Featured Visual Artists

Current Art Exhibits

Maia Palmer, visual arts coordinator

WILMINGTON

Flavia Loreto — photography. We all have passions and dreams to be discovered, pasts to be guessed at, and futures that are still to unfold. SOULS is a collection of portraits that seeks to both capture and tell some of those stories. Long fascinated by the human condition, Flavia Loreto aims to go beyond the physical externalities of her subjects, and to capture their very essence. The exhibition, hosted in the hallways of Wilmington’s Music School of Delaware, shows 20 black and white portraits of men and women in different ages, nationalities and professions. The portraits are labeled only with the subject’s first name, ceding power to the audience to go beyond the image, imagining the stories behind the photographs and also to create new stories of their own. On May 5th at 6pm, Flavia will host a discussion about portrait photography, inviting the audience to talk about the power of portraits and photography. Join us at the Music School of Delaware 4101 N Washington St, Wilmington. Reserve your spot emailing flavialoreto.photo@gmail.com or contacting flavialoretophotography.com. Born and raised in Rome, Flavia Loreto developed her passion for portrait photography as a way to connect to others, and to better understand emotions and feelings. After 20 years living and working as a photographer in Germany, Flavia relocated to the US, where she continues to study the human condition through her photography. Among her exhibitions: Donne (Düsseldorf 2013), A Day in Naples (San Francisco 2017). She collaborated on books like - L’arte in cucina (Mondadori 2018) - and - La Valle del Silicio (Italian Foreign Ministry 2019).ography.com

On display at the Wilmington Branch.

MILFORD

Patricia Kemp — diamond art painting. Patricia Kemp is a resident of Kent County whose recent passion has been Diamond Art Painting. For those who don't know, diamond art painting is the name of a mosaic art form in which the artist creates a painting by sticking small resins that sparkle like diamonds, on a canvas that has corresponding numbers printed by all the colors of the diamonds. Patricia picked up this hobby at the start of the pandemic, after she had heard about it online, and decided to give it a try. With nearly 100 diamond paintings completed, she has become an expert in her craft.

On display at the Milford Branch.

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Previous Art Exhibits

Flavia Loreto — photography. After the Exhibition “A Day in Naples” at the Italian Cultural Institute of San Francisco, Flavia Loreto is bringing her photographs of beautiful Naples at the Music School of Delaware. In her pictures, Flavia captured the magic and charm of a city where the sacred, the profane, the beautiful, and the terrifying are inextricably intertwined. Naples is a city of excesses and contradictions: there is the threatening presence of Vesuvius and the calming effect of the Mediterranean Sea; the warm and friendly ways of the Neapolitans and their extreme emotions; the neat Piazza del Plebiscito and the broken buildings in the slums. Even the strong colors of Naples show on a gray winter day. Naples is like a movie set where fiction and reality blend together. Her photos show there is no better place for creating fantastic stories, or shooting a journalistic coverage about Naples’ passions and tragedies. Born and raised in Rome, Flavia Loreto moved to Delaware in 2019 after 3 years in the Bay Area and 20 years in Germany, where she worked as a photographer. “Photography is my passion and my way of relating to the world and its people…” Flavia’s mentors have been the set photographers of Cinecittá Studios in Rome who taught her the importance of telling stories with photographs. In San Francisco she has worked as official photographer for the Italian Consulate and cooperated as lead photographer for the portraits of the Book "La Valle del Silicio” sponsored by the Italian Foreign Ministry. As mother of three boys, Flavia loves to take portraits of children and families. As a commercial photographer, she shoots events, weddings and business headshots. www.flavialoretophotography.com

Student and Staff Exhibition — paper, glue and canvas. It can be fun to consider the parallels between music and visual art. For this exhibit, the artists were asked to think about this relationship in the context of improvisation. Both disciplines require the creators to work within concise boundaries, while executing their ideas in a finite amount of time and employing specific materials and tools.

Kat Muller — historical costumer. With an academic background in archaeology and history, Kat Muller uses clothing to develop a deeper understanding of people in the past. Most of her career was working at living history museums (places like Colonial Williamsburg) where interpreters recreate the past to learn more about the everyday lives of ordinary people-the ones who are not written up in history books. Her first museum was an 1830s factory town in New Jersey called The Historic Village at Allaire where she worked as a blacksmith. She quickly learned two important lessons: she was going to get much dirtier as a blacksmith than an archaeologist and historic costumes are expensive. Kat decided to take up sewing having always had an interest in fashion. Shortly thereafter she got the crazy idea of trying to make an outfit per century for over 500 years of history. That quickly got expanded to almost 1,000 years of history. This display includes pieces Kat has made towards her personal sewing challenge, everyday items to wear, and some interesting clothing pieces she’s collected. Kat sews on commission and inquires can be sent to Katherine.A.L.Muller@gmail.com.

Ian Gaadt — mixed media. Ian Gaadt is an 18 year-old freshman at Rhode Island School of Design in the heart of Providence, Rhode Island. His intended major is Illustration and has also become interested in animation. Growing up, Ian was surrounded by art and music. His mom is a successful graphic designer and illustrator and his dad is

very musical. Ian has always taken pride in his involvement with both music and art and believes that a balance between the two has been beneficial. He particularly enjoys drawing portraits of musicians and music inspires him heavily. Ian graduated from Kennett High School in 2020 and basically grew up at the Music School of Delaware as part of the Suzuki Academy for more than 12 years. He enjoyed learning and performing on violin in the programs at the Music School and with the Delaware Youth Symphony Orchestra. Ian graduated from the Honors Program in 2020.

Susan Spartz — stained glass. Based in Wilmington, Delaware, Susan’s background includes time in the Navy where she learned welding and repair work. Afterward, she spent seven years in manufacturing, giving her experience in precision. During that time she took a stained glass class which fed her soul and fired a passion that has been burning for over twenty years. She refined her skill through creating pieces for craft shows and commissions, including St. Michael, who was created to honor a former headmaster at St. Edmonds Academy.

