OCEAN CITY, MD —Dec. 27, 2024 — First Friday, Jan. 3, 2025, celebrates a collaboration between visual artists and writers during the 12th annual “Shared Visions” exhibit at the Ocean City Center for the Arts. All are welcome to the free event that runs from 5-7 p.m. Montgomery Financial is sponsoring the complimentary refreshments.
“Shared Visions” is a collaboration of the literary word and visual art. The exhibition features 19 local writers and 25 artist members of the Art League of Ocean City. This year, the artists submitted a piece of art to inspire the writers who authored poems and short prose. The writings will be displayed alongside the paintings, photography, fiber art, and mixed media that inspired them.
“This is the 12th year for the collaboration,” Rina Thaler, executive director of the Art League, said. “It is an inspired coming-together of words and images and demonstrates the different forms of self-expression.”
On Tuesday, Jan. 21 from 6-8 p.m., the writers will read their poetry and prose that was inspired by the artwork during a free event at the Arts Center, and the public is invited. Guests will enjoy complimentary refreshments.
In January, the Sisson Galleria will feature an exhibit entitled “Mix & Mingle,” an all-media group show that explores the combining of materials, techniques and creative visions. Artists were encouraged to create individually or collaborate with a fellow artist. Mary Bode Byrd will judge the show, and the Art League will award cash prizes to the winners.
Collin Byrd, the Art League’s Fellow for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, exhibits in Studio E in January. Byrd is assistant professor of art at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore where he teaches graphic illustration and animation. He was formerly professor of animation of the Savannah School of Art and Design, his alma mater, where he received his Master’s Degree. Byrd constantly experiments with the limits of digital creation tools from 3D printing to interactive comic art.
Bernadette Tucker is the Schwab Spotlight Gallery artist for January. A retired Therapeutic Recreation Therapist, Bernadette’s art comes from a place of healing and gratitude. After a health scare, she challenged herself to depict water onto a two-dimensional space with the theme of “Tropical Paradise.” The artist holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Savannah College of Art and Design.
Jessica Beck occupies the Artisan Showcase in January. Beck is an architecture and civil engineering student at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC and an Art League scholarship recipient. Growing up in Ocean City instilled in her a profound love for the vast. Her art business, OC-Shellscapes, aims to connect people to places and memories through a small touch of the ocean.
The Art League’s satellite galleries also open new shows on First Friday. Suzy Quader of Ocean Pines shows her pastel landscapes in the lobby of the Princess Royale Hotel at 9110 Coastal Hwy. Alexis McKenzie of Rehoboth Beach is the artist-in-residence at the Coffee Beanery at 94th St. and Coastal Hwy., showing her colorful and abstract mixed media.
Arts Center exhibits run through Feb.1. Satellite gallery exhibits continue through March 29.
The Ocean City Center for the Arts at 502 94th St. is open daily until 4 p.m., and admission is always free. More information is available at OCart.org or by calling 410-524-9433.
The Art League of Ocean City is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing the visual arts to the community through education, exhibits, scholarship, programs and community art projects. Funding for this event is in part provided by the Worcester County Arts Council, Maryland State Arts Council and the National Endowment of the Arts, organizations dedicated to cultivating a vibrant cultural community where the arts thrive.
