April 2022 Exhibits

Featured in the Thaler Gallery:

"The Animals Are Innocent", by Dana Simson.

Click here to see a selection of artwork online.

• "The Animals are Innocent" is a collection of paintings and ceramic sculpture to lament climate change and its effect on animals and nature. “Global warming will affect all living things and many important life cycles that sustain one another,” Simson notes. “I hope to inspire people to begin to change their habits to live more environmentally responsibly.”
• The show opened in September 2019 at the Henry Sheldon Museum in Middlebury, Vermont and was scheduled to continue on to Canada’s Niagara Falls Butterfly Pavilion but the pandemic shut down museums internationally. This is the first time this exhibit will be shown in Maryland, where Simson lives on an island that is on the front line of climate change.
• The exhibit of folk art toy boats in ceramic/mixed media along with her paintings illustrates the future currently facing many species as a result of climate change. Simson’s goal was to make this issue very accessible and captivating in the way a strong political cartoon might work by engaging, then sliding a serious message home. To counter the helpless anxiety many feel in relation to climate change, Simson’s book;  Come Together . handbook to retool for the future, was written as a follow-up to the exhibit that attendees can turn to for personal empowerment. It is filled with doable individual action that each of us may take to restore health to our environment. The book launched this last year through Green Writers Press but is also available through danasimson.com.
• "The Animals are Innocent" opens April 1 from 5-7 with an opportunity to meet the author/artist. Books will be available for sale and signing.  The exhibit will run through the end of April.
• A special class on Eco-Creativity - opening your green eye to sustainable practices will be offered April 30th. Click here for more info and to register.

Featured in the Sisson Galleria:

Corporate Partner Juried Show, featuring artwork of all-media by local and regional artists. Exhibit juror: Brooke Rogers. (pictured: 2022 Best in Show winner Reeves Dark)

Click here to see the award winners online.

In Studio E:

Isaiah Randolph (pictured) and Gabrielle Swilley

Click here to see a selection of artwork online.

• Two young artists with connections to Salisbury University — Gabrielle Swilley and Isaiah Randolph – share Studio E in April. Swilley of Prince George’s County, Md. is currently a senior with a double major in psychology and art who plans on becoming an art therapist. “My goal with my paintings is to create a body of work strictly portraying women of color and celebrating them,” she said.
• Randolph is a recent graduate of SU and a current intern for the Art League. Born and raised in the Washington, D.C. area, he is a visual artist and photographer inspired by the visuals around him. “I found myself being fascinated by how the world looked, no matter the perspective I was seeing it from,” he said.

In the Spotlight Gallery:

Elvin Hernandez and Brad Hudson (pictured).

Click here to see a selection of artwork online.

• The Spotlight Gallery hosts University of Maryland Eastern Shore associate professors Elvin Hernandez and Brad Hudson and celebrates Manga and Anime styles of animation originating in Japan, characterized by stark, colorful graphics depicting fantastic or futuristic themes.
• Hernandez of Salisbury, Md., who is originally from Puerto Rico, earned his MFA in Sequential Arts from the Savannah College of Art and Design, and his EdD in Higher Education from Argosy University. He is a long-time educator and practicing freelance artist in the field of comics and commercial art, working for Toys R Us, DC Entertainment, Marvel, FX, and Cartoon Network.
• Hudson of Mardela Springs, Md. has been an artist/instructor at UMES for more than 20 years and publishes his own comics under the moniker of Coldstream Studios, developing characters such as Rocket Girl and Dark Crusader. He produces work for, among others, Topps Trading Cards, including StarWars, The Walking Dead, Mars Attacks, and more.

In the Artisan Showcase:

Marisa Longo Just Tree Creations is the marriage of art & jewelry that has developed from our many years spent at Glitter & Gold ~ our former location on the boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland. Our main interest in jewelry has always been in the organic nature of the many different combinations of precious metals, genuine stones & shells. We believe that the unique, artistic nature of these pieces reflect the distinctive differences in the individuals who choose to wear them. Our collections available here will not only continue to reflect our commitment to discovering those new and different handcrafted and mostly “one of a kind” pieces of jewelry, but also expand that love of natural elements to include sculpture and more.

Click here to see a selection of artwork online.

Off-Site:

At the Princess Royale Oceanfront, 91st St: Mary Bode Byrd (pictured). At the Coffee Beanery, 94th St: Susan Koster and Brandon Martin. Offsite exhibits run through June 2022.

Click here to see a selection of artwork online.

• The Princess Royale satellite gallery, 9100 Coastal Hwy., hosts the artwork of Mary Bode Byrd, formerly an artist for Hallmark and owner of a graphics agency in Washington, D.C. Painting realism with an abstract twist, Byrd uses bold colors with exuberance and whimsy, incorporating many media including hand-altered papers, acrylics, watercolor, graphite, and found objects.
• The Coffee Beanery satellite gallery at 94th St. and Coastal Hwy. displays the works of Susan Koster and Brandon Martin, co-creators of Silver Sun Photography, a fine art photography company from Ocean City. They specialize in one-of-a-kind seascapes, capturing the ever-changing moods of the coast. Koster studied photography at Salisbury University and worked professionally as a photojournalist and photographer. Martin is an award-winning photographer, specializing in long-exposure photography.