Maia Palmer — painting and multi-media. Maia Palmer is an artist and an art instructor at Archmere Academy who has exhibited her work all around the globe. She works primarily in acrylics, and has created community murals, digital works, coloring books, and figurative sculptures. She is currently working on a portrait series of the people around her that are actively creating the change they want to see in the world. Maia

received a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University in 2002, where she studied painting, drawing, and sculpting. She also intensively studied portrait painting and figure sculpting at La Universitat Politécnica de Valencia. By 2002, her artwork had already been exhibited in China, Spain, and Pittsburgh. After graduating, she lived and exhibited in Hawaii and taught English as a Second Language in Japan before ultimately returning to mainland U.S. and pursuing her MFA at Washington University in St. Louis. She has since exhibited her work in Virginia, Missouri, Berlin, as well as Biggs Museum of American Art, Hardcastle Galleries, Talleyville Frame Shoppe and Gallery, Darlington Art Center, and other galleries throughout Delaware.

Artist Statement: The silhouette of a building, the graceful fold of an origami crane, the act of holding hands with a loved one – these small intimate moments are at the crux of my work and I strive to bring them to life in my art. As an adventurer and an explorer, I love chasing the challenge of portraying deceptively mundane scenes and objects in new mediums and whimsical imaginings. I see humor everywhere around me, and I hope my viewers have a sense of joy and wonder as they join me in my visual explorations.

John Mollura — photography. John Mollua is a full-time commercial photographer and lives in Milford, Delaware, with his wife of 16 years, Brenda, and their three school aged children. John LOVES music (musicians are one his favorite photographic subjects). John’s photography is known for striking a balance between clean, sharp, and technically precise photos, balanced with artistic perspectives and highly-creative uses of light and motion. John’s work has been used by agencies and world-wide companies for product marketing. He also has special photography packages available for local businesses that are looking to elevate the quality of their marketing photographs for print and social medial advertising. Many of the landscape and still-life images on display were created before John developed the courage to photograph people and create the vivid, creative portraits he is now known for. In 2017, John chose to leave a successful fifteen-year career as a lead test engineer for NASA and military projects across the world and pursue photography full-time. Since he has no degrees in photography, John believes that he is a steward of his natural ability. He continually seeks out ways to use photography to bless others and bring positivity into the world. John is the Director of the Southern Delaware Chapter of Help-Portrait. Every year, the Southern Delaware Help-Portrait team of volunteers provides hundreds of digital and printed professional photo portraits, free of charge, to members of the community. Also, John has started ‘The Milford Community Lens’, a photo-walk group in Milford to create a supportive community of people interested in creating bonds that encourage each other in the tension that lies between the desire to create and the fear and trepidation that can sometimes surround showing artistic creations to the world. His newest photography project that is currently accepting bookings is “The New Day Sessions – See yourself in a Different Light”. John creates unique portraits with highly-creative and non-traditional lighting. Then John has the subjects digitally write positive affirmations to themselves. John artistically incorporates these hand-written messages onto the subject’s portraits. The subject then receives a printed 8x10 with their own personal affirmations to serve as a beacon of light to see themselves in a new light, with their hand-written affirmations, to guide them on those dark days. To schedule a free consultation or to book a shoot with John, contact him at john@molluraphoto.com.

Olga Dmytrenko — painting. Based in Newark, Delaware, Olga is a Ukrainian-American artist with an extensive background in science. She is a graduate from Kiev State University where she majored in Physics in 1986. In 1990 she gained a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry. Her art is often reminiscent of industrial landscapes or musical mindscapes with the organic motif reflecting both representational and experimental ideas of “landscape”; soft colors blend into each other and sharp edges with perfect shadows create universe of fantasy. Olga has showed her work regionally and internationally since 2005 in about 40 group and solo exhibitions. Her works were published in 19 art books/catalogues, including 3 covers for scientific journals and multiply contributions to 2009-2012 issues of The Main Street Journal edited by the University of Delaware students.

Mark Detwiler — photography. I try to remember Thoreau's words whenever I shoot. Before my wife and I started our honeymoon trip in October 1977, I purchased a slightly used Konica Autoreflex TC, my first SLR camera. With a few lessons from the camera store and my father, I began a casual relationship with photography. The Konica served me well until I dropped it in 2003. Not until I bought my first digital camera, a point & shoot Nikon Coolpix 4800, and my family and friends told me how good some of my pictures were, did I realize that I have an eye for photography. I now use a Canon EOS Rebel T5i, basically as a point & shoot. With education and work as an accountant until 1989, then 25 years as a dealer in collectible vinyl records, it wasn't until the record business was on the wane that I began to focus on photography. I have no formal training or professional photographic experience. Pictures with texture or depth, strong color, patterns or shadows attract my eye. Frequent subjects are vehicles and machinery (gears!), flowers and gardens, architecture, benches, and the details thereof. In the words of my friend, the Wilmington artist Riva Brown, I zoom in on the details, somewhat removing the context, leaving an interesting abstract.

Pacem in Terris — painting & drawing. The Pacem in Terris Youth Peace Art Exhibition was introduced as an opportunity for all of us to learn from our younger citizens what the world should be like. What does a peaceful world look like? What should us older citizens be working towards? Due to it's success, we have made the project an ongoing part of our peacemaking. Call it Visionary Peace. Something to which our younger citizens are uniquely qualified to make a significant contribution. The Pacem in Terris Youth Peace Art Exhibition is where the art and words of our young friends can help us all see the world anew. We are giving youth a platform to speak to adults about the world they want. In a very real sense, they “own” more of the future than the richest older person or the most powerful politician. They own it in the sense that if each of us gets (according to average life expectancy), 80 years of life upon our birth, you have, 10 years left that you “own.” If you are a 10 year old, you “own” 70 years of the future... So our children are wealthier than their parents when it comes to time and the amount of it they have. Given that they have such a vested interest in the future, they should have a strong voice about what that future should be. The Youth Peace Art Exhibition provides a place for out youth to articulate what they want.

Gary Walter — photography. Gary explored film photography from the late 1960s, but joined the digital revolution in 2003 and has never looked back. Although lighthouses are a common theme in Gary’s photography, he also explores the rest of the world through the digital lens. He is most interested in travel, landscape and portrait photography. Gary is a member of the Delaware Photographic Society and the Photographic Society of America. He has had images accepted at the National Lighthouse Museum, Longwood Gardens, Mt. Cuba Center, PNC Bank of Delaware and the Wilmington News Journal. You can see other images by Gary at www.garywalterphotography.smugmug.com.

