The First Wilmington Art Loop of 2023 Opens Friday, January 6
January 5, 2023
Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki, City Cultural Affairs Director Tina Betz, and Jerry duPhily of Out & About Magazine [outandaboutnow.com] invite City residents and art lovers from around the region to the first Art Loop Wilmington of the new year this Friday, January 6. The popular FREE art exhibition, now in its 35th year, is a partnership between the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs and Out & About. Galleries in and around Wilmington will participate in this month’s Art Loop. A complete list can be found in the January issue of Out and About.
Patrons are encouraged to take advantage of the Art Loop shuttle provided by the City of Wilmington Parks & Recreation Department. The shuttle will leave the parking lot of The Delaware Contemporary, located at 200 South Madison Street, at 5:45 p.m. In addition to the featured venues, shuttle riders vote for their choice of galleries to visit.
Wilmington’s Redding Gallery [decontemporary.org], located at 800 North French Street, is pleased to present the 9th edition of the “Expressive Creative Soul” art exhibition and the first iteration taking place in Wilmington. This annual art exhibition highlights new and emerging African-American visual artists. This year’s participants include Edward Loper, Samara Weaver, Edwin Lester, Anthony Boone, Danille Scott, and Bryant Small.
The Redding Gallery will host an opening reception on Friday, January 6 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. with light refreshments. Loper, Weaver, and Lester will be on-site during the Opening Reception, with an opportunity to Meet-n-Greet the Artists.
The other participating establishments in January include the Chris White Gallery, Christina Cultural Arts Center Edward Loper, Sr. Gallery, Delaware College of Art & Design (DCAD), The Grand Opera House, and the Delaware Center for Horticulture.
Stop Stressin by JaQuanne LeRoy
The Chris White Gallery, at 701 North Shipley Street, presents artist JaQuanne Leroy [jaquanneleroy.com]’s solo exhibit “The Anthology” Trust the Process,” which explores Mr. Leroy’s artistic development from 2014 to the present. The abstract expressionism of his visual art reveals the personal, spiritual, and emotional growth that came along with that artistic growth. Art — just like growth — isn’t always pretty. Through this immersive show, JaQuanne invites you into his messy process as a designer, showing early sketches and mockups for murals, paintings, and flyers he’s done over time. JaQuanne LeRoy has had a residency with the Delaware Art Museum, and his work has been featured in the Grand Opera House Gallery, the Delaware Contemporary, and the Delaware Children’s Museum. The public is invited to an Art Loop reception from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m. on Friday.
Glow by Kara Hinson
The Christina Cultural Arts Center [ccacde.org] Edward Loper, Sr. Gallery, at 705 North Market Street, is pleased to present the work of Delaware based visual artist Kara Hinson [karahinson.com], whose art prominently features representations of black women in a variety of media, including vivid, layered watercolor portraits and illustrative ink/digital drawings. As a child, she was always encouraged to be artistic by the number of artists in her family. Although self-taught for most of her childhood, Kara graduated from West Chester University in 2007 with a minor in Studio Arts. During her studies, Kara found a love for figure drawing and further developed her drawing skills. After a hiatus from art for many years, Kara found new inspiration in watercolor — drawn to the unpredictability of the easily flowing pigments. Layers of surrealistic colors create a dreamlike atmosphere in which her paintings focus on the diversity and strength of women. Often incorporating themes of nature, astrology and nostalgia, her work aims to offer inspiration and tranquility. Kara has exhibited at The Delaware Art Museum, The Delaware Contemporary, Chris White Gallery, and DCAD. Her art is for sale in many shops throughout Delaware and Pennsylvania and she has vended in a variety of art markets in the Northeast for over five years. Kara has collaborated with several brands and designers including Buzzfeed, Ritual Shoppe, and Henry Masks. Patrons are invited to the Art Loop reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday. Refreshments will be served.
The Delaware College of Art & Design (DCAD) [dcad.edu], 600 North Market Street, this month proudly presents the diverse and complex work of young emerging artist, Amos Lemon Burkhart [amoslemon.org] (1998-2018) in an exhibit titled Wit, Humor, Despair. Through Lemon’s work, visual media, and participatory interactives, visitors will explore the complexities of emotional turbulence, anxiety, and trauma, questions about love, sex and gender identity, and issues around substance use and abuse. An observer of the quirks and oddities of the human race, Lemon’s wit, humor, and despair is revealed through his work.
