April 2024 Exhibits

Featured in the Thaler Gallery:

• Maggie Delaney Grabow (embroidery, pyrography, and painting). Maggie's artwork pays homage to the intricacies of the little things: native insects and their host plants, the animals that remind us that there is beauty and grace in nature.
• Marley Massey (papermaking, rock pigment, and wild clay). Marley's multidisciplinary practice is rooted in the witnessing and documenting of elemental activity, cyclical processes, fleeting time, and unearthing the reciprocal relationship between humans and the earth.
• Nancy Richards West (oil paintings). Nancy's body of work highlights the ocean in all its power and beauty. The oceans are the heart of our planet - providing oxygen, absorbing carbon emissions, mediating temperature, driving weather, and providing food and jobs.

Featured in the Sisson Galleria:

In Studio E:

• Carol Gentes graduated from Westfield State College with degrees in biology and art. Nature, birds and animals are recurring themes in her artwork. As a muralist, her paintings can be seen on walls, furniture, rain barrels, sidewalks, rock, and more. In the studio, she combines her love of detail with texture and abstract realism. And her photographs of birds and insects are the subjects of many of her paintings and products.
• Angela Pierce is an oil painter and retired art educator. Her paintings are interpretations of the photographs she takes of local landscapes, marshes, waterways, plants and flowers. Her technique and style are inspired by the old masters, the Impressionists, and today's contemporary artists.

In the Spotlight Gallery:

• Brad Hudson, Professor, Acting Chair & Coordinator/Creator Sequential Arts, University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES)
• Elvin Hernandez, Assistant Professor & Assistant Coordinator Sequential Arts, UMES
• Collin Byrd, Professor of Graphic Illustration and Animation, UMES

In the Artisan Showcase:

• In 2007, she created an art program for adults with developmental disabilities called the Creative HeArts.
• In 2015, she was fortunate to have her art work published in an art book called “Intuitive Painting Workshop” by Alena Hennessy.
• In 2021, Barbara was awarded the annual SHERO Award from the Ocean City Art League for teaching art to diverse populations.
• In 2022, Barbara completed Creative Aging training sponsored by the Delaware Division of the Arts Access Creative Aging Initiative.

Featured in the Staircase Gallery:

• "The illustrative faces that appear in my paintings are a reflection of myself; implications of fear, anxiety, and grief that often dance in my mind as I try to escape to find my authentic self and heal my inner child. The floating organic shapes are a representation of my ancestors guiding me through the narrative that often plague my mind. My use of bright colors is to indicate the intensity of healing during my awakening in Mexico. While I worked in my studio in Philadelphia, I encountered a neighbor on my floor who suffered from schizophrenia. Screams and self-negative talk were often heard through the thin walls. With no access to headphones, I tried my best to cancel the arbitrary noises. As I focused on my series of healing, I was unconsciously influenced by her mental disorder which altered yet amplified the nature of my story. I simultaneously intertwined my journey with hers throughout my pieces."
• Itzel is inspired with colors and drawing from a young age due to unfortunate circumstances in her family. Within time, she grew fond of experimenting with tangible objects which led to her maturity of her vision. Hand woven yarn from Mexico, industrial and organic material and a bright acrylic palette are some of the elements she creates to transform her emotions onto canvas. She often uses her signature spirit shapes which were amplified after the death of her grandmother. Itzel spent a year-long trip in Puerto Vallarta in 2020, during this journey she learned what it meant to experience life without supervision.

Off-Site:

• Jennifer Carter is the Art League of Ocean City's 2024 Robinson Fellow for Contemporary Art and Community Engagement. In all media, Jennifer Carter’s art reveals wonder and beauty. Watercolor & oil paintings, photo explorations & beach portraits, and graphic design creations express her love of light, color, & life.
• Gail Wynn believes making collages is like solving a puzzle. “I enjoy painting my papers, playing with mark making, using vintage books and old sheet music, tearing, layering, and manipulating the papers to form something cohesive … like solving a puzzle.”