Silver Linings is the theme for the next community art show at Featherstone Center for the Arts, opening April 5. The Art of Flowers follows in May.
Those attending the Arts Stroll in Oak Bluffs tomorrow, July 14, can expect paintings, sculptures and prints, naturally. But be prepared for capes and crowns, too.
Lucinda Sheldon of Lucinda’s Enamels, located at 11 Vineyard avenue, has dedicated a whole corner of her studio to decorative fabric capes and complementary felt crowns.
“I’m an artist,” she said, looking at her collection of fantasy costumes for kids, “But I’m also a grandmother.”
Traeger di Pietro first started painting for love. He was 15; she was artsy and he was a jock, a baseball player. He knew her ex-boyfriend had painted her things and he wanted to impress her too. His first paintings were small still lifes of flowers and roses.
“I never stopped, I just kept going and going,” he said. Now he’s a full-fledged member of the Island arts scene, and has received acclaim from art collectors and artists alike.
Ray Ellis has been painting for over 70 years, much of it on the Vineyard. This year one of his paintings was auctioned off for $120,000 at the Taste of the Vineyard fundraiser for the Martha’s Vineyard Preservation Trust. Two years ago at the same event, a painting by Mr. Ellis went for $250,000. Last year, his tie was bought for $150,000. To hear him talk will only cost $75.
Arts Crawl
The Arts District on Dukes County avenue in Oak Bluffs invites everyone to crawl with them evert Thursday evenings in July. All the galleries will stay open late for lingering over art with the artists, gallery owners and friends.
First evening crawl is this Thursday, July 5.
The Gay Head Gallery, a fine art and photography gallery on State Road, located in the center of Aquinnah, is now open for the summer. This is the second season for the gallery which seeks to promote issues of conservation and sustainability. Several shows are planned for this summer that will integrate art with environmental concerns and issues. Shows also benefit featured non-profits.
The Virginia Weston Besse Gallery at Featherstone Center for the Arts is hosting an exhibit called the Martha’s Vineyard Artists of The Copley Society. The exhbit runs from July 1 through July 18, with an opening reception held on Sunday, July 1, from 4 to 6 p.m.
Participating artists are Leslie Baker, Laurene Krasny Brown, Stephanie Danforth, Mary French, Nancy Furino, Anne Grandin, Barbara Leiner, Meg Mercier, Jessica Pisano, Rosalie Shane, Jeanne Staples, Max Stern and Ovic Ward.
