From West Chester to Oxford, great options for art lovers
By Lele Galer, Columnist, The Times
Several wonderful new shows are opening this Friday, September 16th! Shows with opening receptions this Friday include: The Art Trust‘s “Mirage” show in West Chester, Somerville Manning Gallery‘s Timothy Barr exhibit in Greenville Delaware, The Chadds Ford Gallery‘s “Scarborough Days” show, and the “The National Juried Show” at the Oxford Arts Alliance in Oxford. On Wednesday September 16, there is an excellent curator talk at 2pm at The Brandywine River Museum of Art to discuss the recent bequest of important late nineteenth century American artists.
The Somerville Manning Gallery has a stunning exhibit on the paintings of Timothy Barr which opens on Friday with a reception from 5:30-7:30pm. The show continues through October 15th, and has an opening reception on Friday from 5:30-7:30. Timothy Barr is a contemporary natural realist and “luminist” who depicts trees and landscapes with an uncanny eye for light and verisimilitude. His images online flatten out his works – you must see them face to face to experience how wonderful they are.
The Chadds Ford Gallery, located at 1601 Baltimore Pike (Route 1) opens their season with “Scarborough Days -Another Visit to Scarborough Fair” on Friday, with a reception from 5-8pm. The show of painted works, signed and limited edition giglee prints of renown Chester County realist painter Paul Scarborough continues through October 2.
The Oxford Arts Alliance’s most famous show of the year “The National Juried Show” opens this Friday September 16th, from 5-8pm at their gallery location at 38 South Third Street in downtown Oxford. With over 220 entries from all over the country, 40 pieces were selected for this desirable show. This year’s juror is Dr. Jennifer Samet, who is a professor of Art History at City University of New York, a writer for many art magazines and publications, as well as co-director of gallery Steven Harvey Fine Arts Projects in downtown Manhattan. The forty selected works offer a wide range in mediums, from sculpture to paintings, and come from 30 artists living locally in Chester County, to artists from states including Wisconsin, South Carolina, and California.
‘Convergence’ by Simon Galer.
Local artists that you might recognize are Susan Melrath, Lele Galer, Heather Davis, David Katz and newcomer metal sculptor Simon Galer. This is Simon’s first show. He got addicted to making metal sculptures after attending metal sculpture artist Stan Smokler’s very popular summer metal workshops last year. I had encouraged Simon to enter this national show so that he could learn the exhibition application process and either learn to accept rejection or be a part of a wonderful national show — and he had two sculptures accepted!
‘Tribal Pup’ by Jen Roth.
Jen Roth is another young artist selected into the show. Jen’s colorful, delightful “Tribal Pup” is a pastel dog portrait that she particularly enjoys creating. She writes that she has “always loved dogs..they have a special place in my heart.” At age 18, Jen has been publicly showing her artworks since the fifth grade and won awards and recognition statewide which took her to exhibit in Washington D.C. What a terrific opportunity for these two young artists to show alongside well established professionals. Like the blind auditions on the TV show The Voice, another great thing about this juried show is that it is all about the art, not the fame or age of the artist.
Visitors to the opening are encouraged to look through the juried selection and choose their personal favorites, while enjoying wine and food supplied by the Oxford Arts Alliance. The art in the show is also for sale, with a portion of the proceeds going to support the art and music programs at the Arts Alliance. The rest of downtown Oxford will also be open late, celebrating the arts, so this is a great evening to check out Oxford and stay for dinner in this charming town. Local artists studios are springing up all along 3rd Street, including the studios of Vicki Vinton and Susan Melrath, and there are plenty of other small new shops, a wine bar, coffee bar, and a new comic book store.
On Sunday, September 18 at 2pm, Dr. Samet will give a gallery talk, and discuss her selection process and unveil the 5 prize winners. That is exciting! First place prize is $1000, second place is $500, third place is $350 and there are two Honorable Mention prizes at $100 each. Those are very large prizes for a Chester County show, which is one of the reasons this show draws in artist entries from all over the country.
Chris Grove, Executive Director of the Oxford Arts Alliance says, “what I particularly love about this show is that Sacred Heart Elementary School has this show as part of the school’s curriculum.. the opportunity for these kids and the community of Oxford to see art from literally all over the country, right here in Oxford. That is really unique.”
On Wednesday, 2 pm September 14th at The Brandywine River Museum of Art, Associate Curator Amanda Burdan will be giving a gallery talk “Terra No Longer Incognita”. Immerse yourself in a fascinating discussion about American artists such as William Merritt Chase, John La Farge, Martin Johnson Heade and other great artists introduced to the museum by the recent bequest by Richard M. Scaife, a Pittsburgh philanthropist and former Board Member of the Brandywine Conservancy and Museum of Art. “New Terrains” is an exhibition of 25 important works in the bequest from Mr. Scaife, representing the many of the foremost American artists of the late-nineteenth and early twentieth century. The show continues through the end of January 2017.
