Spring is the season of fresh and new. The theme in the Annapolis art world this month is just that, presenting a variety and depth of content.
From poetry-inspired exhibitions, historical explorations, insanely creative assemblage pieces, world-renowned marine art, creative photography, masterful still life and plein air paintings, the galleries have offerings to entice you to get out, visit the galleries and enjoy spring.
MFA Circle Gallery presents its annual “Spring Member Show,” open through May 25.
In keeping with the season, this exhibition is fresh and exciting. Juror Mïa Vollkommer selected 2D media, digital media, fabric portraits and intriguing 3D pieces for a colorful and diverse show. Join MFA from 4 go 5 p.m. today for the Virtual Awards Ceremony to hear from the juror and see award-winning works. Come to Circle Gallery for a meet-the-artist reception and celebrate their work from 4 to 6 p.m. on May 25.
The Elizabeth Myers Mitchell Art Museum (/m) presents two exhibitions, both related to books and the illumination of life. In the main gallery, “Some Light Reading (A Summer Exhibition),” on view through July 7, intersperses poems and texts by Emily Dickinson, Audre Lorde, Eileen Myles and Virginia Woolf with artworks by Vija Celmins, Rockne Krebs, Virgil Marti, Eileen Neff and Bahar Yurukoglu. An informal public opening reception will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
The Nutt Room at the Greenfield Library presents “Two Art Books: Louise Bourgeois and Fischli/Weiss,” on view until early September. The exhibition pits two efforts to make sense of the human experience against each other. Note the switch to new summer hours.
Continuing this month at the Banneker-Douglass Museum is “Revisit/Reimagine: The Civil Rights Era in Maryland and Parallels of Today,” commemorating “Maryland’s Year of Civil Rights.” Curated by Thomas James, this meditative multidisciplinary exhibition remembers the legacies of civil rights leaders and their effect on Black Marylanders and the nation.
In collaboration with Afro Charities, images of nationally and locally recognized civil rights leaders from the AFRO American Newspapers Archives will be on display accompanied by the work of 13 contemporary artists living and working in the Maryland area. You are invited to attend “Death of the Heart: Stories of White Supremacy, Black Resistance, and Contextualizing our History,” a thought-provoking exhibit-related talk with artist Jason Patterson and curator James from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday.
Learn more about the civil rights era on both a national and local level, particularly the Eastern Shore. Following the discussion, attendees can engage in an interactive archival activity. RSVP on events page at bdmuseum.maryland.gov.
Gallery 57 West will feature virtual art talks by three Annapolis Arts Alliance members, Terry Bydume, Wayne Laws and Audrey Lee at 5:30 p.m. on May 14. Bydume will talk about her perspective on designing and making one-of-a-kind jewelry that an individual can wear in more ways than one.
Laws will be showing the steps used to create Sky Art with acrylic paint. He gets great joy in capturing nature’s wonder of color and design on canvas. Lee will talk about her love for oil paints and the techniques she uses.
Jo Fleming Contemporary Art will feature four regional artists working in contemporary still life: John Petr, Jodi Ferrier, Edmond Praybe and Cindy Winnick from May 15 through June 30.
Petr lives in Southern Maryland and presents large paintings of close investigations of implements used by fisherman and oysterman. Ferrier, a D.C.-area artist is inspired by the simple shapes created between still objects on a table. She strives to capture the emotional resonance she experiences when observing the moment.
Praybe is an acclaimed local artist and instructor of painting. His work includes careful arrangements of everyday objects in intimate collections. Winnick is an Annapolis artist who explores an array of media. Her still life paintings are modest in scale, intimate and earthy in coloration. Meet the artists at a reception from 4 to 6 p.m. on May 19.
West Annapolis Artworks will be continuing “Extraordinary: Reimagining the Ordinary,” an exhibition featuring found object assemblages by Nichole Leavy and Angela Petruncio. Th assemblages use everyday objects to express the wonder and weirdness of the world we share, to find beauty in the things most of us take for granted and find mundane. The exhibition is on display through May 31.
McBride Gallery’s show, “Everyday Moments,” celebrates the beauty of the simple things in life. The featured artists have captured these moments through a variety of mediums, elevating the “everyday” to the realm of art. Featured artists include Sherrill Cooper, David Diaz, Christine Drewyer, Howard Eberle, Cynthia Feustel, David Lawton, Abigail McBride, Lou Messa, Terry Miller, Barbara Nuss, Richard Sneary, Carol Lee Thompson and more. On display through June 5.
