Connecting with the Arts – February 2023
Welcome back to the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County’s monthly blog series, Connecting with the Arts, where we feature news and updates from the arts community in Anne Arundel County. Tune in the last Friday of each month to connect and learn more about the arts organizations that are making an impact locally.
Here’s a look into this month’s post:
- Check out what show is happening at Annapolis Opera.
- Annapolis Maritime Museum is continuing their Winter Lecture Series
- See the new exhibits at Chesapeake Arts Center
- Check out MFA’s current exhibitions
- Catch up on all the latest happenings at Maryland Hall.
You can connect and learn more about these organizations by clicking their logos below. We hope you enjoy!
Opera Buffa at its best!
Mozart’s beloved opera engages you in the overture and never lets go! Based on the revolutionary Beaumarchais play, The Marriage of Figaro is filled with social commentary and intrigue. Who will succeed: the Count, his servant, or their wives? And will the chaos of the day end in happiness?
Friday, March 17, 2023 | 7:30 PM
Sunday, March 19, 2023 | 3 PM
Maryland Hall | 801 Chase Street, Annapolis, MD
We invite you to join Annapolis Opera’s Artistic and Music Director, Craig Kier, with members of the cast for a brief conversation following the Sunday matinee performance. This conversation will commence shortly after the performance concludes. Guests are encouraged to move down to the front of the theater where the Q&A will be held.
ANNAPOLIS, MD – (January 27, 2023) In collaboration with local artist Lisa Masson, the Annapolis Maritime Museum & Park [AMM] will host Water’s Edge, a new temporary exhibit opening this Saturday, January 28, 2023. This features photography and images inspired by living and sailing on the Chesapeake Bay.
“I am honored to be able to share my vision of the Chesapeake Bay and other waters that surround us with Annapolis Maritime Museum and it’s visitors”.
The exhibit, highlighting the waters of the Bay and Chesapeake Bay log canoes, opens to the public following an educational lecture with Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum’s Chief Curator, Pete Lesher as part of AMM’s annual Winter Lecture Series. In this session, Pete discussed the history and ongoing tradition of racing Chesapeake Bay log canoes.
Water’s Edge explores the quiet imagery of the waters surrounding the Chesapeake Bay and beyond and captures a deeply rooted love for the Bay, boating, and culture. The exhibit will be on display until Sunday, March 19th. Special exhibit access is included in the museum admission price. Lisa’s beautiful coffee table book titled Annapolis Photographic Portrait, is also on sale in AMM’s museum gift shop.
AMM’s goal is to encourage the general public to cherish our maritime heritage and become lifelong stewards of the Chesapeake Bay. We must continue to support the current generation of people who love the Bay and to engage and inspire the next generation.
Learn more about this new exhibit online at www.amaritime.org or www.LisaMassonPhotography.com.
About the Artist
As an avid photographer, Lisa had a camera in her hand since her teen years. After earning a Bachelor of Art degree in Photograph, she began a successful career in hospitality and advertising photography. After discovering sailing and her love of water, Lisa moved to Annapolis, MD and in 2000, built a home studio on the peninsula of Eastport. Lisa Masson Studio Gallery is located between Chester & Chesapeake Avenues on 4th Street in Eastport. This working photography studio features beautiful original fine art photography.
About the Annapolis Maritime Museum & Park
The Annapolis Maritime Museum & Park is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to educating students and adults on the area’s rich maritime heritage and the ecology of the Chesapeake Bay. The Museum partners with community groups, government entities, and other likeminded organizations to deliver high-quality educational initiatives and programs on subjects ranging from history and culture to the environment and good stewardship practices.
Winter Lecture Series
Winter Lecture – Sea Turtles and their hunters in the Caribbean: Lessons on Sustainability from the Cayman Islands to Chesapeake Bay
A century ago, sea turtles were once an extraordinarily desirable commodity both for food and decoration throughout the world. In this lecture, participants will learn why the Caribbean turtle fishery ended and how efforts to save turtles reveal important lessons about sustainability for other waterscapes, including the Chesapeake Bay.