Kathleen Magner-Rios — photography. While working on this project, I came across a quote from Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” where Gregor, the main character, wakes from un-easy dreams to find himself transformed into an insect. This had me thinking about how removed from the life an insect our existence is and dreaming about how my little courtyard garden might appear to be an entire world to something so small. I often photograph botanicals found in my garden and relish the time taken to try to capture a “personality.” Living among the botanicals are many insects, happily getting on with their own business, so I conscripted them to be the subject of my series and to try to capture some of their personality as well.

Sara F. Gallagher — painting. Sara is an award-winning artist whose paintings come from her imagination and from direct observation of rural scenery and local gardens. She works in watercolor primarily, but also in acrylics and oils. She moves freely between traditional and nontraditional techniques, and uses both paper and watercolor canvas as supports for her artwork. Sara’s most recent endeavors incorporate watercolor pouring techniques that she has developed that result in artwork that is whimsical in its overall appearance. She is excited by the creative freedom and choices it presents to her as she explores the compositional development of each painting. Sara was the lead artist for the six murals on the wall of the Salvation Army Building in Milford that depict historical scenes from Milford’s past. She is a Founder of the Mispillion Art League and has served as Vice President, President, Past President and now as Public Art Chairman on the Mispillion Art League Board of Directors. Sara is also a member of Rehoboth Art League and the Delaware Watercolor Society.

Laurie Kirkpatrick Doran — painting. Laurie received her arts training in Philadelphia with her BFA from Moore College of Art and MFA from The University of the Arts. Her work includes paintings, photos, drawings and mixed media artworks with strong digital influence. Laurie is a member of MAC Artist Gallery. She has exhibited in both Wilmington and Philadelphia and her art is in many private collections. She currently lives in Media and teaches Studio Arts and Digital Design in Philadelphia.

Ginny Lockman — photography. After a full career in non-profit management in Delaware, Ginny started taking photographs. She discovered and tuned her artistic eye through education, practice and experimentation. She explores and captures the world as she sees it.

She photographs what catches her eye - a color, a place, a landscape, a person. But what makes her raise the camera to her eye is the texture of rotting wood on an abandoned house, the golden shades of sea grass at dawn, the love of a mother holding her child. She lives in Wilmington and her work has been featured at the Delaware Contemporary, Colourworks, the Art Space at Siegel JCC and the Wilmington Exhibition of International Photography. You can follow her on Instagram at virginia_lockman.

Patrice Zinck — photography. Patrice's images are a reflection of the connection she feels with the subject. This holds true whether photographing landscapes, seascapes or still life, experiencing a unique perspective with each subject. She has a wide range of interests, looking for compelling subjects as well as creating still life images in her studio. These images are an extension of her inner self drawing in the connection or the story felt with the subject she is photographing, becoming more than just about the subject. Her intention is to capture the essence of the subjects using the creative medium of photography.

Gary Walter — photography. Gary explored film photography from the late 1960s, but joined the digital revolution in 2003 and has never looked back.

Although lighthouses are a common theme in Gary’s photography, he also explores the rest of the world through the digital lens. He is most interested in travel, landscape and portrait photography. Gary is a member of the Delaware Photographic Society and the Photographic Society of America. He has had images accepted at the National Lighthouse Museum, Longwood Gardens, Mt. Cuba Center, PNC Bank of Delaware and the Wilmington News Journal. You can see other images by Gary at www.garywalterphotography.smugmug.com.

Dane Tilghman — painting. My art is a calibration of lives past for their contribution to the human experience. Although many of the people I paint are not famous or well known. Deep in our soul we connected to them. They lived their lives as we live now and they have been where we are yet to go. Bill Withers said “the wisdom of the future is the past. Down city streets and wise old southern drawers. The things that say the most say things that last.” Dane has taken his artwork towards new dimensions, going from realism to a stylish combination developing his own interpretations of surrealism and primitive elongation. He has established himself as one of the premier painters of African American Art. He has a creative approach to artistic images of the common man, woman and child. Dane’s images are inspired of African Americans in and out of daily life, popular entertainment, and the world of sports. He has exhibited his works throughout the United States at art festivals, galleries, trade shows, convention centers and sports arenas where he has received numerous awards. His work has been exhibited at the African American Museum in Philadelphia, and also in one-man shows at Howard University, Widener University, West Chester University, University of Pennsylvania, Penn State and the Butler Institute of Fine Art in Youngstown, Ohio.

Thamer Dawood — painting. Thamer Dawood was born in Iraq, the country which invented writing, where signs were converted from voice to a picture and became later the foundation of human thinking. His works contain themes of history, nationality and exile, with reinterpretations of 4,000-year-old Mesopotamian “circular stamps,” prints carved in mud that are loaded with cuneiform writings and secret magical signs. Mr. Dawood converts his inner voices into pictures that integrate and connect different beliefs through a crowded revolution of colors and signs of everyday life. His paintings contain writings in different languages, numbers and color spots that gather at the bottom of the painting and shatter upward into a strange structure of layers like those of history itself.

Jessica Berlin — photography. A Wilmington native, Jessica Berlin began taking pictures as a child. Always interested in art she began to explore photography seriously in high school. She received her BFA in photography and MS in Graphic Arts from the Rochester Institute of Technology. She has exhibited in galleries across the country including 1650 Gallery (Los Angeles), Perkins Center for the Arts (New Jersey), and Avenue Arts Venue (Dallas). Her work has also been featured in Shoot Me Magazine and Catapult. After living in New York, Rhode Island and Philadelphia, Jessica has recently moved back to Wilmington with her husband and two children. In the words of the artist: "I photograph what I find beautiful. I have always been fascinated with how light, shadow and texture can combine to create beauty, even in the most unconventional places. Some might call it a haunting beauty. I hope to engage the viewer with the image allowing them to leave their comforts and explore a world that is perhaps unknown to them. I want them to see the beauty, if only for a moment, that I see in these places/people.”

