Covering local exhibitions, artists, galleries, and museums
Nancy Tankersley, The End of the Island, oil on canvas
Reflections: Nancy Tankersley
Academy Art Museum, Easton, Through July 28th
This year is quite special in Easton: it is the 20th anniversary of Plein Air Easton. To celebrate, Academy Art Museum is featuring a special exhibit highlighting Nancy Tankersley’s paintings from throughout her career. For many years as the festival was getting established, Tankersley served on the Plein Air Easton Steering Committee before she returned to her career as an artist and won many Plein Air awards across the country: first place at Lighthouse Plein Air and Parrsboro Plein Air, and second place at Plein Air Easton and En Plein Air Texas. This year, Nancy will serve as the Awards Judge for the anniversary festival. Find more information about the festival and Tankersley’s exhibit at academyartmuseum.com.
Photo courtesy CBMM by Kristin Rutkowski
Her Helm: Portraits of Women on the Chesapeake
Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, St. Michaels, Through September 2024
Photographer Kristin Rutkowski has challenged gender stereotypes of who commands the wheel aboard vessels that take on our Chesapeake Bay with her portrait project, Her Helm, which is currently on display at Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. Rutkowski photographed more than 50 women (including Kate Dumhart of the schooner Sultana pictured) in the region and discovered an array of female boaters and sailors, charter boat and tug captains, maritime and environmental educators, and delivery boat and ferry operators who have experienced obstacles and challenges while building a career on the water. Rutkowski has captured photos of these women, which have empowered these women. Her Helm features portraits and interviews with the women by the Bay. Find more information at cbmm.org.
Strolling Along the Seashore by Jennifer Heyd Wharton
Fabulous Forgeries
Troika Gallery, Easton, Through August 31st
The annual Fabulous Forgeries is back by popular demand for its 5th year. This year, the judged exhibit will feature select Troika artists copying the Great Master Painters of the Past and will be judged by Dr. Dan Weiss, the President and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Art lovers who visit the show will also have the opportunity to cast a vote for The People Choice Award, one of the four award categories. Find more information at toikagallery.com.
If You Build It, They Will Come
American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore, Through September 1st
Visit the Zanvyl A. Krieger Main Building at the American Visionary Art Museum for the newest MEGA-exhibit. The exhibit invites visitors into the handcrafted environments of such visionaries as Zebedee Armstrong, Gayleen Aiken, Ruby C. Williams, Leslie Payne, DeVon Smith (pictured, with his “robot family”), and Baltimore’s own Loring Cornish. This exhibit features an engaging new way for you to connect to the gallery’s main theme: by using interactive touch-screen maps to explore visionary environments across the country. Find more information at avam.org.
Photo courtesy of Mitchell Art Museum
Two Art Books: Louise Bourgeois and Fischli/Weiss
The Mitchell Art Museum at St. John’s College, Annapolis, Through September 8th
The Greenfield Library at The Mitchell Art Museum at St. John’s College in Annapolis currently houses two small, zine-like art books, each featuring a single body of work. Both works ask fundamental questions about the meaning of life and our place in the social or natural order in different ways. Les Fleurs (The Flowers) includes reproductions of 28 gouache paintings by French-American artist Louise Bourgeois the year before she died. These flat, silhouetted flower images symbolize human anatomy, in structure and in hue and translucency. Ordnung and Reinlichkeit (Order and Cleanliness) is 15 black and white drawings by Swiss artist duo Fischli/Weiss. Come see the books while they are still in our community. Find more information at sjc.edu/Mitchell.
