“Elemental” Exhibit at Massoni Art featuring artists Heidi Fowler, Blake Conroy, Elizabeth DaCosta Ahern, Simma Liebman, Michael Kahn, Grace Mitchell, Claire McArdle, Lisa Lebofsky, Kenneth Schiano, Katherine Cox, Takashi Ichihara, James Tatum, Zemma Mastin White, Elizabeth Casqueiro, Celia Pearson, Cathrine Kernan, Emily Kalwaitis, Eve Stockton, Deborah Weiss, Shelley Robzen, and Kathryn O’Grady.

“Art is our one true global language. It knows no nation, it favors no race, and it acknowledges no class. It speaks to our need to reveal, heal, and transform. It transcends our ordinary lives and lets us imagine what is possible.”  Richard Kamler

Artwork by Heidi Fowler

Due to open April 1st, Elemental has been social distancing for the last three months.Finally, but under very different circumstances, we are ready to OPEN the gallery.  The entire exhibit will also be available online and in video format.  The best way to stay in touch and learn of updates is through our email news-blasts.  Please go to massoniart.com and register today. It will help us  advise you of changes and facilitate scheduling appointments

Guests will be limited to single parties and family units for everyone’s safety.  Regardless any easing of restrictions, masks will be required. Should you wish to schedule an appointment at during non-gallery hours contact Carla Massoni directly:  410-708-4512

Also, for your safety and convenience (and for the first time!) we are simultaneously offering many of the Elemental exhibit pieces for purchase in our online shop massoniart.com/shop.

ELEMENTAL is truly elemental.

Art opens the closets, airs out the cellars and attics.  It brings healing.  Julia Cameron

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The Bay Country Chorus is the Easton Maryland Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society which was formerly known as the Society for the Preservation & Encouragement of Barbershop Singing in America. It is a part of the largest all male singing organization in the world. The first organized meeting was held July 24, 1995 when thirteen men met to discuss the possibility of forming a barbershop singing chapter in Easton. We were invited by Ms. Ellen General, then Executive Director of the Avalon Foundation, to use the theatre as our home. And thus, the chorus was born.

L-R Roni Gapetz Director, Robert Gorman, Herb Branch, Claude Maechling, Gerry Hopkins, Scott Haddock, John Crovo, Patrick Collins, Ed Wadley, and Jim Ritch. Missing are Scott Riddle, Gary Stiegler & Rick Hatcher.

Our long-time members tell me our first Director was Al Butler (before my time}. He was followed by June Easton, Pat Biddle, Tom Ewald, Dave Milholland and Eric Cheezum. Our current Director is Roni Gapetz. She has a storied history of singing and directing a male and female chorus. She has also been a part of several quartets singing four-part harmony. Her knowledge of the art is welcome, and we are fortunate to have her.  She has a BA in music from Bethany College and a master’s degree in education from Salisbury University.

The chorus started performing primarily in Talbot County but has expanded to the three surrounding counties on the mid-shore of Maryland plus a few “over the bridge” opportunities. Many of our performances are at senior living facilities, venues dealing with patients in rehab or with dementia. These performances can be as few as 12 citizens or as many as 100. We have also performed at the Bethesda Naval Medical Hospital and the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Recently we performed at the annual meeting of the Anglican Dioceses of the Eastern Shore of Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum 100^th anniversary.  We sang the National Anthem at the DelMarVa Shore Birds Baseball Game and performed at the annual meeting of Stores in Baltimore, a foundation dealing with the restoration and keeping of antique furniture. That was performed in front of an audience over 250 people. We have also been a part of the celebration for citizens that have reached their 100^th birthday sponsored by Comfort Keepers.

Our group includes men of all walks of life who enjoy the art of singing. We have an Anglican minister, a professional photographer, a space engineer, entrepreneur’s, a professional musician, and a wounded veteran, among others. This mix makes for great camaraderie and discussion.

The chorus is self-sustaining. We have two major fund-raisers each year. On Valentine’s day we send quartets out to homes, offices or just about anywhere to sing love songs to men or women. The Valentines have been ordered by relatives, spouses, significant others, and close friends. This is always fun and gives the recipient a memory to remember. We are also fortunate to receive program grants from several local organizations that provide funds through their charitable foundations.

L-R Herb Branch Bass, John Crovo Lead, Martha Witte Suss Long & Foster Realty, Ed Wadley Tenor, Robert Gorman Baritone

In the fall the chorus presents an annual show. This features a skit with some humor included which leads us to singing several songs throughout the program. The songs are usually in line with the theme of the skit. We have done skits on Ireland, The Old West, a High School Reunion, California Dreaming and a tour of the nation in song. We usually feature a well-known quartet as our guests for the program.

In 2019 we appeared before 19 organizations and in front of over 1400 people. In 2020 we were off to a great start until the virus hit. Right now, the venues that can support our performances are shuttered. Once the restrictions are lifted, we will be rescheduling those performances and scheduling public performances as well.  Although we cannot practice collectively, we are working individually and putting together a Christmas show we plan to offer this winter.

For further information about the Chorus or if you feel you might want to join us please call John Crovo and we will put you on our list to contact when we begin to practice again. Practices are held on Monday evenings at 7pm sharp at the Brooklets Sr. Center at 400 Brooklets Ave in Easton. For inquiries about performances please contact John Crovo as well.

