Chesapeake Arts Center’s (CAC’s) ninth annual Arts in the Park Free Festival will take place on September 30, 2023 from 10 am-3 pm (rain date October 1, 10 am-3 pm). This FREE community event will be held in front of CAC’s Hammonds Lane Theatre (adjacent to Brooklyn Park Middle School). The event will feature fun, creative, and interactive activities for all ages, live music and performances, over 60 art and community vendors, and local food truck favorites.
Read MoreAngela Wilson's critically acclaimed stage play, Tears of the Soul, which premiered at the Chesapeake Arts Center in 2018 and has been very well received by audiences, has recently been published and licensed by Heuer Publishing. Angela Wilson is also a State Regional Award winner for literary arts awarded by the Maryland State Arts Council.
Read MoreChesapeake Arts Center’s (CAC) 8th Annual Arts in the Park Festival is scheduled to take place Saturday, October 8th from 10 am to 3 pm. This free event will be held on the CAC campus in front of Hammonds Lane Theatre and in the parking lot of Brooklyn Park Middle School. Enjoy family-friendly arts activities, live performances and music, art and community vendors and food trucks.
Read MoreFrom contemporary portraits with with loose yet intentional strokes, to gritty, abstract mixed media pieces, to fine line inked or printed pieces, Jo Coyle’s body of work displays her unwillingness to stay in one place artistically. Driven by curiosity and enthusiasm to challenge her own creative boundaries, Jo’s newest collection of paintings is her Siren series. A visual commentary on the stigmas surrounding mental health issues for women (in the most inclusive definition of the word), and how it affects them and their lives. Jo hopes for the Siren exhibit to exist as a safe place to discuss these struggles in the open while assuring other women on their own mental health journey that “it’s okay to be in the dark, and they’re not alone”.
Read MoreChesapeake Arts Center (CAC) announced a new partnership with Encore Creativity, the nation’s largest choral organization for adults 55 and older. Encore is launching a choral group at Chesapeake Arts Center to serve residents in Brooklyn Park and Northern Anne Arundel County. The group will meet at CAC on Tuesdays from 10:30 am to noon beginning September 6. The cost to join the choral group is $190/15 week semester. Scholarships are available to ensure all local residents have access to the group.
Read MoreMeet Eric Birkin, a CAC Visual Arts and MakerSpace instructor and new Gallery Coordinator. Originally from rural Utah, Eric’s exposure to the vast world of the arts was limited. Growing up in a remote location, far from suburbia or even neighbors, Birkin spent his youth in his own introspective worlds. He spent his time developing creatures and environments that he imagined, drawing for hours. It was not until he entered college that his arts education truly began, and all that independent development started coming together. Eric received his Bachelor’s in Fine Arts from the University of Utah in 2016 and continued his education here in Baltimore at the Hoffberger School of Painting, Maryland Institute College of Art where he attained his Master’s degree in Fine Arts. He has spent the last two years as an instructor at CAC and has recently taken on a new role as Gallery Coordinator. When he is not working at CAC, Eric is traveling the country with his fiancé and their new little helper, selling their artwork at conventions.
Read MoreA collection of foraged and found, naturally occurring and manufactured. Lexi’s work relies heavily on her connection with nature and her ability to construct these delicately balanced sculptures that elicit curiosity and familiarity simultaneously. There is a graceful harmony in the pairing of elements she uses in each piece, transforming what they once were into a visual language she uses to process and understand her own innermost workings. Lexi grew up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, laying the foundation for her connection with her natural surroundings.
Read MoreConnecting the senses and giving form to that which has none. Colleen Harkins work is a record of lived experience, driven by process and ritual. Based on connecting the senses and her environment, her paintings as she describes them “are form given to the formless inner experience”. Abstract shapes and organic forms take shape on her canvas as visual markers, evidence of a lived moment in time and space. Colleen’s appreciation for the natural world and connecting with her environment took root growing up near Pennsylvania forests.
Read MoreDasha has been creating art since she was very young. For her, art has been a safe outlet for her to express her feelings. Dasha’s illustrations take the form of a comic-like style, coupling witty humor with characters that she has developed over the years. She works in a variety of mediums and enjoys taking an idea and putting her own personal spin on it. Dasha has been a member artist of Make Studio since 2015. When she is not illustrating, she likes going on “crazy adventures”.