MFA Online Gallery presents “Mind Mapping,” a new online show exploring how our intangible thoughts, feelings and emotions can be physically represented as art. The pieces represent complex ideas and concepts, diverse artistic perspectives, psychological exploration and intellectual engagement, providing a deeper look into the artist’s minds. Juror Lisa Grand Murphy selected 65 pieces by 58 artists for this show. See the show online at https://mdfedart.com/portfolio/mind-mapping/ through May 31.
MFA at Paul’s Homewood Café presents a new exhibition of work by MFA members Alexandra Treadaway-Hoare and Jessica Joern, opening Monday and running through the end of July.
Treadaway-Hoare has a healthy respect for the effects of the passage of time on man-made and natural structures. She portrays the effects and the fleeting nature of time through her watercolors. Joern creates paintings of flowers, pottery and animals on canvas mounted on boards. Her subjects are simple and the results are straight-forward, requiring no explanation. Meet the artists and see the work during the reception at Paul’s from 4 to 6 p.m. on Thursday.
49 West continues “Close Encounters,” an exhibition by MFA members Merrilyne Hendrickson and Leslie Kiefer through May 28. Hendrickson creates impressionistic plein air watercolors and expressionistic abstractions, inspired by her close connection with nature. She is known for her use of color, light and harmonious palettes.
Kiefer is a Washington, D.C.-based visual artist using traditional cameras and scanners to explore the idea of ambiguous grief, loss without the finality of death or closure. She examines dealing with aging, disability of a loved one, loss of self through personal and metaphoric exploration focusing on natural decay. Her current work is focused on transience and the beauty of imperfection as a metaphor for the passage of ourselves through time.
For the second year in a row, Annapolis Marine Art Gallery is hosting the National Maritime Historical Society’s annual Invitational Art Gallery. The selected works are on display at AMAG through May 30. All paintings are for sale, with 25% of sales funding the NMHS. Visit the gallery to check out world-renowned marine artists.
Quiet Waters Park continues its current exhibits May 12. Lars Westby work is in the Willow Gallery with non-objective acrylics and colorful ceramics in “Lars Westby, Recent Work.” Matt Fenton’s and Tommy Roberts’ “Landscapes, Ballerinas and Jazz Icons” exhibit shows oil, watercolor, acrylic and pastels in the Garden Gallery.
Opening May 15, both galleries will present “Marie Linnekin Retrospective” through June 24. Linnekin was a member of the Maryland art community for 50 years. The exhibit features a diverse collection of paintings, drawings and prints. Her work was featured in exhibits at MFA, Maryland Institute College of Art, Anne Arundel Community College (AACC), University of Maryland and galleries that include Aurora, Cardinal, Touchtone, Canal House, Metropolitan Life and Torpedo Factory.
In addition to her of work, Linnekin Marie on the MFA board and was president 1980-81. She was an Artist-in-Residence at Maryland Hall from 1989-1992, taught at AACC from 1985-1992 and hosted artist critiques at her home from 2000-2016.
Creating art and teaching were her passions, and a number of her students have become accomplished artists. The opening reception for “Marie Linnekin Retrospective” is 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. on May 19 in the visitor center.
Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts presents three exhibits for May. Two are open now through May 18:
- “Belonging” is an Anne Arundel County Public Schools exhibit celebrating the artistic growth, decision-making, communication, risk-taking and perseverance of more than 60 graduating high school seniors in 2024
- “The Marshall Sterling” exhibition dives into the design process of a building, showcasing not only the final product but also the evolution from initial sketches and models to a fully realized architectural masterpiece.
- May 27 through June 27: The “Connection” exhibition presented by The Artists of the Open Eye Gallery at Arundel Lodge offers an opportunity to view amazing artwork as well as open a dialogue about what it means to be an artist, the stigma surrounding mental health disorders and the value of art and creativity in mental wellness. Meet the artists at an opening reception at 5:30 p.m. on June 4.
Patrice Drago is a painter and writer in Annapolis. Website: www.patricedrago.com. This column is written in cooperation with the Annapolis Gallery Association. Contact Patrice at art@patricedrago.com.