Gallery on the Green presents “Member/Guest Exhibition” plus solo shows by Justine Ickes and Rob Loebell.

Canton, CT – Friday, March 18 through Saturday, April 16th

Cost: Free – open to the public

Over many months in anticipation of the annual “Member/Guest Exhibition,” artists of Canton Artists’ Guild have been on the search for extraordinary talent in their networks of friends, family and acquaintances. The result is an exciting and vibrant display of sculpture, fiber art, print, drawing, painting, mixed media and photographs produced by many of the very best local artists.

Also on display are two solo shows. In “LIFE, Still!” Justine Ickes exhibits mixed media collages made with hand-painted paper. Ickes intuitively plays with color, pattern and shape to create compositions that capture the wondrous beauty and wildness of the natural world. With an M.A. in Anthropology from Columbia University, it is not surprising to see the broad cultural influences in her work: “I love to combine contemplative practices and hands-on activities — personal mapmaking plus Japanese sashiko … [a] handmade book with Turkish ebru, or creating a mandala.” She has studied painting, drawing and printmaking in Washington, DC, upstate New York, and Madrid, Spain. Ickes leads retreats for the “culturally-curious” online and in-person at her studio in Winsted, CT.

The second solo show is Rob Loebell’s carved relief sculpture exhibit, “Short Stories.”Each “story” is a response to a specific event – Covid, January 6th, a wedding, a safari, an art opening spilling into a Provincetown street. Loebell draws primarily on personal photographs to create carved wood compositions that are burned and painted in oil or encaustic. A member of the New York Sculptors Guild and The Silvermine Guild of Artists, his work has been exhibited at the United Nations, the Mystic Art Museum, Weir Farm in Wilton Connecticut, Governors Island and Plaxall Gallery in New York, Pearl Street Gallery and Real Art Ways in Hartford. He has received grants from the Greater Hartford Arts Council and won many awards for his work. Loebell has a BFA in Sculpture and a Masters in Art Education from Temple University and has been teaching art in West Hartford public schools since 1985.

The Canton Artists’ Guild at the Gallery on the Green, the longest continuously-running artist guild in the state, has 3 separate galleries and hosts month-long exhibitions nine times a year. The gallery is located near the intersection of Dowd Avenue and Route 44 at 5 Canton Green Road in Canton. Hours are Friday – Sunday, 1-5 pm. The main floor gallery is handicapped accessible.

Website: http://www.galleryonthegreen.org
Email address: [email protected]
Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/Cantons-Gallery-on-the-Green-290415973237/
Twitter link: https://twitter.com/cantonartists
Phone: 860-693-4102