Presenter: Dr. Sharika D. Crawford | Professor of History, U.S. Naval Academy
About the Presenter: Dr. Sharika D. Crawford is a professor of history at the United States Naval Academy. She is the author of the book titled The Last Turtlemen of the Caribbean: Waterscapes of Labor, Conservation, and Boundary Making, which was published by the University of North Carolina Press in 2020. In 2021, the book received an honorable mention from the Association of Caribbean Historians committee on the Elsa Goveia Prize, which recognizes excellence in the field of Caribbean history.
CAC’s new STEAM Creators Clubs
The new, FREE, STEAM Creators Clubs at CAC are available to students ages 8-11 in Anne Arundel County. These clubs meet for 4 (mostly) consecutive Saturdays for 3 hours each day and offers an intensive deep dive into a specific STEAM-related topic.
STEAM Creators Club Options & Dates:
Apply today to be part of CAC’s new STEAM Creators Clubs!
https://www.chesapeakearts.
Exhibits
BPMS APEX Pop Up Exhibit
February 21 – March 5
Hal Gomer Gallery
VISIONS AND VOICES – An Exhibition by Sharon Attaway
February 21 – April 11
Gallery 194
Opening Reception: March 16 | 6pm-8 pm
Chesapeake Arts Center is very pleased to announce Visions and Voices, a solo exhibition of work by painter Sharon Attaway. Coinciding partially with Her Voice, Her Vision, this exhibition highlights Sharon’s breathtaking resin pours and oil portraits. You will not want to miss Sharon’s joint reception with the 2023 Women’s History Month Exhibition on March 16, we expect it to be an evening to remember!
The names for Visions and Voices and Her Voice, Her Vision were completely coincidental, somehow having arisen completely independently. But clearly Sharon was on the same wavelength as CAC, and we knew that we simply had to put them together! Be sure to stop by and see this exhibition.
Gallery Hours:
Monday-Thursday 10-6 | Saturday 10-1
https://www.chesapeakearts.
Call for Entry due by 5/1
2023 Pride Month Show
Artists looking to apply for these exhibitions should submit a gallery application at https://www.chesapeakearts.
Classes
CAC Summer Camps on sale now! Let’s get creative this summer at CAC! Campers will enjoy a variety of arts-based activities, led by professional artists and teachers. Register for camps here:
https://canvas.chesapeakearts.
Yoga in the Gallery
Sun, 3/19
(1 session)
10:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Join Christine Fillat for a soul-nourising all-levels yoga class amongst the beautiful work of artist Sharon Attaway in CAC’s Gallery 194. Adults only. Please bring a yoga mat and water bottle.
https://canvas.chesapeakearts.
Events
Mélange I
MFA Circle Gallery
Mar 1 – 12
MFA’s small group show, Mélange, is put on each year to thank our Artist Members who have supported MFA through both their time and talent. Mélange means a mix, and this show features 13 randomly selected MFA Artist Members who donated a piece of their work to MFA’s annual fundraiser, Collector’s Choice, entered a juried exhibition, and volunteered within the past year. Artists working in a wide range of mediums will have their work on display from Mar 1 – 13. Join us Mar 4 for an in-person reception at Circle Gallery to meet the artists and celebrate this wonderful exhibition. Visit mdfedart.com/portfolio/287 for more details.
Mélange II
MFA Circle Gallery
Mar 15 – 26
MFA’s small group show, Mélange, is put on each year to thank our Artist Members who have supported MFA through both their time and talent. Mélange means a mix, and this show features 13 randomly selected MFA Artist Members who donated a piece of their work to MFA’s annual fundraiser, Collector’s Choice, entered a juried exhibition, and volunteered within the past year. Artists working in a wide range of mediums will have their work on display from Mar 15 – 26. Join us Mar 18 for an in-person reception at Circle Gallery to meet the artists and celebrate this wonderful exhibition. Visit mdfedart.com/portfolio/288 for more details.
Street Scenes
MFA Curve Gallery
Feb 15 – Mar 31
This show is an exploration of the world around us. Whether people watching from a bench on Main Street in a small town, or watching the city fly by from the back of a taxi, the roads we travel have stories as unique as the people traveling them. Bustling city streets, quiet suburban lanes, and dusty country roads tell the stories of the people who live there, and what we see on these streets can define a place in our memories. Fifty-five works by forty-three artists selected by juror Matthew Moore, Associate Professor of Photography at Anne Arundel Community College, will be on display in MFA’s online gallery, Curve Gallery from Feb 15 – Mar 31. Visit mdfedart.com/portfolio/278 to see the show.