Michelle's of Delaware — multiple media. Michelle’s of Delaware LLC is a fine art gallery located in the heart of downtown Wilmington featuring works by visual artists of African Heritage. The gallery collection consists of originals and original graphics (serigraphs, lithographs, intaglios, etching and collographs). In addition to fine art, the gallery also carries high quality offset lithographs commonly called prints. The primary mission of the gallery is to provide the community access to high quality works of art by international and nationally known visual artists. In addition to the works housed at the gallery, a monthly reception is held to further expose the community to these accomplished artists. Michelle’s of Delaware’s inventory of original graphics is considered one of the finest and largest of any private gallery in the world. For years most of the focus of the gallery was on two-dimensional art; they have now expanded their collection to include three-dimensional works of art. The gallery now carries bronze, wood, and stone sculptures.

Visions of France — multiple media. This exhibit features photographs, paintings, prints, framed maps and books from the personal collections of Veronica Eid and Mareen Hughes, two good friends of the Music School. With additional drawings by audience members from the Cultural Crossroads program, Le Cabaret.

Student Exhibition — multiple media. This exhibit features Music School students of all ages, showcasing a variety of materials and techniques. Our displaying artists are Claire Andreasen, Lilli Bifferato, Benjamin and Ellie Braddock, Sara Brown, Mark Kuller, and Caleb Reed.

Debora Keating & Renee Keating-Mortensen — fused and stained glass. This mother daughter team, from New Jersey and Delaware respectively, enjoy working together to create glass art resembling nature and modern art. Debora started with stained glass 15 years ago and with Renee expanded into fused glass 3 years ago. Debora is an R.N. and Renee is in Business. Both enjoy glass fusing as a hobby and creative outlet.

Linda Solomon — digital photography. Linda is an artist and a molecular biologist. As a scientist, Linda understands and manipulates the blueprint of life itself. As an artist, she digitally manipulates flowers and plants she photographs or paints into pieces of art that are truly unique. Flowers become butterflies or are transformed into cavernous spaces with stalactite and stalagmite fingers while ferns become mysterious creatures. Linda has exhibited in The Shaft’s “Juried Art Exhibition Pop Up Art Show” in September 2015. One of Linda's signature pieces 'Black n' Blue' is on permanent display as a triptych at the Bellefonte Cafe. Her work is currently available in the Bellefonte Arts Gallery. Linda is an intuitive artist, she has no formal training. Artist Statement: Photography is my paint. The computer the canvas. My imagination is free. Take a look. I am not one for words and lengthy descriptions that bias the mind. Let yourself see my art as it is. This is my experiment.

Kelly G. Wilkinson — extreme felting. The purpose of Kelly’s exhibition is to explore felting as an art form. Felting can be used as both a sculptural and fashion medium, and this exhibit features examples of both. Says the artist, “I am mostly inspired by nature, particularly all animals and the ocean.” A Delaware native, Kelly was raised in a family of artists. She was constantly exposed to art – expressed through wood carving, quilting, painting, drawing, writing, cello & violin making, sculpting and more. She has a degree in Media, Technology & Design from Wilmington University, is married and has three children.

Kara Hinson — painting. Kara lives in New Castle, Delaware. Her work is characterized by abstract realism in vivid watercolor. As a child, she was always encouraged to be artistic by the number of artists in her family. Although self-taught for most of her childhood, Kara graduated from West Chester University in 2007 with a minor in Studio Arts. For most of her life, art was mainly a hobby until she began commissioning drawings for friends. In 2006, Kara began teaching elementary art lessons through Young Rembrandt’s for a number of years. After a hiatus, Kara returned to art in 2014 with new inspiration in watercolor. Inspired by portraits, human form, nature and color, her watercolor paintings celebrate beauty, and play with fantasy. Kara has exhibited in The Shaft’s “Juried Art Exhibition Pop Up Art Show” in September 2015, and her work is currently available in the Bellefonte Arts Gallery.

Larry Hinson — photography. Larry is an award-winning photographer born in Wilmington, Delaware. His love of photography began as a counselor at YMCA Camp Tockwogh where he learned darkroom processing. Larry is a member of the Delaware Photographic Society, the Photographic Society of America, The Rehoboth Art League, and the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. Larry enjoys photographing landscapes, airshows, seascapes, portraits, urban scenes and the American Bald Eagle. Larry has been an active member of the Delaware Photographic Society for three years serving as the Projected Image Director for the Club as well as Chair of the Projected Image Competition for the Wilmington International Exhibition of Photography. Larry regularly competes in PSA sponsored competitions in digital images. Larry’s images can be seen at the Bellefonte Arts Gallery in Wilmington, and on his website, larryhinsonphotography.com.

Maria Cervantes — painting. Maria studied for a degree in Graphic Design and an MBA from the Universidad de Monterrey. She received a Fulbright Scholarship for a Master in Art History at the University of Oklahoma and then completed a Master in Fine Arts also at OU. Maria was an Adjunct Professor in Art for seven years at Universidad de Monterrey and taught Visual Arts and Art History courses at the Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM). Artist statement: "My art is a reflection of my personal philosophy, educational background and personality. My goal is to achieve harmony, peace and rhythm through the use of dynamic compositions, colors, textures and different techniques to interact and communicate with the viewer. My intention is to evoke energy and to communicate the joy of art through the interaction of the formal elements. My idea is to communicate my passion for color and the challenge of a complex composition.”

Connie Newby — pen and ink drawings. "My current work consists of small pen and ink drawings of trees, which are for me a catalyst for deeper meaning and reflection. I carefully choose and am drawn to the trees I draw because they speak to me. 'Tree Spirits' or 'Spirit Trees' are found in the traditions of many cultures and artists worldwide draw inspiration from this phenomenon. My drawings of trees are for me a spiritual journey, a conversation, and an exploration, reflecting upon life, loss, and unanswerable questions about living. In addition to the small ink drawings I also create large scale charcoal drawings which are reinterpretations done in the studio and selected from the smaller pen and ink drawings which are done in the field. I also work in black and white and alternative photographic processes through which I explore concepts in non-verbal, non-linear, visual storytelling. My most recent ongoing photography project is a series of photographs of my mother's garden which is a reflection of my mother’s struggles with failing health and cancer."

