Rehoboth Art League to host opening reception July 23

The Rehoboth Art League invites the public to its galleries from 5 to 7 p.m., Friday, July 23, to celebrate the opening of a new series of exhibitions, including the annual members’ fine art exhibition, now in its 83rd year.

This summer favorite showcases artwork by more than 80 member artists in a wide variety of media, including paintings in pastel, watercolor, acrylic, oil and mixed media; sculptures of both metal and wood; photography, and more. Following a long-standing tradition, a variety of awards will be presented, and this year’s show will be judged by Molly Giordano, executive director of the Delaware Art Museum.

Giordano will present a free gallery talk at 10 a.m., Saturday, July 24, in the Corkran Gallery to provide an overview of her awards decisions and to discuss other notable pieces from the members’ fine art exhibition.

Opening July 23 in the Ventures Gallery is John Clendening’s Experiencing the Great Outdoors, a collection of oil paintings featuring inspirational landscapes. Clendening was the Best in Show Award winner for RAL’s 2020 Members’ Fine Art Exhibition. He started studying at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C., in 1958 and was taught realistic drawing and painting techniques. In 1963, he was hired by the Corcoran to teach adult drawing and painting classes, and he worked full time as an exhibit designer at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. He was later selected to work at the National Air and Space Museum. Now retired, Clendening opened his own studio on the East Coast where he continues to paint.

Debuting the same evening in the Peter Marsh Homestead is re-Interpreted, fiber art by Melissa May. A Lewes artist, May has been exhibiting at the Rehoboth Art League since 2019. Her wall hangings have been described as organic, transformative, atavistic, manifesting female divinity and evocative of the primal. She earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in painting at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, continued her education in art history and museum studies, and eventually received a graduate degree in anthropology from Eastern New Mexico University. Her career has included museum work across four states and a variety of types of institutions including an historic site, a state museum, a Native American museum and an art organization. Her artwork has been widely exhibited across the United States and as far away as Australia.

This series of exhibitions will be on display through Sunday, Aug. 22.

This organization is supported, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.

For more information, go to rehobothartleague.org.