Lowe House
Lowe House of Delegates Office Building
Jan 18 – Apr 10
Maryland Federation of Art was invited to exhibit artwork at the Lowe House of Delegates Office Building. Come see the work in this show selected by juror Laura Pasquini, Artist, Museum Educator, and Visual Arts Success Coach, and the Visual Arts Program Navigator at Anne Arundel Community College. Forty-four works by thirty-seven artists will be on display in the Lowe House of Delegates Office Building, near the Anne Arundel County Delegation room. This exhibition is open to the public Monday – Friday during regular business hours through Apr 10. Visitors must have a driver’s license or another form of government-issued ID to enter the building. Visit mdfedart.com/portfolio/274 to learn more.
Hospice Cup Poster Competition
MFA People’s Choice Voting Gallery
Mar 1 – 31
MFA and Hospice Cup, Inc. are holding their annual competition to find a piece of artwork to serve as the backdrop for the Hospice Cup’s yearly poster. Vote for your favorite piece to be one of the final four, and join us at Circle Gallery on March 30 from 5 – 7 PM for a reception to vote for your favorite artwork to be the representative image for the 2023 Hospice Cup Event. All works submitted will be on display in MFA’s online People’s Choice Voting Gallery from Mar 1 – 31. See the work and vote for your favorite piece at mdfedart.com/portfolio/285
Patrick Clagett and Kimmary I. MacLean
MFA at Paul’s Homewood Café
Beginning of Feb – End of Apr
Patrick Clagett and Kimmary I. MacLean are both inspired by the beauty found in nature. In this exhibition, Clagett explores the scenic landscapes found navigating the backroads and highways of the drive to rural Michigan through watercolor and pastel. MacLean’s body of work displays her love for our planet through its life, colors, shapes, textures, and contrasts, and is full of feeling and emotion. The work will be displayed at Paul’s Homewood Café through the end of April. Visit mdfedart.com/portfolio/pauls/ to learn more about the artists.
Megan Whitfield and Amy Holt Cline
MFA at 49 West
Feb 2 – Mar 28
Megan Whitfield and Amy Holt Cline will be exhibiting their work at 49 West from Feb 2 – Mar 29. Whitfield is a self-taught representational tonalist painter whose work aims to communicate the beauty and richness of the Mid-Atlantic region through carefully thought-out focal points, illuminating values, and compelling textures. California native and marine biology educator Holt Cline’s mixed media paintings are inspired by sea floor mapping data and explore the connection between art and science. Both artists are inspired by nature and marine landscapes like the shorelines they grew up along. Visit mdfedart.com/portfolio/49west to learn more about the artists.
Marisa Canino, Michael Gaudreau, and Kate Gaudreau
MFA at Hospice of the Chesapeake
Jan 19 – End of Mar
Marisa Canino and Kate and Michael Gaudreau are displaying their work at the Hospice of the Chesapeake Offices. The work will be available to view online through the end of March. Marisa Canino is a primarily self-taught artist who returned to art-making during the pandemic. This series, “Vibrant & Wild” is a collection of animal portraits in bold, non-realistic color that captures and celebrates nature’s small moments and fleeting details before they vanish, and highlights the connections we share with animals who inhabit our environment. Kate Gaudreau is not driven by a desire for a realistic depiction or the grand view. Instead, she narrows in or a part of the landscape or a smaller piece of intersections of shapes and lines. Kate’s small gouache and mixed media paintings reflect her personal response and connection to the natural world and the beauty within it. Michael Gaudreau grew up around water and woods and finds himself at peace when he can totally immerse himself in studying light and shadow and surprising bursts of colors in the rural landscape. These paintings are what he calls the “moment of light,” where a burst of light illuminates the ordinary and makes them extraordinary. Visit mdfedart.com/portfolio/hospiceoffice to see the work.