Amos Lemon Burkhart was a driven young artist who created hundreds of paintings, works on paper, digital art, and animations between the ages of 15 and 19. He died tragically at 19, drowning in an accident fueled by a combination of Xanax and alcohol. He briefly studied life drawing at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and experimental animation at CalArts, as well as in high school art classes. In his own studio in a barn, Lemon restlessly worked to understand and express his own turbulent interior life in images, text, sound, and motion.
Join us for an interactive creative activity – Collaborative Chromadata Mural Activation – inspired by the Wit, Humor, Despair exhibition. The show runs through February 12, 2023. Patrons are invited to attend the Friday Art Loop reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The Grand Opera House [thegrandwilmington.org], at 818 North Market Street, returns to the Art Loop this month with exhibitions in both the Grand Gallery and the baby grand Gallery.
Wilmington artist Andy Horgan will present his “Winter White” exhibition in the Grand Gallery, with ten percent of the proceeds from the sale of Andy’s work during this show being donated to The Grand.
Meanwhile, in the baby grand gallery, the 6th Annual Pacem in Terris Traveling Peace Youth Art Exhibition asks you to reflect on your vision of a peaceful world and what peace means to you. More than 700 students from 40 Delaware schools and community organizations addressed those issues by submitting inspiring artwork and descriptions for consideration. Local art and peace leaders selected the strongest messages of peace to travel throughout Delaware as part of the exhibition.
This juried exhibition showcases a diverse collection of beautiful, original, inspiring visions and messages of peace. The young artists, between 5 and 18 years old, submitted their artwork from public, private, and charter schools or community organizations. Seven additional collections of Traveling Peace youth artwork are concurrently exhibited at galleries and locations across the state. For details, see the Pacem in Terris website at depaceminterris.org [depaceminterris.org].
We are grateful to the young artists and their art teachers, along with the volunteers, generous sponsors, and donors for their support. Special thanks to Jerry’s Artarama and our partner, The Delaware Contemporary. This exhibition is supported, in part, by grants from the Laffey McHugh Foundation and The Delaware Division of the Arts. The Delaware Division of the Arts is a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. The Division promotes Delaware Art events on DelawareScene.com [delawarescene.com].
The public is invited to attend the Friday Art Loop reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The Delaware Center for Horticulture [thedch.org], at 1810 North DuPont Street, will exhibit a nature-based photography display, Nurture with Nature, by the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition [debreastcancer.org]. This curated collection of photographs was submitted by breast cancer survivors who participated in the Nurture with Nature at Home Photography Challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic. The weekly themed challenges encouraged breast cancer survivors to begin or continue to spend time outdoors in nature during an extremely isolating time. Enjoy the beauty captured and shared by this incredible group of breast cancer survivors and join us for the Art Loop reception on Friday from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
COVID GUIDELINES
All visitors are expected to confirm and follow COVID guidelines as determined by individual galleries. Patrons are reminded that the Art Loop shuttle will leave the parking lot of The Delaware Contemporary, located at 200 South Madison Street, at 5:45 p.m. The shuttle provides round-trip transportation to Art Loop venues and is a convenient way to meet other art lovers. The shuttle driver can answer questions and help art enthusiasts navigate the many offerings of Art Loop Wilmington. Reservations are NOT required.The Wilmington Art Loop is a self-guided exhibition of visual art displayed at galleries, studios, museums, and alternative spaces in and around Wilmington. The FREE event draws local and regional art lovers to the Downtown District and greater Wilmington area on the first Friday of the month except for Independence Day Weekend in July. Many venues offer opportunities to meet the featured artists while patrons enjoy refreshments, and, in some cases, live entertainment is scheduled. Art Loop Wilmington’s website – a hand-held guide to the Loop that is easily navigable by gallery location, artist, or type of venue – is mobile-friendly and features the monthly lineup at least two weeks prior to the start of each Art Loop. The site can be accessed at www.artloopwilmington.org [artloopwilmington.org]. People can also join the conversation on social media by using #ArtLoopWilm or visit the Facebook Page [facebook.com]. The next Art Loop will take place on Friday, February 3, 2023.