John Mollura — photography. Since receiving his first camera in grade school, John’s love of photography has grown with every click of the shutter. His favorite subjects are things or interactions that people see every day, presented from a different point of view. John believes that there is always a different point of view and beauty (sometimes hidden) in everything and he wants his photos to express that. John is a Milford resident and a member of the Mispillion Art League. John’s camera has accompanied him on numerous adventures across the world during his “day job” as a test engineer for various NASA and military programs.

Milton Downing — mixed media. Milton Downing teaches in the Brandywine School District and at the Christina Cultural Arts Center. He graduated from Temple University’s Tyler School of Art with a B.F.A. in painting, and received his master’s degree in the Science of Art Education from Delaware State University. Mr. Downing has a distinctive style defined as "Jux- T." He describes the art as “Spontaneous thinking in congruence with mechanical precision to fuse an assemblage of elements. Paintings assembled to harmonize. The act of creating images of fact, fiction and fun.” Over time his art has evolved from factual images of current events to abstract landscapes of overlapping color and textures. His paintings are in numerous private collections. Mr. Downing has served Christina Cultural Arts Center and the Brandywine School District for 24 years. In 2014 he received the award for Delaware’s Elementary Art Teacher of the Year.

Mayura Simha — painting. Mayura Simha grew up in India and moved to US in 1995 after marrying his wife, Vasanthi Simha, who is also an artist. A software process engineer by profession, he pursues sketching & painting as a serious hobby. He mainly enjoys painting landscapes and architecture with water colors, oil colors and pen & ink. He has a collection of small sketches from every place he visits, whether it’s a scene from the woods or the Great Wall of China. Along with painting, Mayura also pursues the art of photography, taking beautiful pictures of the things he paints. Mayura is a member of Delaware Foundation for Visual Arts (DFVA) and participates in DFVA exhibitions in his free time.

Vasanthi Simha — painting, embossing, and engraving. Vasanthi Simha was raised in India and moved to United States in 1995 after marrying her husband, Mayura Simha, also an artist. A private beautician by profession, Vasanthi is always energetic, trying new things and acquiring new skills. She has created many beautiful works including everything from embossing and engraving to glass painting. Her specialty is in nib painting, a technique of creating works of art on velvet using oil paints and calligraphic nib. The finished product is very detailed and is often mistaken for embroidery. In her spare time, she also crochets various things such as blankets, and scarf. She always finds new crafts to color the house with. She says, "I love making all kinds of art because it lets me express my creativity."

Renee Taylor — yarn crafts and photography. Renee Taylor was born in Pennsylvania and moved to Delaware after marrying in October 2011. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with Small Business and Entrepreneurship concentration at Pennsylvania College of Technology and currently works as the full time Front Desk Associate at the Wilmington Branch of The Music School of Delaware. She enjoys a quiet evening spent at home working on knitting or crochet projects— "I enjoy seeing the progress of the projects that I am making. I feel so accomplished when I see the finished product. It amazes me what a simple skein of yarn can turn into." She enjoys spending time with a knitting group where they create baby blankets to donate to local charities. She also enjoys photography using the Instagram app on her apple device. "I've had fun taking pictures of people, places, or objects that have interesting shapes to them. I see something and think 'that would make a great picture'. Instagram allows me to have fun with photography."

Kathleen Allen — painting. Kathleen Allen was born in New Jersey, but spent most of her childhood and adult life in Delaware. She earned a B.S. from the University of Delaware and currently is the administrative director of a clinical laboratory. She has been painting for 20 years and has studied at community arts centers and with local artists. She is married and has one son in college. She hopes to continue painting and is seeking gallery representation. Says the artist, "I am currently painting small-scale still life in oil. I find a peaceful beauty in fruits and vegetables and painting them on a plain, tablecloth helps to bring focus on the shape, color and texture. Pieces of fruit grouped together often seem to interact with each other in almost human ways. At times they seem to be happy gatherings and other times the objects seem at odds with each other. This contributes to my interest and I now find myself looking at produce differently at the market."

Jubilee Ghana Harvest Festival by John Biggers

Jubilee Ghana Harvest Festival by John Biggers

Michelle’s of Delaware LLC is a fine art gallery located in the heart of downtown Wilmington featuring works by visual artists of African Heritage. The gallery collection consists of originals and original graphics (serigraphs, lithographs, intaglios, etching and collographs). In addition to fine art, the gallery also carries high quality offset lithographs commonly called prints. The primary mission of the gallery is to provide the community access to high quality works of art by international and nationally known visual artists. In addition to the works housed at the gallery, a monthly reception is held to further expose the community to these accomplished artists. Michelle’s of Delaware’s inventory of original graphics is considered one of the finest and largest of any private gallery in the world. For years most of the focus of the gallery was on two-dimensional art; they have now expanded their collection to include three-dimensional works of art. The gallery now carries bronze, wood, and stone sculptures. Presented in conjunction with the Cultural Crossroads program "Journey Through Africa" on May 2, 2014.

Sharon Kenny — painting. Sharon Kenny was born in 1966 into a family of Harrisburg area artists. She is a fourth generation painter who was inspired by the painting of her mother, grandmother, and great-grandfather, Harvey Lambert, whose religious paintings can be found in Harrisburg churches and private collections. Sharon studied at Philadelphia's Moore College of Art and Design. A few of her inspirations include Richard Diebenkorn, Grace Hartigan, and Ellsworth Kelly. After graduation, Sharon stayed in the Philadelphia area while making occasional painting trips across the country sketching and painting. The landscape set Sharon on the path of rendering nature from her unique perspective. While on one of her local hiking adventures, Sharon decided to devote a series growing out of dozens of trips into The Wissahickon Woods. With her drawing board and easel, she investigated rock formations and interlaced roots to produce her latest series exhibited here, "Crevice and Chroma: Paintings From The Wissahickon."

