OCEAN CITY — New work from internationally known painter Stan Sperlak and the annual Beverly Bassford Juried Show are the featured gallery shows at the Ocean City Center for the Arts in July.
The public is invited to the free opening reception at the Arts Center on 94th Street on First Friday, July 1, from 5 to 7 p.m. to meet the artists and enjoy hors d’oeuvres. The shows will run until July 31.
Artist Stan Sperlak lives and works in Goshen, N.J. where he paints and teaches in a studio located along the Crow Creek, producing colorful personal journeys through South Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. His intensely pigmented work is the result of handmade soft pastels on rough and smooth papers and boards that he prepares.
Sperlak’s latest works focuses on the landscape of the Mid Atlantic where he explores shorelines, marshes, fields, skies, boats, fishermen and night scenes. He is a signature member of the Pastel Society of America, the Mid Atlantic Plein Air Painters, the Maryland Pastel Society, Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts in Millville, NJ and the Cape May County Art League.
The Beverly Bassford Juried Show is an annual memorial event for Beverly Bassford, a former Art League of Ocean City board member who was passionate about the need for a new art facility, a passion realized in the Ocean City Center for the Arts. After she passed away in 1999, her family established a prize in her name, which grew into the Beverly Bassford Juried Show.
The show will feature fine art in all media by local and regional artists, juried by July’s featured artist, Stan Sperlak.
The work of Ashley Brown hangs in the Spotlight Gallery during July. A native of the Eastern Shore, her art explores the portals of different dimensions and the fluctuation between time and space. Drawn to outsider art, Brown follows her imagination using watercolor, pen and ink.
Oil painter Darlene Jones occupies Studio E in July. She graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art and is currently teaching for the Central Carroll Recreation Council. Jones paints realistic yet serene landscapes and seascapes with a strong use of color.
Jeweler Laura Ellison is the artisan in residence during July. A self-taught artist, she creates colorful, contemporary, nature-inspired jewelry with mixed metals and resin that is bold and distinctive.
The Ocean City Center for the Arts at 502 94th Street is the home of the Art League of Ocean City, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing the visual arts to the community through education, exhibits, scholarship, programs and community art projects.
Financial support comes primarily through membership dues from individuals and corporate sponsors. Funding for exhibits is also provided by the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore, the Worcester County Arts Council, Maryland State Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, organizations dedicated to cultivating a vibrant cultural community where the arts thrive.