This Friday, the sturdy green door at 239 High Street will stay open for an extended period of time as it does every First Friday in Chestertown for passersby, those who love art, or even those who are just curious as to what’s inside.
This practice is a time-honored one for as long as there have been First Fridays in town for the L’Atelier IV: The Artists’ Gallery. These reception events help showcase the work of talented regional artists and offer a connection among those who appreciate the sense of community that art engenders.
The name “L’Atelier IV” is significant to the journey of its associated fine artists and its place in Eastern Shore history, as its humble beginnings have roots in Stevensville, circa 1999. The early days of “L’Atelier I”, provided managing partner and fine artist Bonnie Howell and her fellow artist partners at that time the experience to see their passionate endeavors as a way to support one another and their art within the constructs of a business. It would also instill the confidence required to move that business to Chestertown in 2003 when the opportunity to create a new space on High Street presented itself.
Howell would be joined by artist Sally Clark from the Stevensville gallery for the move to Chestertown, where they would join forces with already exhibiting artists in that space to form the original group of partners that included Linda Hall, Shirley Hunt, Jeanne Saulsbury, and Brenda Stewart.
Today, while some of the partners and exhibiting artists may have changed, Howell says, the gallery’s uncomplicated and foundational business model has proven to be a successful one where the works of anchored partners creatively blends with a rotating selection of artists with primarily regional roots.
Howell’s team of partners, which now include Evie Baskin, Mary Ellen Mabe, Nancy R. Thomas, and Barbara Zuehlke, review the portfolios of fine artists semi-annually and then vote to ensure they have the best cross-section of styles and caliber of technique within those styles to present to gallery visitors. Each exhibitor receives three wall panels on which they can display their work, and for which the gallery collects a small commission to help defray the cost of operations. The partners also contribute with hanging fees for their work.
“It’s been marvelous because it’s operational management that works; that splits the burden of gallery ownership,” explains Howell, a self-described representational oil painter who focuses on close-up compositions with natural themes.
Adding to its collections of oils, watercolors, and pastels on the walls, The Artists’ Gallery also features high-quality crafts and wearable art in the form of jewelry and accessories for sale.
It is also common to find the partners actually at work on-site in the studio located in the back of the gallery. This is an inspiring space where sometimes even just completed works still drying on their easels catch the eye of a wandering patron.
But this fits in perfectly well with the management concept that has kept the gallery vital all these years.
“We just can’t go to wherever and buy our inventory,” says Howell. “We have to produce it.”
We take a visual tour around the room to discover the various Impressionistic style of works created by Mary Ellen Mabe, which Howell proudly describes as “very soft and minimalistic” and whose technique embodies an “every stroke counts” approach.
Many of the works are respectfully and natively representative of life on the Eastern Shore. Aspects of this can be seen in one of the newest partner’s, Barbara Zuehlke’s pieces. A premier watercolorist, Howell describes her work as ranging from the very literal and hard-edged, to works that incorporate loose washes that give an …” atmospheric feel of the Shore”.
Lovers of pastels, oils, and silverpoint will gravitate to the panels graced with Evie Baskin’s work alive with the spot-on likenesses of animals and assorted wildlife. The resident plein air artist is Nancy R. Thomas, who works exclusively outdoors capturing nearby rural and waterside landscapes and slices of life at events on both the Eastern and Western Shores of Maryland.
Howell is immensely proud of all the gallery’s current exhibitors for their unique skills and depth, pointing to the striking still-life work of Marc Rubin, who simultaneously captures light and drama with his brush while using the most ordinary objects as subject matter.
As a way to celebrate these unique talents, the gallery features the work of one artist per month prominently at a reception held every First Friday.
For August, the gallery will be spotlighting the works of contemporary realist, Carol McClees, who says the inspiration for her work, which she creates mostly in oils, are sourced from maritime landscapes, beloved animals, and architectural forms.
Stop by this First Friday from 5 to 7:30 p.m. to attend the opening reception for Carol McClees. Meet the artist, enjoy light refreshments, and view the works all of The Artists’ Gallery’s current exhibitors, including Rhonda Ford, Shirley Hales, Linda Hall, Kathy Kopec, Jim Rehak, Ken Rose, Marc Rubin, and Fred Sprock.
L’Atelier IV: The Artists’ Gallery is located at 239 High St., Chestertown. Regular gallery hours are Tuesday – Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Visit theartistsgalleryctown.com or call 410.778.2425 for more information.
