News

152R Main St. Wenham, MA 01984
Tel 978-468-1944
Hours: Thursday through Saturday
11am to 6pm or by appointment

Our Ultimate Exhibit

Announcing that "WAYS AND MEANINGS", an exhibition of Abstract and Non-Objective works by Eleven Painters, opening on NOVEMBER 23rd and continuing into JANUARY 10th, will be the Gallery's ultimate show. I will be retiring from the gallery 'world' and returning to making art full-time, relocating to Providence, RI....my "Art Mecca", and into 'the arms of my alma mater': near RISD, countless galleries, art events, great restaurants, and a large Studio, and putting myself squarely into the pocket of my dear Agent, Debby Leggat of Blue Sky Art&Design.

Significantly, the gallery/Seams building is now listed for sale by LILLIAN MONTALTO SIGNATURE PROPERTIES. We can see quite a few potential usages of this lovely space...especially as studios/art exhibit rooms, or as small, very private offices.

I've had the most fun and rewarding experiences running the gallery, meeting and promoting artists, and working with collectors. Especially important to me has been the opportunity to display Illustration as recognized and saleable Art. From the beginning, 5 years ago, meeting and counseling beginning artists has been a significant carry-over from my teaching career. Of course, DESIGNING the gallery exhibit spaces has been the Most fun! I'll have to collect all that energy and put it in my own art work!

We Have REPAINTED our Building!

painter up the ladder, beginning...

YOU'LL NOTICE that our building is now painted a Lovely! warm, inviting WHITE...Not to sound too much like Myrna Loy inthe classic 1930's comedy film,"Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House" in which she asks her painting contractor to paint (her kitchen)..." WHITE! Not a cold, anticeptic White, but a warm, inviting, White;...but not to suggest any color OTHER than WHITE!" Her contractor then turns to his crew and orders: "White."

AND, I KID YOU NOT...when I saw the first coat and asked where was the sample of my specially chosen White?? the crew guy said to me, "He told me to paint it white." Well, it did become MY chosen WHITE, called, unforgettably... "MASCARPONE!!"

Hey, I have a First Edition of the Book that presaged the Film; signed TO ME by the Illustrator...none other than William Steig!!in which he writes in his famously grumpy manner, "I always hated these illustrations."

Ilene Kovacs, 1932-2012. The passing of exhibiting artist and friend

A frequent exhibitor, friend, and former student from Montserrat, Ilene Kovacs died suddenly in July. Her art work was always exuberant and often whimsical, as she constantly experimented with media and content. She displayed several pieces in our "Down to the Sea" show, notably her Seagull attack on the beach which was featured in Artscope magazine. Through the years she has garnered many merits and awards from The Beverly Guild of Artists and other Northshore Arts Organizations. We'll miss her lively personality. In the current show she is represented by three floral paintings.

CHOSEN 2012 BEST ART GALLERY by EDITORS of Northshore Magazine, again!

..."The Northshore is loaded with galleries, but Gallery Della-Piana in Wenham stands out in our minds. Since opening its doors in 2009, the gallery's exhibits have inspired artists and onlookers of all ages with pieces from miriad genres - including Abstract, Representational, and Non-Objective. Visit its collection and get lost in a world both aesthetically pleasing and thought-provoking." from the Editors...and NO, we do not have any Ads in the Mag!! They peruse the art galleries from the Andovers through Gloucester and Newburyport, etc. We're so proud! and thankful for their evaluation and citation, again!

"ART GROWS HERE" installations

Soft Mosaic pebble art, "slow down to see the flower"!

12 men and heavy equipment plant Specimen Trees for new generations.

For our Third Annual "ART GROWS HERE" outdoor installations this year, the "drive-by" art gallery throughout the towns of Hamilton/Wenham, we created a 'soft mosaic' with colored crushed stones and marble chips in our grey-pebbled driveway leading into the on-going Gallery Exhibit. The groups' 14 installations were placed on their locations in secret by the artists and their teams, and were ready for the Public this morning, July 13th...they'll be on display through the 22nd. Each site offers viewers Maps, Directions, Performance hours, and Artist information. We expect AGH travelers by bike, cars, or on foot. If you visit the website, artgrowshere.com you'll see images from past displays and any up-to-date info. My Gallery soft-mosaic site is #4, and I also created a 'micro-mini' installation on Cherry Street, #3, on top of a tree stump...inspired by the removal of old trees, and the planting of new species. Great if you have a macro lens for that one.

After Jurying MASS ART Portfolios

Kristen Uroda

About 38 students graduating in Illustration were reviewed by 15? professionals...including Designers, Illustrators, Publishers, My former Agent Sharon Kurlansky who reps 'Laughing Stock', and myself on May 2nd in Boston. It's always a great challenge to be very professionally Honest with your evaluations and advice, and not go the way of some AD's and Editors by being too dismissive or harsh. Among we former students from the '50's and 60's...we really knew what 'harsh' was and were often 'dismissed' as women! Mass Art's class of 2012 was about 90% women (a current trend in art schools), and the COMPETITION is only getting sharper every year.

