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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The artist members of Main Street Gallery are excited to feature the work of renowned local photographer, Mary Konchar, for July and August.  The show, entitled “Summer Show with Mary Konchar” will highlight a mix of Ms. Konchar’s stunning wildlife, landscape and still life photographs.

“Summer Show with Mary Konchar” is the first exhibit that Main Street Gallery will show in two venues. Visitors will have the opportunity to see Ms. Konchar’s photographs at our recently reopened gallery on 518 Poplar Street in Cambridge where they will be featured alongside the paintings, ceramics, jewelry, prints, photographs and textiles of member artists. Visitors will also be able to see the exhibit on the gallery’s new website, mainstgallery.net. The website offers viewers the ability to purchase works that can be delivered locally, picked up curbside at the gallery or shipped directly to the buyer. It also has a gift shop featuring works under $50.

Mary Konchar came to photography over twenty years ago after buying a camera on the day her grandson was born. She says she has never looked back. The Easton resident claims a lifelong interest in nature, so it was no surprise that her first photographs were of insects, flowers, birds, mammals and landscapes. Over the years, she says, her interests and work have expanded to include portraiture, architecture and events. Ms. Konchar does all of her own work from capture to print and most of her photographs are taken near her home on the Eastern Shore.  She has also gone far afield to places like Yellowstone, Acadia, and Great Smoky National Parks and wildlife refuges that include Umbagog, Prime Hook and Canaan Valley to name just a few. In 2009-10 she was honored with a three month photography residency at Canaan Valley.

Other honors she has received are Best in Show at the Easton Waterfowl Festival in 2009 and 2013. She was also a Highly Honored winner in the mammal division of Nature’s Best Windland Smith Rice international competition.

“Summer Show with Mary Konchar” will open July 3 and run through August 30. Currently, Main Street Gallery is open by appointment (410-330-4659) and on Saturdays from 11am-7pm. Please check their website (mainstgallery.net) or their Facebook page or call the gallery (410-330-4659) for updates on additional open hours as the Covid-19 situation improves.  The gallery is taking all sanitary precautions to ensure the safety of its visitors and is complying with the governor’s order to wear masks and require all visitors to do the same.

Main Street Gallery is the only artist owned and operated Artist Cooperative in Cambridge and is currently looking at the work of prospective members. For membership information call them or visit their website. You can also like them on Facebook.

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