A new Summer Invitational exhibition entitled, Interpretations will open on July 22, 2015 at the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum, 295 West Avenue, Norwalk, CT. The exhibition will feature works by Katharine Draper, Catherine Caulfield Russell, and Joan Poarch. The exhibition is curated by artist and designer Gail Ingis-Claus.

The exhibit will run through October 1st with a fundraising reception on September 10th 5-7 p.m. Tickets are $20 and proceeds will benefit the Museum’s cultural and educational programs. RSVP by Sept. 4th.

Katharine Draper, a Silvermine painter and printmaker for the past 18 years, studied the art of Japanese flower arranging at the renowned Sogetsu School in Japan, after graduating from Briarcliff College and Parsons School of Design, New York.

“I am always seeking to have my work create deep space and movement whether it is representational or abstract,” said Draper. “My training as an ikebana artist has influenced me to create dimension, texture, and form in my work. I continually try new ways and materials to do this.” Draper is the recipient of several awards and honors including The Ridgewood Art Institute Award, Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, New Haven Paint and Clay Club, Merit Award, and the Rowayton Arts Center, Best in Show, to name a few. She is a member of numerous regional art societies including the Greenwich Arts Society, New Canaan Art Association, and the Women’s Caucus for Art.

Catherine Caulfield Russell prefers to paint in “plein-air” in order to capture the ever-changing face of nature, noting the variations of sky, land, motion and changes of light. In her paintings, the landscape is presented in a sweeping expressive state, suspended between earth and sky. Inspired by nature, she explores her subjects in a visceral intuitive manner following the autonomous nature of paint.

Catherine Caulfield Russell earned a BFA from Jacksonville University in Florida and earned her MS from Queens College in New York.

Exhibitions will include The Lyman Allyn Museum and The National Arts Club. She has been featured in many juried exhibitions and has been the recipient of numerous awards including The Nelda A. Howell Award and the Bernard Allen Award.

Joan Poarch, a former biology, environmental, and marine science teacher, is inspired by New England’s shorelines and rocky tide pools of the Cranberry Islands, Maine, Connecticut’s salt marshes, and Vermont’s woodlands and farms.

“It is my desire that my art will result in heightened awareness and appreciation of each ecosystem that contributes its own unique design to the diverse patchwork quilt we know as the grand New England landscape” said Poarch.

Ms. Porch’s work is in private and corporate collections and she has exhibited in many juried shows and galleries including the Pequot Library, Southport, CT, Silvermine School of Art, New Canaan, CT, Rowayton Art Center, Rowayton, CT, SCAN, Newtown, CT, the Lyme Art Association the Mamaroneck Art Guild, Larchmont, NY, and the Southern Vermont Art Center, in Manchester, Vermont, to name a few.

The Museum’s 2015 cultural and educational programs are made possible in part by generous funding from LMMM’s Founding Patrons, the Estate of Mrs. Cynthia Clark Brown; The Museum’s Distinguished Benefactors, Klaff’s, The Xerox Foundation, and The Maurice Goodman Foundation. The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum is a National Historic Landmark.

Tours are offered Wednesdays through Sundays, at noon, 1 p.m., 2 p.m., and 3 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and $6 for children. Children under 8 are admitted free. For more information, visit www.lockwoodmathewsmansion.com, e-mail [email protected], or call 203-838-9799.