Events
MARYLAND HALL PRESENTS HEALING CONVERSATIONS: Discover Your Ultimate Flow State with Expressive Writing
MARCH 7TH, BOWEN THEATRE AT 7 PM
Tickets: $15.00 https://www.marylandhall.org/events/healing-conversations-2/2023-03-07/
Moderator: Dr. Diane Pomerantz (Psychologist & Author)
Panelists:
Chris Haley (Director, Researcher, Poet)
Valerie Ormond (Author)
Melony Hill (Motivational Speaker)
In a world of divided attention, the average person has 60,000 thoughts a day; putting pen to paper evokes mindfulness, helps us structure anxious thoughts, and is proven to boost immune function. Our esteemed panelists will illuminate the science behind the therapeutic practice of expressive writing and how you can access your flow state to explore a wealth of possibilities on the page.
Whether you keep a personal journal, dabble with short stories, or possibly started that memoir on more than one occasion, the creative process is underway.
Find the focus and drive you need to finally start that novel, build a collection of essays, or just enjoy lower levels of stress. The late author bell hooks knew well- the function of writing is to do more than tell it like it is, but to imagine how it could be.
Park Books Presents: Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York
In conversation with Jodi Picoult
Friday, March 10th, 2023, at 7 PM
Main Theatre at Maryland Hall
Tickets: https://www.marylandhall.org/events/park-books-presents-sarah-ferguson-duchess-of-york/2023-03-10/
Park Books in Severna Park, Maryland is proud to present Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York. She is also a bestselling novelist, memoirist, children’s book author, and an award-winning film producer. The mother of two daughters, Princess Beatrice, and Princess Eugenie, she lives in Windsor with nine frisky Norfolk terriers. The Duchess will be discussing her new novel, A Most Intriguing Lady with #1 New York Times Bestselling author, Jodi Picoult.
All ticket holders will receive a signed copy of A Most Intriguing Lady. Signed copies of Her Heart for a Compass will be available for sale at the event or can be preordered at www.parkbooksmd.com.
Exhibits
AFTERMATH
CURRENT EXHIBITION: CHANEY & MARTINO GALLERIES
Maryland Hall presents ‘AFTERMATH’ – an exhibit focusing on the healing power of art and community that rises up following gun violence. Spearheading this exhibit is a collection of work entitled ‘The Capital Five: Honoring Our Heroes of the Press’ – presented in the Martino Gallery.
This body of work commemorates the lives of Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, John McNamara, Rebecca Smith and Wendi Winters, whose lives were stolen on June 28, 2018 defending our Freedom of the Press. The featured artists in this collection are Laura Era, Melissa Gryder, Abigail McBride, Rebecca Wallace Pugh and Andrée Tullier. Each portrait artist worked alongside each family to create a large portrait of their loved one.
Adjacent, in the Chaney Gallery is a collection of artwork and creative installations by regional artists Rama Alfarkh, Luis Bello, Kendall Chatlos, Warren Hynson, Joseph Karr, Felicia Reed, and Chrystal Seawood. Curated and produced by AND Creative (Alison Harbaugh & Darin Gilliam), this collection is a representation of healing after gun violence. Through a non-political lens, this work explores an overall community response and how it affects us in our everyday lives.
Image: AND CREATIVE, Ribbon Reflections
#ARTGANG2
CURRENT EXHIBITION: OPENSHAW BALCONY GALLERY
By Maryland Hall Artist in Residence: Sheldon Pindell
#ArtGang is a movement any and every creator can be part of. It pushes the idea that all art styles can be considered “fine” and should be able to share the same space and venue as more “traditional” works. We are boundary breakers, noise makers, bold, offensive, loud, and go against the grain. We don’t wanna be like everyone else. We set the trends to follow.
#ArtGang2 is a continued project that explores the concept of taking an object that is typically paired with negative connotation (gas masks), and creating a beautifully bold, eye-catching, thought provoking work of art. Many of the work’s titles correlate with aspects of life… both good and bad. This gives each mask its own story and personality to explore.
So please get lost for a moment, and embrace a different style of art. I give you #ArtGang2. Thank you, and enjoy.
Image: SHELDON PINDELL, BEAUTIFUL DISASTER 2
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