into Moore’s gallery Wednesday night for Beam’s new exhibit, Impressions.

Beam — a plein air impressionist — has been a local and regional favorite for years. Moore said it’s the nature of Beam’s vision that makes her work so appealing.

“It’s local and colorful, yet has softness with that great depth of color,” Moore said. “It really stands out. She takes things you see every day but makes you really look at them. There will be one element that strikes you, really grabs your attention, but that just pulls you in. You want to see the rest of the story.”

Impressions is the first solo exhibition at Moore’s studio since The Chadds Ford Gallery left the area. Moore had been the director there for decades and Beam said she feels honored to be showing at what is now Barbara Moore Fine Art Gallery. Beam referred to Moore with the Anglo-French term for great lady.

“She’s the graund dame of art in Chadds Ford. I’m honored to be working with someone so knowledgeable,” she said.

Reflecting on her own work, Beam said some of the same things Moore said, explaining that she wants to show people things they see every day, but to get them to see those things differently.

The bulk of the paintings in the exhibit were done plein air, or outside on location, not in a studio. Her dedication to plein air led Beam to initiate the annual plein air event at the Chadds Ford Historical Society eight years ago. She said in an interview then that the sounds and aromas of being on site influence her work as much as the visual elements of what she sees. Beam’s work has shown at the old Chadds Ford Gallery numerous times and she was also the featured artist at this year’s art show at Chadds Ford Elementary School.

Impressions runs through May 2, but Beam will also discuss her work at the gallery next Wednesday, April 25, from 5-7 p.m. Barbara Moore Fine Art Gallery is in The Barn Shops in Chadds Ford Township, 1609 Baltimore Pike (Route 1).