B. Ben Pearce — illustration. B. Ben Pearce is a painter / designer / illustrator and a regular contributor to Wilmington area churches. He is the recipient of numerous competitive awards in graphic design, illustration and painting, and his original works are in private and public collections including The Historical Society of Delaware, Delaware Technical & Community College, The African American Historical Society of Delaware, St. Francis Hospital, St. Joseph RC Church, and Eighth Street Baptist Church, all in Wilmington. His published illustrated books are in the Schomburg Center for Black Culture (New York); the Amistad Center (New Orleans), New Orleans Historical Society, The Center for Southern Folklore (Memphis), Evan-Tibbs Collection and Museum (Washington, DC), and The Library of Congress. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Columbus College of Art & Design (Columbus, OH) and a Master’s degree in Publication Design from the University of Baltimore. He is now retired from Delaware Technical & Community College, where he was a graphic designer/illustrator for three decades. Presented in conjunction with the Cultural Crossroads program "Martin Luther King Jr & Black History Tribute" on January 17, 2014.

Elmslie W. Wharton — painting. Elmslie W. Wharton learned to draw and paint in Georgetown, Guyana (South America) in the 1950s, under the tutelage of E.K. Burrowes, who introduced Elmslie to the works of the French Impressionist painters. He came to the United States in the mid-1960s to study economics and architecture at Howard University. After graduation, he worked in New York for the USG Corporation and then for the City of Wilmington until his retirement. Art is his first love - "My work is essentially realistic – landscapes and still-life pieces, with some forays into abstract work and religious pieces which do not emphasize my fundamental dogma. They reflect the basic concepts that underlie the texts in both Testaments. Harmony is the underlying purpose in all my work." Presented in conjunction with the Cultural Crossroads program "Martin Luther King Jr & Black History Tribute" on January 17, 2014.

Mario Passarello — painting. Mario was born in Monteverdi Marittimo, Italy in 1954. He currently lives and works in Agrigento. Since 1978 Mario has exhibited successfully in his native country and throughout Europe. He is an instinctive and spontaneous painter, condensing moods and emotions through colors. Mario works in a variety of media, including oil, acrylic, watercolor, and tempera. With their intensity and strong colors, his paintings are a constant search for a synthesis of color, light and movement. In addition to his work in the visual arts, Mario is a practicing shiatsu therapist and teacher. The images in this exhibition are the result of a four-year collaboration between Mario Passarello and violinist Alessandra Cuffaro, whose performances and recordings of Paganini’s famous 24 Caprices for Solo Violin inspired the original paintings. On display here are 22 digital prints of Mario’s works, plus two of the original paintings, each one a visual interpretation of a particular Paganini Caprice. For this exhibition, each image is paired with its corresponding musical score. Presented in conjunction with the Cultural Crossroads program “Sprezzatura – The Music & Culture of Italy” on November 3, 2013.
View the Capriccio series by Mario Passarello with Paganini’s 24 Caprices for Solo Violin

Eunice LaFate — painting. As an educator, artist, former banker, human services administrator, writer, story-teller, and public speaker on Folk Art and Culture, Eunice LaFate has had an impact on the lives of many people, by sharing her talents, her art, and her respect for diversity. Born in Jamaica, LaFate is a self-taught artist, whose early works were influenced by the landscape, tones and colors of her island’s heritage. Since residing in the US for the past 30 years, LaFate’s art themes have evolved to embrace cultural heritage and the beauty of human diversity. Eunice LaFate cites numerous accomplishments in the field of art and in community endeavors—Recipient of the 2007 Christi Award for Outstanding Community Service/Volunteerism in the Arts, Delaware Division of the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship 2004. She exhibited her painting and conducted gallery talks at various galleries, schools and museums. She presented her Fellowship works titled Diverse Perspectives to the public, at the DDOA Mezzanine Gallery.

The Arts at Trinity — photography. The Arts at Trinity is a cultural arts and humanities series sponsored by Trinity Episcopal Parish in downtown Wilmington. The photographs on display are the works of prize-winning amateur photographers who entered The Arts at Trinity’s 2013 Photography Contest and Exhibit. With each photograph is posted the name of the photographer and a brief description of the work.

Marcia Reed — painting. Marcia Reed is a native New Englander who has been involved in art all her life. She received an MFA in painting and a BFA in Art Education from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Professionally active since 1977, Marcia has exhibited her work across the United States and as far away as South Korea, the Republic of Macedonia, Italy, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. She is the owner of Gallery 37 — A Destination for Artful Living, in Milford, Delaware. Marcia will lead numerous painting workshops in summer and fall 2013 - in Delaware, Massachusetts, and Istanbul, Turkey. For more information, please contact her at mreedinart@aol.com.

SoYoung Park-Bovee — painting. SoYoung grew up in an artist teacher’s family in South Korea and was an art teacher there before coming to America 12 years ago. She enjoys pencil drawing, watercolor and oil painting, with many subjects and multiple techniques. She wants to focus on impressionism. SoYoung works as a full-time art teacher at Oberle Elementary School in Christina School District and the Delaware Korean School on Saturdays, teaching Korean language and art. She also enjoys teaching mural painting in order to provide atmosphere in school buildings and motivation for young students to appreciate art. Since she comes from Eastern culture, SoYoung is always seeking multi-cultural art connection tools for her students. She is currently working on her master’s degree at Delaware State University. In 2010, SoYoung won the “Power of Art” competition at Washington DC’s Lab School. She has exhibited her works at the Delaware Art Museum, Smyrna Opera House, and other locations in Delaware and New Jersey. SoYoung believes that God has given her the talent as a missionary tool to glorify him and to share with people.

King Street by Edward Loper, Jr. Edward Loper, Jr. — oil painting. Edward Loper, Jr. displayed a precocious childhood ability to carve, draw, and paint. He taught art, photography, and woodworking at Wilmington High School in the 1960's and instructed art, pottery, and sculpture at West End Neighborhood House and Kingswood Center. During the 1970's he directed the Visual Arts Department at Christina Cultural Arts Center. He attended the Barnes Foundation in Merion, PA 1977-78. Mr. Loper has exhibited his work regionally and nationally since 1955. During the past seven decades he has completed hundreds of oil paintings utilizing "en plain air" technique to boldly capture his environment on canvas. Mr. Loper applies lightly layered bright vivid colors in areas broken into geometric shapes which sometimes define objects and sometimes echo them. His line is colorful, light and sketchy for the purpose of decoratively defining objects rather than drawing realistically. Loper's studio is located in his home near Wilmington, Delaware.

