Members' work inspires new look at RAL annex through March 28
The Rehoboth Art League made its debut on the avenue by opening the doors of an annex location Feb. 15. New art signs on the historic McQuay's Marketplace make it easy for visitors to find the location. The art league set this temporary off-site location apart with signs showcasing art from several league members.
Two panels accent the entry to the annex gallery in diptych fashion, one with a background of Nick Serratore’s pastel,“Tall Trees at Night,” and the other, Aina Nergaard-Nammack’s “Orange on Orange." Nergaard-Nammack’s abstract painting “#1397 Jules Massenet, Meditation, from Thais” is showcased on a 5- by-6-foot sign on the side of the building in prominent sight after crossing the canal heading into Rehoboth from Route 1. “New Orange One” by Susan Kos Dempsey sets off the main sign over the entry.
Serratore works mainly in pastels. He says, “I like their brilliance and immediacy. I feel somewhat able to capture the textures of the landscape. The tactile experience of the medium and majesty of the setting transport me into a contemplative state. Through my art I render seemingly commonplace views softer yet shot full of dramatic color, summoning both serenity and energy.”
Nergaard-Nammack is most recently a recipient of a Delaware Division of the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship. She says of her work, “My paintings are nonrepresentational. The important thing for me is to arrange these forms in the pictorial field to achieve a strong composition. I balance all relationships as they are developed and intuitively search for a complete image. My nonrepresentational forms will flow as part of a rhythmical interplay, and the result is a vibrant, balanced composition."
The Rehoboth Art League Annex on the Avenue has a gallery of members' art and is open to the public 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Thursday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday.
From 10 to 11:30 a.m. each Monday, the annex hosts an art film from the art: 21 collection - Art in the Twenty-first Century. Guests may enjoy coffee or tea and are welcome to stay and discuss the film after the screening. The film is free and no registration is required.
The first special event at the annex was a St. Patrick’s Day wine glass painting, and the next event is Black Light Night from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., Friday, April 4, painting with black lights along with music and art from the '60s and '70s. Price is $25. Register online for this event. The public can welcome the first day of spring by adding a creative touch with markers or paint to the community art canvas, “Celebrate, “which will be hanging in the front window. The canvas will be available through March 28; no fee.
The Rehoboth Art League is a membership-based nonprofit arts organization dedicated to teaching, preserving and inspiring the arts in the region. For more information on the art league, its classes, events and exhibitions, visit rehobothartleague.org or call 302-227-8408.
These programs are made possible, in part, by grants from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