Sharon and I sat next to each other and shared some super talents with a double crit. We highlighted a sensational illustrator, KRISTEN URODA, and a terrific illustrator of rather romantic, retro storytelling, ELLIE GILL. Impossible to see everyone, of course, but very worthy works from KARLA MAE, and attention-getting imagery from KIM FOLEY. What the really good ones all had...for me...was GOOD DRAWING! I advised almost every one to ADD TYPOGRAPHY to 'tell' that story , as it's weak to hope that ADs and EDITORS will guess your meaning. Once students are away from their teachers and their peers who had identical assignments, no one knows if the work is appropriate or clear in its message.

Kudos for good work to build on, also go to: KYLE ENSOR, KELSEY MARR, NICOLE COOGAN, MOLLY ATRYZEK, LAUREN MAY, MELISSA WOOD.

Elissa Joins Jurers in Beverly

April 26 was the Jurying Day for the Beverly Guild of Artists annual members' exhibition, and I joined Em Brown of Manchester and Kathleen Moore of Endicott for an intensive and critical evaluation of the about 90 pieces on view. The most challenging part of the jurying process is reaching concordance with other evaluators...remembering that we each have unique criteria based on personal training, experiences and gestalt, but we finally merged our reactions and preferences to award significant ratings to those members who are creating art works that displayed strong drawing, color awareness, good composition, and careful skills, and a couple of bold experimentalists. The exhibit will be on view at the Carriage House in Lynch Park, Beverly. Ron Pruett was our host, and informed us that the Guild was established just about 10 years after the Rockport Art Association, which is holding its centenniel.

A Recent Talk

Elissa was recently the Guest Speaker at the Women's Enrichment Group in Wenham, where she defined the role of CURATOR and described the intricacies of designing the 'active' space of a Gallery. The group of 20 then strolled over to the gallery itself to view the exhibit and react to the design-plan of hanging this show of 90 pieces. They feel that the Gallery "is such an asset to our Towns". This was Elissa's second presentation to this long-established club, as she described the meanings of Non-Objective Contemporary Art to their members last Spring during the exhibition, "Points of Departure" (see our Archives for some powerful images).

Down to the Sea Exhibit Featured!!

The Gallery's main room, featuring work by Giles LaRoche, Allan Brockenbrough, Charlie Allen, Jude Abbe, Karyl Hayes, & Jeanette Esposito.

Mike Vance's "King Crab Poster," acrylic on found wood.

"Off Shore" by Ron Pruett, oil on canvas. A 'portrait' of the 1920's Vanderbilt racing yacht, its Course, and a map of Newport.

This Exhibit attracted a wide audience of visitors and buyers...and art critic, Brian Goslow, Managing Editor of ARTSCOPE. Look for the Review in the July-August issue of ARTSCOPE MAGAZINE by Brian. Paula Stephens' evocative photograph of the yellow fog that saturates the coastal beaches is featured on the COVER !

THE EXHIBITIONS' ARTISTS: Rebecca Q. Yankes, Charlie Allen, Ron Pruett*, Christopher Hutchinson*, Alisa Harding-Stein, Kay Bice*, Emile Bellott, Emily Blank*, Mike Vance*, Diane Carnevale, Ilene Kovacs*, Josie Lawrence, Carmela Martin, Sandy Kane, Karyl Hayes, Jeanette Steele Esposito*, Jude Abbe*, Giles LaRoche, Allan Brockenbrough, Timothy Neill*, Jim Chisholm, Ann Williams*, Merrill A. Bailey*, Ying Hu, Janice Colby, Caitlin Heimerl*, Scott Mulcahey, Isabelle Peabody*, Thomas Philbrook, Dale Blank, David Piemonte, Paula Stephens*, Jim Stephens*, Law Hamilton, Amy Ragus, Mary Helming*, Stephanie McGrail-Letendre, Maryclaire Wellinger, Katrina Hart, Michael Pasquale, Roland Cornelis*, Paula Beaulieu, Terry Slater, David Neill*, Laura Graf, Jackie Musto, Allie Runnion*, Dana Martin*, Amanda Beard, Kimberly Hincman*, Rebecca Figler*, Ophelia Hathaway*, Matt Tanzi*, Corinne Reid*, Robin McMath, Audi Lane, Chelsie Sutherland*, Olivia Clove, Jan Burgess*, Jean Buckley.

* new to our gallery

WE'VE BEEN NAMED THE 2009 BEST ART GALLERY ON THE NORTH SHORE ! BY NORTH SHORE MAGAZINE!

The gallery in winter

We are in contact with our group of selected artists for next FALL's exhibition: an Invitational, Collage show; to include 12 who work in a wide variety of approaches, from the narrative, surrealistic, humorous, and non-objective, 2-D and 3-D. That will open Sept 4 to Nov 4.