The public is invited to the free First Friday opening reception and Ocean City Film Festival party on March 6 from 5-7 p.m. at the Ocean City Center for the Arts, 502 94th St. bayside. Visitors will enjoy complimentary hors d’oeuvres sponsored by Waterman’s Inn, Delmarva Boil Co., and PKS Investments.
The opening coincides with the Film Festival weekend, and is an opportunity to meet the Arts Center’s exhibiting artists and mingle with the Film Festival’s filmmakers and festival attendees. Tickets to the Film festival are available separately at OCMDFilmFestival.com.
The Tidewater Camera Club of Easton exhibits “The Art of Photography” in the Thaler Gallery during March. A private, nonprofit organization founded in 1963, the club supports photography, knowledge about the use of the camera, and a dedication to improving member skills in producing great pictures. John Hoyt will judge the work submitted for this show and present awards.
A group show themed “All Mixed Up” will fill The Galleria in March, exhibiting mixed media work by members of the Art League of Ocean City. Eileen Olson of Bethany Beach, a partner at Gallery One in Ocean View, will judge the show and award cash prizes.
The First Friday event will also open the annual Shirley Hall Memorial Youth Art Show, showcasing the artwork of middle and high school students from public and private schools in Worcester County. The student art also will be on display for the weekend, Saturday and Sunday, March 7-8, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For over 20 years, the Art League of Ocean City has presented the youth art show in cooperation with Worcester County schools. Named in memory of Shirley Hall, a former Art League board member who was instrumental in developing the show, the event promotes creativity and allows local youth to present their artwork in a professional gallery setting. The family will present cash prizes to winning students in memory of the late Greg Hall.
Jessica Schlegel of Salisbury displays her watercolor paintings in Studio E in March. Growing up on the Eastern Shore, Schlegel fell in love with the array of landscapes, and travels the area searching for the beauty within them. She received her BFA from Salisbury University and MAT from University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and, after teaching art for seven years, now creates artwork full time.
Kal Dupchen of Seaford, De. is March’s Spotlight artist. An abstract artist of a Russian ancestry, Dupchen was born in 1951 in Syria, came to America in the 1970s, and attended Bergen Community College in New Jersey. He is influenced by the abundant colors and shapes that the various cultures have to offer and inspired by ideas, mathematical equations, and other artists.
Jewelry maker Joan Danoff of Washington, D.C. is the artisan in residence for March. Danoff personally handcrafts unique, modern, copper and sterling silver jewelry and offers her work extensively at craft shows throughout the East Coast region.
Admission is always free to the Ocean City Center for the Arts at 502 94th St., home of the Art League of Ocean City, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing the visual arts to the community through education, exhibits, scholarships, 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. More information is available at 410-524-9433 or ArtLeagueOfOceanCity.org.