Read MoreMargie’s illustrations are a delightful combination of whimsy and color. She draws inspiration from pop films and National Geographic. Margie develops and composes her drawings into these wonderfully vibrant patterns that dance across the page. When she is not working on commissions or exhibiting her work, Margie is an accomplished athlete who competes in snowshoeing, skiing and kayaking.
Read MoreCalifornia native, Amy Cline, channels sunshine and good vibes in her artwork. Much of her work is inspired by the ocean, nature and the rhythms of life which is evident in the vivid color palette that sprawls across her canvases. Amy’s brightly colored pieces emanate happiness and positivity. Much of her work is also set at a larger scale, making them very inviting to view and experience the pigment, textures and patterns.
Cline studied art at the University of the Arts and receive her M. A. in Art Education. She went on to develop a method of teaching science concepts utilizing art theory in her classroom. She also completed an apprenticeship under Philadelphia based artist, James Dupree and has exhibited her work in both Philadelphia and Brooklyn art spaces.
Read MoreLooking at Jiwoo Shin’s work is an experience. There is so much color, life and movement within each one. She utilizes bold brush strokes combined with intense color that create these individual abstract worlds. By layering, adding, removing, and blending her medium, you can see each paintings’ history, bringing you on a journey through her process.
Read MoreLexi Arrietta’s works of art rely heavily on nature, both in subject matter and foraged materials. She utilizes these organic forms, growths and findings and sculpts them into creations that are a visual guide and interpretation of emotion. Many of Lexi’s pieces draw from internal struggles and issues not openly discussed in our society; drawing comparisons from these feelings within herself to the natural world around her.
Read MoreStephanie Smith’s portraits are filled with color and deliberate, expressive brush strokes resulting in highly emotional depictions of her subjects. Though her works are not realistic, there is a reality to them that you can feel in the way she paints them. There is movement in her strokes and depth from layering. Her use of natural light and highlighting gives her subjects an almost angelic appearance. Her work captures the essence of who she is painting.
Read MoreUpon initial inspection, Caitlin’s work can catch you off guard; Chicken feet, cicadas, grubs, decaying birds. But you can’t stop looking. The subject matter and the manner in which she captures them is graceful. She utilizes a soft color palette and delicate materials to create a juxtaposition with the sometimes jarring nature of the subject. Her work represents the struggle between balancing the ideas of femininity in culture and in nature.
Read MoreNia Parks is an explorer. Exploring the nuances of her mediums as well as herself through the creation of her artwork. She seeks out the interaction of multiple materials and believes in the natural creation process. Her work is fluid and organic, utilizing color and line work to give it movement. Driven by her faith and inspired by her surroundings, Nia creates to foster hope.
Read MoreKatrina uses her words as a painter would use his brush to lift paint and stroke it against a canvas. Slowly building layer by layer, until the final piece is crafted. Pulling from raw emotion her poetry resonate with many people. The metaphors she builds are relatable and though some are dark and some are light, Katrina phrases these feelings in a way that comforts her readers, validating their own similar emotions.
Read MoreCreative to the core, Allyssa Ray Yamaguchi-Juárez, lives and breathes art. Even in the way she describes her craft, her words are eloquent and beautifully well versed. Allyssa’s pieces air on the side of fantasy, creating a sort of surreal world in which ordinary objects reside. Her works range from intimate 5”x5” oil paintings to quite sizable 48” x 56” canvases. Though most of her work is oil, she also creates sculptures and monoprints.
Read MoreJo Coyle, graduate of Mount St. Mary’s University, uses what she learned as she obtained her BA in Fine Art, to create a wide variety of artistic pieces. Driven to constantly push the boundaries of what she already knows, her body of work consists of varying subject matter, styles and artistic mediums. Her use of light and shadow (chiaroscuro) in her paintings and the layering and texture use in her abstract mixed media pieces illustrates her vast knowledge of her craft and bold exploration.
Read MoreVibrant and outgoing, Kayla Williams’ artwork is a playful combination of clean, fine lines, and a vivid color palette. As a Printmaker and Illustrator, she utilizes her skills to produce prints and clothing with her iconic graphics. William’s derives some of her inspiration from living near Baltimore, but her work ranges from ‘cute to creepy, to fun and nostalgic’. Her artwork has a flash-like, Pop Art feel with a burst of pop culture that makes them beg to be displayed.
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