Anne Crown-Cyr — painting. Anne Crown-Cyr paints in water color and oil. Primarily a “plein air” painter, she has traveled and painted in France, Ireland, Italy, Holland, and Austria, as well as New England, the Southwest, and southern Delaware. In 2007, she received an Individual Opportunity Award from the Delaware Division of the Arts to further her study of plein air painting. Ms. Crown-Cyr is president, founding member, and signature-level Artist of the Delaware Watercolor Society and a signature member of the Baltimore Watercolor Society. She is a copyist at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and a member of the Art League of Virginia, the Rehoboth Art League, the Art League of Ocean City, and the Mispillion Art League (Milford, DE). Artist Statement: “For me, art is about seeing and capturing the everyday and ordinary in a special way to create a mood, interest, and reflection. Compositions should be strong, have movement and balance, interesting color, and allow the content to speak for itself, thereby bringing the viewer to the painting through an individual and personal response.”

Marybeth K. Miller — jewelry. Marybeth has been designing since she was a toddler—taking bits of fabric and wrapping them around her dolls in artistic ways. Under the tutelage of her mother, a home economics teacher, Marybeth learned to sew and craft using a variety of methods and materials, and eventually majored in Apparel Design at the University of Delaware. Over the years, she has designed and created costumes, jewelry, and props for various theatrical productions. Inspired by Asian design, linear paths and parallel shapes in architecture, intricate detail, and the play of light on reflective or faceted surfaces, Marybeth views the creation of each piece as an opportunity to satisfy her love of all things beautiful and a chance to reflect and meditate during the design process. Using a variety of crystal, glass, pearl, natural shell, cloisonné, and metal beads, with beautiful focal elements that often feature natural stones or famous artwork in miniature, she creates pieces that complement the wearer, imparting one-of-a-kind, unforgettable elegance.

Example of JJ Del Rosario artwork Rock My World — The Music School was pleased to present the work of several visual artists in conjunction with its May 12 Rock My World event. The exhibit featured the work of J.J. del Rosario, Rebecca McGeoch, Michael O’Rangers, Sr., and Mark Kuller, as well as students from The Independence School and Wilmington Christian School.

Melinda Steffy — Rudimentary — metal-works. The dictionary defines "rudimentary" as involving basic principles; being immature, undeveloped or basic. The artwork on display comes out of a period of exploration and experimentation, in which the repetition of basic motifs helps to hone ideas and resolve technical issues even when the final results remain unknown. The pieces use copper — considered the feminine element by alchemists — to recreate quilt blocks, a handicraft traditionally made by women. Melinda is a long-time friend of The Music School of Delaware, having previously worked for the school and exhibited here before. She received a Master of Fine Arts degree in painting from The University of the Arts and her work has been on display at Crane Arts, Fringe Wilmington, Villanova University, and the Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, among many others. In addition, she has taught art classes and workshops and worked as a freelance art reviewer in the Philadelphia region.

Kenneth Griffiths — Painting. Mr. Griffiths was born in Lima, Peru. His interest in art emerged at a very early age allowed him to express himself, to free himself and to confess his inner feelings. After countless efforts at self-teaching, Mr. Griffiths joined Cristina Gálvez’s workshop in the late 1970s. Following a short stay in Europe, he returned to Lima, convinced that he should undertake more formal academic studies. He entered the National School of Fine Arts, where he remained from 1980 to 1983, at the same time continuing his studies in Gálvez’s workshop. Parallel to this, he took his first steps in the area of artistic photography with Mariela Agoiz of the Secuencia Alterna Gallery and with Oscar Pacheco and Adi Barandiaran in the National School of Fine Arts. Mr. Griffiths has lived in the Washington, D.C., area since 2001 with his wife and two children. On display October-November 2011 with additional Peruvian handicrafts, in conjunction with the October 16 Cultural Crossroads Program: "Music & Culture of the Andes."

Edie Krauss — Painting. Ms. Krauss was tutored by her father, Sam J. Jones, a muralist and commercial artist, and her love of art developed at a young age. Her father started her with a bunch of tubes of oil paint and a handful of brushes and with his gentle guidance she began to learn technique and composition. Ms. Krauss began painting in earnest after having her first child and she has been painting ever since. Her style and work varies depending on the subject, but she particularly likes to use bright colors and rich textures to express elements of the paintings. Her work has been influenced by two incredibly strong women, Georgia O’Keefe and Frida Kahlo, whose lives and works Ms. Krauss finds to be simply amazing. On display August-September 2011.

Alyssa Colston — Photography. “Life is thickly sown with thorns, and I know no other remedy than to pass quickly through them. The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us.” (Voltaire) Ms. Colston is a freshman at Temple University with a passion for photography. In her artwork, Ms. Colston examines her internal state of mind and outwardly reaches out to people who also find themselves unsure of who they are or what their purpose is. She reflects on her personal experiences to help others who feel as though they are alone and to tell them "it will be alright." This collection of photographs is meant to be a comfortable place to let go and know that whatever people may be struggling with, they’re not the only one. It’s a loving hug, a reality check for the naïve and a release for the emotionally wounded. On display June-July 2011.

Betsy Molina Mortenson & Jennifer Davies-Reazor — “Imagodae — Envisioning the Feminine Divine.” Ms. Mortenson is both an artist and graphic designer, and she has produced and directed graphic design for over 25 years for clients such as Disney, Warner Bros., Lego, DreamWorks and Cartoon Network. She loves combining digital imagery with hand-drawn images, textures and photography to make visual statements that play upon all of these media. This show includes a series of smaller pieces that look at themes of personal struggle and growth, as well as the sacredness of everyday life. Jennifer Davies-Reazor is a mixed media artist residing in Newark, Delaware. She teaches ceramics and mixed media classes for children and teens through the Art Studio of New Castle County and for the past four years has been an artist in residence for Pegasus Artworks, an after school arts/enrichment program sponsored by Boys and Girls Club. In her mixed media goddess and mythological collages, she delves into the spiritual, looking at feminine manifestations of the divine across diverse cultures. She is particularly fascinated with mythical creatures and the powers of transformation that they embody. On display March-May 2011, in conjunction with the April 4 Cultural Crossroads Program: "Music, Ritual & Healing."

