Join the Art League of Ocean City at the OC Center for the Arts Friday, November 1st from 5-7 p.m. for the opening reception of the Annual Members’ Juried Holiday Show. This is a special two month exhibit that will showcase some of the best work by Art League members. Currently there are over 600 members of the Art League. The exhibit will feature a variety of subject matter in all media including: paintings, photography and three dimensional work. Juror for this show will be artist Brooke Rogers, chair of the art department at Salisbury University. The exhibit is sponsored by the Elks Lodge #2645, one of the ALOC’s many community partners, and will feature appetizers provided by the Blue Ox Restaurant.
Over the past year, many talented artists have taught classes at the Center for the Arts. During the month of November, the galleria exhibit will feature works by instructors and their students. This is the perfect opportunity not only for student artists to showcase what they have learned from their talented instructors, but also for the public to see the wide variety of classes that are available at the Center for the Arts. Some of the featured artist/instructors are: Kirk McBride, Skip Lawrence, Willie Crockett, Brooke Rogers, Barbara Doyle Schmid, Dolores Andrews and Tara Funk Grim.
The artists in residence for the month of November are ceramicists Robbie Johnson and Sarah Halcott. Robbie and Sarah started their artistic journey together in 2005. Since then the two have created a home studio with multiple wheels, kilns, lots of hand building space for sculpture, a small glass torch, painting space and a music studio. They are constantly working on growing their home studio. The couple also shows their work in galleries including Art Institute and Gallery in Salisbury, Worcester County Arts Council in Berlin, and Bishop Stock in Snow Hill, Maryland
Robbie is a self-taught artist that had an interest in art from a young age. Through practicing art in multiple mediums over the years, the experience retained has given him the ability to express his artistic visions. In 2007, he was hired to Salisbury University as the head 3D Studio Technician and has been able to pursue his artistic vision with guidance from the wonderful teachers at the university.
Sarah has always been interested in art and began to pursue an artistic career after graduating Salisbury University in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy. She took a ceramics classes her last year of school and fell in love with the medium. After graduating, Salisbury’s ceramic department took her under their wing as the ceramics technician. Since then she has devoted her time to a pursuit of ceramic knowledge. She is continually inspired by other artists work including John Cheer, Stephen Hill and most of all her husband Robbie.
Featured in the Member’s Spotlight for the month of November will be talented artist, Mary Jane Hastings. Mary Jane began her training by taking classes in the 1960’s, painting with accomplished local artists in Delaware while raising her children. An Art History course at Salisbury University furthered her interest. She had professional training from the late Henry M. Progar, a well-known Eastern Shore artist, at the building that was once the temporary headquarters of the Art League and now City Hall. His impasto knife technique using acrylics is used in most of her paintings. Other works are done using acrylics, gouache, and ink in a watercolor method. Mary Jane has shown her paintings in many exhibits over the years and has earned numerous awards for her paintings, which are in private collections throughout the area.
Please take note that the Annual “Starving Artist” Dinner that traditionally in previous years has kicked off the Holiday Exhibit has been rescheduled for January 31st 2014, as part of the Empty Bowl Project to be presented by the Art League and Diakonia. Volunteers will be recruited to help make ceramic bowls in the pottery studio of the Art Center, which will be sold at the Starving Artists dinner, to be accompanied by a simple dinner or soup and bread. This “Art with a Heart” effort will raise money for Diakonia’s food pantry and the Art Leagues future programming. Please contact the ALOC if you would like to participate by making bowls for this worthy cause.
The OC Center for the Arts which is run by the nonprofit, Art League of OC, is located on 94th St. bayside. The galleries are open daily from 11-4 p.m. For more information, contact the Art League of Ocean City at 410-524-9433 or visit the website at www.artleagueofoceancity.org.
