Photography at Dragonfly

The opening reception for the Dragonfly Gallery’s photography show will be held Saturday, May 24, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the gallery at 91 Dukes County avenue. The show runs from May 22 through June 1.

The gallery’s show features many Vineyard and regional photographers. Photos of familiar vistas as well as exotic places and personal looks at nature and the world are included. From black and white to bold color, this show expresses the magic of the many types of cameras, photographers and printing processes.

An interactive exhibit featuring five Island artists — Sandy Bernat, Eva Gallant, Jennifer McCurdy, Julia Mitchell and Heather Sussman — opens at Featherstone Center for the Arts on Sunday, July 13, with reception from 4 to 6 p.m.

All may come to observe how these five women create their art through lectures, exhibits, workshops, demonstrations and open studios featuring weaving, papermaking, clay sculpting, carving and throwing. The four-week exhibition includes a video by Richard Skidmore.

Caroline Hunter opens up a binder densely packed with years of newspaper clippings, decades-old photos, letters and other paper mementos. Beside her is a stack of books marked with dozens of blue Post-it notes. The meticulous bookkeeping is not a hobby. And though the man to whom these records pertain is Caroline’s late husband, Ken Williams, this scrapbook filled with Ken’s work, and articles and books mentioning him, is not a memorial: for Caroline, it is a civic responsibility.

North Water Gallery in Edgartown welcomes all to a champagne celebration to honor Ray Ellis with his first show at the gallery. The reception is tomorrow, Saturday, June 21, from 5 to 7 p.m.

The show will feature many new and never-before-seen works by the 88-year-old painter, including several recent up-Island watercolors, as well as his limited edition prints and signed books. Join in a toast to the artist, who will attend.

Opening Reception

The Granary Gallery at the Red Barn invites all to an opening reception Sunday, August 3, from 5 to 7 p.m. at its Old County Road space in West Tisbury. The new exhibition features Steve Mills’s new photo-realist paintings of familiar objects and Vineyard scenes, Anda Styler’s impressionistic plein air-style acrylics depicting Island architecture and landscape, as well as new work from Diana van Nes and a trunk show for one day only of work by Cape Cod jeweler Ross Coppelman.

Simon. A famous name in arts and literature. Consider Neil Simon, simple Simon, Paul Simon, Carly Simon, Simon le Bon of Duran Duran, or the late and unlamented Simon Legree of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Minutes away from the main retail drag of Circuit avenue, in the arts district of Oak Bluffs, reads a sign: “PikNik: Art & Apparel. Expect anything.” The “expect anything” line encourages visions of Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain or other more radical, conceptual art pieces. In fact, PikNik is currently showing an abstract exhibit, which seems to fit “expect anything” expectations.

Alison Shaw: Orange

The opening reception for the 2008 season at the Alison Shaw Gallery is set for Saturday, May 24 from 4 to 7 p.m.

This year the gallery is showing work from Ms. Shaw’s many series of fine art photographs, unified by the theme of color. Gallery hours (after Saturday) will be Wednesday through Sunday from 2 to 6 p.m. The gallery is at 88 Dukes County avenue, Oak Bluffs. More information is available by calling 508-696-7429.

This past fall, three American women went camping with the Qashqai nomads in the mountains of southwestern Iran. They came back from their travels with amazing stories and, perhaps more impressive still, with the hand-woven Qashqai rugs known as Gabbehs.

Now these Gabbeh rugs, made by small collectives of nomadic women, are the focus of a two-week trunk show at the Mansion House in Vineyard Haven.

The Field Gallery will host a Cancer Support Group benefit exhibition, with a free public reception on Sunday, August 24, from 5 to 7 p.m.

This is the seventh year that the gallery has hosted a benefit to aid local causes. A portion of the proceeds from sales of original art work will benefit the Martha’s Vineyard Cancer Support Group, a nonprofit that helps Islanders living with cancer.

Artists represented include Ben Johnson, Janet Woodcock, Jhenn Watts and Marlee Brewster Brockman. Artwork also can be viewed and purchased online atfieldgallery.com.