Students from the EastSide Charter School — Mixed media. The EastSide Charter School art curriculum aims to give students an interdisciplinary, culturally-rich and hands-on education, empowering students with an awareness of their own innate abilities as well as giving them a perspective on their own potential in the constantly changing world. The artwork in this exhibition was created by students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade and is based on many of the major art movements through history and geography. The 20 works hop and skip through time from cave painting to Cubist portraiture, the Italian Renaissance to the Harlem Renaissance—with themes from all of these movements mixed with the inspiration and creativity of each individual artist. On display January-March 2011, in conjunction with the January 14 Cultural Crossroads Program: "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., & Black History Tribute."

Olga van Dijk — Paintings. Ms. van Dijk grew up in the Netherlands, near Amsterdam, and lived there for over 30 years. She has taught art and music in a variety of settings, including OLGarts Studio and the Academy of Lifelong Learning. In 2004 Ms. van Dijk founded the art shows in the Smith Northview Hospital (Valdosta, GA) featuring local and regional artists in the hospital's lobby and hallways. Ms. van Dijk is a member of the Delaware Foundation for the Visual Art and serves as chair of the art committee for the Academy of Lifelong Learning. She enjoys abstraction and figurative art, with a strong emphasis on colors, graphic elements and bold shapes. On display through December 2010.

Donald E. Storjohann — Photography. Mr. Storjohann started taking pictures on a Rolleiflex Twin Lens Reflex camera at the age of 12. After high school he attended Omaha University majoring in physics and later studied at Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California. His early work in high contrast graphic arts photography led to a career in microelectronics and photolithography, which is a type of photography that can only be viewed through a microscope. Since retiring in 2002, he has gone back to pursuing more conventional photography where the results can be greatly enlarged. Mr. Storjohann is also an avid woodworker and makes all of his own frames. Exhibit presented in conjunction with the October 21 Cultural Crossroads program "Folk Traditions of the U.S." On display through October 2010.

Mark Ruiz — Oil paintings. Mr. Ruiz is an artist of many mediums and subject matters. In this exhibit, he includes a recent series of small oil paintings that follow the contemporary art movement of “A Painting a Day.” A handful of music-themed works were designed specifically for this exhibit at The Music School of Delaware, most notably the large-scale mural design that represents music education at various stages of life. Though his choice medium is oil painting, he is best known for his large community mural projects throughout Delaware, including murals at Lake Forest Elementary, Townsend Elementary, and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Wilmington and Oak Orchard. Currently in progress is a mural at the Boys and Girls Club of Georgetown (Delaware). Mr. Ruiz is an elementary art teacher and recently introduced the ways of Japanese culture and art to his students after traveling to Japan in 2008 on a Fulbright Scholarship. On display June-August 2010.

Olga Nielsen — Works in pastel. Ms. Nielsen’s artwork is inspired by the power and poetry of the human body and face. She works in the traditional, realistic style of figurative art because it best allows her to express her awe and fascination with the beauty of the human form. Most of her sculptures, paintings and drawings focus on the female figure, connecting to her own experiences as a woman. Depicting women—resting, rocking their babies, practicing yoga, bathing, meditating—allows Ms. Nielsen to reflect on everyday moments of our lives, sharing their beauty and their timeless universal meaning and creating a vital connection between the artist and viewer. On display April-June 2010.

Thamer Dawood — Paintings. Thamer Dawood was born in Iraq, the country which invented writing, where signs were converted from voice to a picture and became later the foundation of human thinking. His works contain themes of history, nationality and exile, with reinterpretations of 4,000-year-old Mesopotamian “circular stamps,” prints carved in mud that are loaded with cuneiform writings and secret magical signs. Mr. Dawood converts his inner voices into pictures that integrate and connect different beliefs through a crowded revolution of colors and signs of everyday life. His paintings contain writings in different languages, numbers and color spots that gather at the bottom of the painting and shatter upward into a strange structure of layers like those of history itself. Exhibit presented in conjunction with the February 21 Cultural Crossroads program "Arts of the Middle East and Central Asia." Additional artwork by Betsy Molina Mortenson. On display February-March 2010.

Tanya Bracey — Paintings. Although her works are described as quiet and contemplative, Tanya Bracey's interest in animation is present in many of her works, as her portraits represent engaging characteristics of her subjects. Influenced by 19th-century masters, Ms. Bracey's work reflects a level of realism, representational art and some abstraction, with influences including Michelangelo, Ingres, Gerome, Al Tadema and Gentileschi. She trained at the Delaware College of Art and Design and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, concentrating on portraits and figures. Exhibit presented in conjunction with the January 15 Cultural Crossroads program "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., & Black History Month Tribute." On display November 18, 2009, through January 31, 2010.

Pat Crowe — Photography. Mr. Crowe's father biked around Ireland in 1936, and it was those stories as well as his third-generation Irish (County Clare) ancestry that took Mr. Crowe to Ireland 12 times since 1981 to work on his photography project "The People of Ireland." This exhibit is presented in conjunction with the Cultural Crossroads program "An Afternoon of Celtic Music & Art," with paintings by Sara Russell. On display September 16 through November 16, 2009.

Tamara Cimalore — Jewelry and precious metal creations. Ms. Cimalore’s jewelry is prolific, creative and fresh, ranging from the eco-friendly to subtle sophistication. She masters her materials with unparalleled artfulness, combining the eye of an artist, the precision of a skilled jeweler and the imagination of a true creator. On display May 11 through July 11, 2009.

ADDITIONAL ARTISTS EXHIBITED

Matiko Mamiladze and Parna Surabischwili
Milton Downing and students from the Christina Cultural Arts Center
Andrea J. Turner
Alicia Dominguez, Esteban Pilonieta, José Ruiz Ahorrio and Rubén Sánchez
Dolores Bartholomew
Tzu-Wen Kwok
Carol Tippit Woolworth
Peggy J. O. Schultz

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This organization is supported, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. The Division promotes Delaware arts events on www.DelawareScene.com.

The Music School of Delaware is proud to be an active partner in the IN Wilmington Arts Campaign.

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