Chestertown RiverArts is opening its first Open Juried Fine Art Show on September 6 with a reception 5-8pm at its new High Street Galleries in Chestertown. This show is the evolution of the former Chestertown Arts League’s Annual Open Juried Art Show which had a run of 64 shows beginning in 1948 through April of 2012, bringing together fine works of art from local and regional artists. The new show was juried by David Grafton of Easton and the Judge is Mary McCoy of Centreville. Prizes awarded by the judge and juror will be announced and awarded at the Awards Reception on Sunday September 15, 1-4 pm.
For the first time, this show is juried by submitted images of the works and accepts shipped work, which allows for a greater geographical range of applicants. As a result, the show will present a number of new artists to Chestertown in a range of mediums. Kim Henkel, an artist based in the Taos area of New Mexico, is showing a piece of her cast bronze sculpture. She works primarily as a sculptor in various mediums, but also works with classical pinhole photography to image her beloved Southwest topography.
Sue Jordan, an artist working in photography, of Chester County PA has two photographic images in the show which capture evocative inside spaces of older buildings lit magically from windows providing natural light.
Aina Nergaard-Nammack of Lewes, DE is showing two of her abstract paintings. Her work has been seen in a wide variety of regional juried shows and gallery venues. She is well-known for her non-representational work and thinks of herself as “a colorist working with abstract forms and colors” working to form these elements in a balanced composition.
Deborah Maklowski of Ellicott City will show three of her pastels painted en plein air depicting rural or water scenes. The composition of these pieces carefully creates for the viewer the spaces in depth she is visualizing. Deborah is well known in pastel and plein air circles in the Middle Atlantic region and is past president of the Maryland Pastel Society.
Carol Ashton-Hergenhan of Bensalem PA focuses her work on botanical illustration including drawing and watercolor mediums. She is showing three stunning watercolor paintings which depict flora in both full life and in decay. A member of the American Society of Botanical Artists, Carol says “my work on canvas is about the feel of plants in the garden and landscape”.
Karen Klinedinst of Baltimore works in photography and brings to the show four marvelous rural landscapes in the tradition of nineteenth-century Romantic landscape painting, bringing a strong emotional element into her compositions. She is currently working with an iPhone as both her camera and darkroom and likes to refer to her creatively enhanced photography as iPhoneography.
Sculptor Gordon Lyon of Potomac, MD brings two sculptures in welded steel (some painted) which are part of his “series” work. Gordon is retired from a career in computing and relates the serial generation of instances of his sculptural work to his background in “formal languages”, a branch of theoretical computer science. But his realizations have an apparently spontaneous appeal and aesthetic.
Graham Slaughter of Dorchester County, MD contributes three photographic images which evoke the magic of water and rural scenes mixed with atmospheric fog and mist depicting the Chesapeake region. He makes masterful use of reflection and atmospherics in his compositions. Graham is also an officer in the Dorchester County Arts Council, giving back to his fellow artists.
The show also includes a substantial contribution from our local and near region artists including Sharon Hardin, Pat Herlihy, Linda Hall, Patty Mowell, Jody Primoff, Michael Wooten, Evie Baskin, Nancy Thomas, Dennis Young, Barbara Zuehlke and many other familiar names. Mediums represented in the show include: all painting mediums on paper, board and canvas; mixed mediums; drawing and monoprints; photography; and sculpture and other 3D works. See the juried show pages of the RiverArts web page for a complete list of the artists and works in the show – www.chestertownriverarts.org.
Show Juror David Grafton is an internationally-known painter with works in collections around the US and in Canada, Japan and Europe. He is collected by Earl Powell, Director of the National Gallery of Art and has had shows in NYC at the National Academy of Design; Allied Artists of America; and the Pastel Society of America. He is best known for his evocative, painterly landscapes and seascapes and for his bold abstracts. Based in Easton, MD, he has maintained a working gallery in downtown Easton (32 E Dover St) for over 10 years. He was juried in to the 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012 Plein Air Easton Competitions and has been an active teacher, muralist and juror.
Show Judge Mary McCoy has an academic background in Studio Art and has written extensively on art for many publications including the Washington Post and most recently as an art reviewer for local publications. She is also an accomplished sculptor specializing in found object installations and as a collaborator with her husband Howard McCoy. Their collaborative environmental sculptures have been featured at the Adkins Arboretum since 1999 and their work has been shown regionally in the Eastern United States and in Wales, Ireland and New Zealand. The McCoys have been central to the development of the Adkins’ art program and recently were recognized as the arboretum’s Volunteers of the Year for 2011.
The show will include works by both the juror and the judge. Mary McCoy is preparing a special installation just for the show. At the Awards ceremony on September 15 (1-4pm) prizes will be awarded by the judge (with certain awards made by the juror). These prizes include “Best in Show” and “Juror’s Choice” and several “Awards of Excellence” and “Honorable Mentions”. Five medium specific prizes will be given for: watermedia painting; painting in oil or acrylic on canvas or board; pastel; photography; and a work in drawing, hand-pulled prints or mixed media. There will be one theme prize, “Best Representation of the Eastern Shore,” sponsored by Bob Ramsey of Finishing Touch in Chestertown.
Refer questions regarding this show to Show Organizer Rich Hall at [email protected] or 410-928-5012 and visit the RiverArts web page, www.chestertownriverarts.org, for further information. Chestertown RiverArts is the result of the merger (in May of 2012) of Chester River Artworks and the Chestertown Arts League. The new galleries are found at 315 High Street (suite 106 in the walkthrough) in downtown Chestertown. Regular gallery hours are: Tuesday through Friday 11am – 4pm; Saturday 9:45am – 4pm and Sunday Noon-3pm.
[Ed, caption information for attached images of works to appear in this show – the artists are generally new to Chestertown and have been referred to in the PR: (1) “Phoebe” a cast bronze sculpture by Taos-based artist Kim Henkel; (2) “Tortured Past” photography by Sue Jordan of West Chester, PA; (3) “Sunlit Path” a pastel done en plein air by Deborah Maklowski of Ellicott City, MD; (4) “Tupelo Leaves – Nyssa sylvatica” a watercolor by Carol Ashton-Hergenhan of Bensalem, PA; (5) “Strange Fruit (recalling Bosch)” a painted sculpture in welded sheet steel by Gordon Lyon of Potomac, MD; (6) “Winter, the North Meadow” creatively enhanced photography (using iPhone technology) by Baltimore artist Karen Klinedinst; (7) “Dancing Sticks” photography by Graham Slaughter of Dorchester County MD.]
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