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Main Street Gallery, Cambridge’s only cooperative art gallery, recently increased its membership by three when it welcomed new members, Sherry Dever, Lisa Krentel and Ellie Ludvigsen.

Artwork by Sherry Dever

Sherry, who was born and raised in Baltimore and currently lives in Fairfax, VA. brings her considerable talents as a painter and mixed media artist to the group. She joins her sister, well-known local painter Lori Dever who has been a member of the gallery for about a year. Sherry was trained in traditional methods of art and she feels that foundation gave her the discipline and focus to make her current art. At present her focus is on creating abstract expressionist works in both acrylic and oil paints. Sherry, who says she paints strokes of emotion on her colorful canvases, finds abstract painting freeing and exhilarating.

Artwork by Lisa Krentel

Mixed media artist, Lisa Krentel, spent her early years overseas with a family of artists who exposed her to sensory and artistic experiences and encouraged her to “make things”. She earned a BFA in painting and fine art photography from Moore College of Art and she says she weaves “tools and materials in new ways to create visuals that delight and surprise”. Inspiration can come from the news or big life changes, she claims, and her need to process these events gives rise to personal and emotionally charged artworks. She also has a respect and nostalgia for the past which evidences itself in many of her photographs, collages and drawings.

“Liquid Echoes” by Ellie Ludvigsen

Ellie Ludvigsen, a resident of Cambridge also recently joined the artist owned and operated group. Ellie is a photographer whose favorite type of photography is street photography.

She loves taking raw and unposed glimpses of people being people, she says. She also loves using black and white to show pattern and form, when, as she puts it “color might distract.” Ellie has a master’s degree in public administration and forensic photography and worked in New York City in criminal justice for 20 years. She describes using her talents in visual arts to help gang kids, hardcore offenders, victims, and CEO’s and staff, to help change behavior.

You can see Sherry, Lisa and Ellie’s works in Main Street Gallery’s current show, “Summer Show with Mary Konchar” which runs through August 29. Main Street Gallery is located at 518 Poplar St. in Cambridge, directly across from Jimmie and Sooks Restaurant. Current hours are Friday and Saturday from 11-8pm and by appointment (410-330-4659). Visitors can also see the show and purchase works online at the gallery’s new website (mainstgallery.net). Check their website or Facebook page for updates on hours and receptions as the pandemic improves.

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A group of 23 artists, who live or work in Easton, Maryland, will have an art show along the fence at 11 South Aurora Street on July 4, 2020. Each artist will portray a chosen African American who has unjustly lost his or her life because of systemic racism in the U.S. The show will hang on the fence from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and all are invited to respectfully view from the sidewalk during those hours. The works are not for sale, but the artists hope that the impact from the display will serve to send a collective message that we, as a nation, still have much to do to improve our democracy for all of its citizens.

Philando Castile by Laura Kapolchok

The idea for the art show came from Easton-based artist Nancy Tankersley who is in the process of converting 11 S. Aurora (formerly known as Atelier 11) into a working studio and a home for her and husband Carl. Located in Easton’s Arts and Entertainment District, this pop-up exhibit will be the first of its kind in the Hill neighborhood. 

Tankersley says the idea came to her while she was participating in the first vigil for victim George Floyd, which was held along Marlboro Avenue in Easton on May 30. “I was standing there with my family, just to show support, and a young black woman drove slowly by reading all of the signs and shouting out her thanks. Her graciousness in the face of all that has happened within black communities in the U.S. shamed me. Spending one hour of my life standing by the side of a road seemed a small thing. I started thinking about how I could use my skills as an artist to send the message that we get it and the idea of the portraits and a fence show came to me.”

Freddie Gray by Mary Ellen Mabe

Tankersley put the idea out to artists that she has mentored in her Easton Studio and also to artists who live in the downtown Easton area; the response was overwhelming. 

Because this portrait project was conceived by a white artist and painted by white artists, Tankersley offers a personal interpretation. “This show is an apology for being silent for so long. It is our hope, if there is interest in continuing the exhibit, that artists of all colors, ages, and ability will want to participate. When painting a portrait, the act of doing so forces the artist to really look at the person and try to understand them as human beings. I think all of us learned something about our subjects and ourselves during this project.”

Even though many of the images will be of young black men who have been slain by police officers in the U.S., others are individuals who have lost their lives through the systemic racism that prompts ordinary citizens to act unjustly. A portrait of Emmett Till, whose murder jumpstarted the civil rights movement, will be on display along with George Floyd, Freddie Gray, Atatiana Jefferson, Philandro Castille, and 19 more paintings.

Atatiana Jefferson by Kathy Kopec

Tankersley and some of the participating artists will be onsite to answer questions about their individual portraits. The participating Artists for Justice are: 

Jane Anderson, Diana Dardis, Mary Ford, Rhonda Ford, Christopher Gillen, Joan Hart, Betty Huang, Laura Kapolchok, Adam Kernan-Schloss, Kathy Kopec, Marianne Kost, Mignonne La Chapelle, Mary Ellen Mabe, Maire McArdle, Sara Linda Poly, Josepha Price, Maggii Sarfaty, Nancy Tankersley, Katie Theeke, Stephen Walker, Stewart White, Lori Yates, and Arlene Zachmann.

For more information, contact Nancy Tankersley: eastonstudio3@gmail.com

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