OCEAN CITY – When the resort slows down during the off-season months, the Ocean City Center of the Arts comes alive as the schedule for classes and events continues to grow.
Since the Art League of Ocean City’s (ALOC) Center for the Arts opened in March of 2013, over 30,000 visitors have come to the facility.
“When we opened the doors, we were hopeful that it would be well received but we were overwhelmed with the response,” ALOC Executive Director Rina Thaler said. “It definitely exceeded all of our goals and we have been able to do much more than we ever anticipated in this space. We continue every day to add programming and events.”
The ALOC is the only non-profit organization in Ocean City dedicated to the enrichment of life through the visual arts. Its home, the 7,500-square-foot Ocean City Center for the Arts, is a destination for fine arts featuring two galleries, five artist studios, an art library, multiple classroom spaces and a pottery studio.
The mission of the ALOC is to promote the visual arts in the Ocean City area through education, exhibits, scholarships, programs and community art events.
The vision of the ALOC is to be a vibrant, fiscally sound arts organization with community sponsorship, service and valued membership benefits, offered in a spacious and functional facility.
The art center had over 16,000 visitors in 2014 alone, with 1,258 art instruction students, 3,000 children including art camps and school trips, and 7,000 volunteer hours logged.
“We are a non-profit organization. The community has really come together to keep this place running,” Thaler said.
Throughout 2014, many programs were offered including monthly art exhibits featuring regional and local artists, youth art shows, the Empty Bowl Project, the annual Plein Air event, the Art with a Heart outreach program, free art lectures, five art scholarships were given to high school seniors and home school programs and teacher development days were offered.
Thaler highlighted the Empty Bowl Project that was a new event in 2014.
“The event was extremely well received,” she said.
The Empty Bowl Project is a partnership between the ALOC and Diakonia, which is a local transitional shelter based in West Ocean City for those in crisis or homeless, to raise awareness to help end hunger.
Several bowl making sessions were held in 2014 where over 300 people attended. Attendees were able to check out the facility’s pottery studio, which is the only one of its kind in the area. The ALOC glazed the bowls and attendees returned for a soup dinner to benefit Diakonia.
Besides adding new events to the list of the many services ALOC provides, the facility made it possible for the organization to expand its already popular annual events.
Last summer the Plein Air event brought over 53 artists from six different states to Ocean City. During the event, artists take to the Boardwalk, streets, harbors, bay and marches to participate in the competition.
For the first time last summer, the event was able to hold a show and sale of the work created during the event at the art center where over 300 people attended.
“We have done the Plein Air event before but we were never able to do it on the scale that we did it this year because we have the new facility,” Thaler said.
Thaler furthered the art center has expanded its exhibit space to local and regional artists who have never been able to show their work in Ocean City before.
“When we had the Kevin Fitzgerald exhibit here over the summer, we were able to produce an exhibit catalog like what you would see with a gallery in a major city,” she said.
ALOC educational offerings have also be expanded with the facility offering space for a four-week summer camp, home school students, field trips, and teacher development days where teachers learn how to integrate art into their lessons.
Another popular event that ALOC has offered the past three years and has continue to grow is Brushes and Bubbly where guests can bring a bottle of wine to enjoy while taking a paint lesson.
“We are still growing every year. We have added staff, and look to continue to add staff members to be able to bring great programs, and again look to the community to continue support in what we’re doing here. What we are doing here is hard work and long hours but it is very rewarding,” Thaler said.
The center is now open seven days a week and two nights a week. Heading into 2015 the schedule is looks busy, despite the fact the first quarter of each calendar year is typically the doldrums in Ocean City.
“The first three months of 2015 the Art Center decided to build the community through art, especially in the offseason,” Thaler said.
The New Year will kick off the First Friday reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 2. The reception will celebrate artwork of all media including a collaboration of the literary and visual arts, a sweeping exhibit of both two and three dimensional works, and an innovative installation to begin the New Year.
Join ALOC and Diakonia to help end hunger with The Empty Bowl Project on Jan. 3, 7, 15 and 26 and Feb. 8, 21 and 23. Anyone in the community is invited to make a bowl free of charge and then on March 21 for a $20 donation a soup dinner and breads and desserts will be offered that are donated by local restaurants. All proceeds go to Diakonia.
Also during January, February and March, the ALOC will be holding several events benefiting the Worcester County Humane Society, American Cancer Society and Relay for Life.
Besides visual arts, ALOC focuses on literary and performing arts as well. Throughout the offseason, writers will be presented in partnership with the Ocean City Library as well as performances by Brown Box Theatre will continue.
“In our space, we have 50-75 seats set up for each show, so we are able to bring live theatre here. It is not just pictures on the wall. It is art on all levels,” Thaler said.
For more information or to view the class and event schedule, visit the ALOC website at http://artleagueofoceancity.org/.