By Caroline Roosevelt, Columnist, The Times
I wouldn’t have blamed you if you weren’t able to make it out for any of last weekend’s events, considering the delightful polar vortex that overshadowed most of the country last week. On that note, while Pop Up Art KSQ still hosted their Wilmington exhibition, OFF SITE at Chris White Gallery, they will also be hosting a closing reception on February 22nd (Friday) from 530 – 9pm. Hopefully Polar Vortex #2 will not crash that party.
The work of Jun Cen — pictured, his work Paradiso for The New Yorker — is part of the China Pop show at the Delaware Contemporary.
This Saturday, Delaware Contemporary will be hosting China Pop: Year of the Pig , celebrating the Chinese New Year with fabulous art, refreshments (including a roasted pig, and Chinese inspired bites by Outlandish), a deep house/Chinese pop inspired set by DJ Skinny White, and cash bar.
The exhibition portion of the event will feature seven Chinese artists showcasing work ranging from illustration, to painting, to sculpture. Willie Yao (of the currently featured HALF:HALF exhibition) and Wenlu Bao (emerging curator and Curatorial and Marketing Assistant at Delaware Contemporary) have guest curated this exhibition. This is a ticketed event, and tickets will be available the day of, at the door.
Square Pear Gallery of Kennett Square will be hosting their first ever Winter Workshop. This is an excellent opportunity for artists and creative entrepreneurs to hear from a panel of experts on a variety of topics ranging from Licensing and Product Development, to Social Media Marketing. The workshop is broken up into two days, four purchasable sections. $95 per day, or $70 per section. There will be breaks for lunch, as well as wine and cheese networking. Featured speakers include: Colleen Attara, Estelle Tracy, Darice Pauselius, Stephanie Ryan, and Heather Davulcu, and Melissa Schulz. Check out Square Pear Gallery on Facebook to learn more and to sign up (through eventbrite) for this excellent opportunity.
I know I have posted a lot of ticketed events in this post. I believe it’s important to remember that art isn’t and shouldn’t always be free. While it’s the gracious and community-oriented mindset of many organizations to provide art to the public, it’s important to understand the cost. The time, effort, materials to produce events, provide nice spaces for artists to show their work, and properly compensate artists for their time and effort does require money. It’s a wonderful thing to be able to donate to a worthy cause, and it’s proven that a blossoming art scene is a symptom of a thriving economy. Support the arts and artists!
This Saturday, also in Kennett, Annie Howe will be leading a Papercuts Valentine’s Day Card Workshop at Works Kennett Square from 1 – 3pm. Walk away learning the ins and outs of paper cutting, and your own (as in, you just made it) Valentines Day papercut card. Tickets are $65 and available online. Stop by her website to sign up.
Next Week, Gallery 222 will open their new exhibition, “Altschuler, Menke and Mettler”. This exhibition will feature paintings from all three artists, Rachel Altschuler, Alison Leigh Menke, and Bonnie Mettler. The common thread is the traditional genres of painting, from plein air, to wildlife paintings, to portraits in oil and watercolor. This exhibition will be up through March 9 with a reception on February 21 from 5:30 – 8pm.
Next Wednesday from 1 – 1:30 , tune in to Art Watch Radio 1520 WCHE as I host Linda Theis of Kennett Jewelers, and also host and creator of Kennett’s collaborative, multi-school student art show, Student Art On The Square. Until next time!
