The Mezzanine Gallery to Exhibit “Painting with Wood” by Robert Bruce Weston

On view from April 5-26, 2019
Free opening reception on Friday, April 5 at 5 p.m.

Wilmington, Del. (April 1, 2019) – Painting with Wood, an exhibition of “wood veneer paintings” by Robert Bruce Weston, will be on view in the Mezzanine Gallery from April 5-26, 2019. The artist will host a free opening reception on Friday, April 5 from 5-7 p.m.

Weston draws from his vast experience with wood when creating his art. He is a retired cabinetmaker with over 30 years of experience. During that time, he became a collector of exotic and domestic wood veneers. A veneer is a very thin slice of wood (usually less than 1/8 inch) prized for its decorative surface. Weston’s creative process is inspired by the patterns in the wood veneers.

In some cases, the patterns in a wood veneer dictate the subject matter of Weston’s “painting.” He also recreates landscapes using wood veneers to translate the forms and shapes of the scene. The pieces are then cut by hand, taped together, glued to a substrate, and sanded. Weston prefers the natural color of the wood and doesn’t use stain. To add color for grass and sky, he uses oil pastels to tint the wood. Weston then applies 6 coats of lacquer and 2 coats of wax to highlight the beauty of the wood and enhance the surface. Each work is framed with a custom-designed frame made by Weston.

Visitors to the Gallery should enter via the courtyard doors on French Street and take the elevators to the Mezzanine level due to renovations in the building. The Gallery will be closed for Good Friday on Friday, April 19.

Learn more about Weston with our YouTube Meet the Artist video series. Image: “The Point,” 2017, wood veneer, 19″ x 30″ (courtesy of The Wright Collection)

The Mezzanine Gallery is open to the public weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and is located in the Carvel State Office Building, 820 N. French Street, Wilmington.

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Contact: Leeann Wallett, Program Officer, Communications and Marketing
302-577-8280, leeann.wallett@delaware.gov


The Delaware Division of the Arts, a branch of the Delaware Department of State, is dedicated to cultivating and supporting the arts to enhance the quality of life for all Delawareans. Together with its advisory body, the Delaware State Arts Council, the Division administers grants and programs that support arts programming, educate the public, increase awareness of the arts, and integrate the arts into all facets of Delaware life. For more information about the Delaware Division of the Arts, visit arts.delaware.gov or call 302-577-8278.


The Division of the Arts to Host Annual State Employee Art Exhibition

More than 270 state employees and their family members have registered to show artwork at Delaware State University Art Center/Gallery

Dover, Del. (February 5, 2019) – The free exhibition will be open to the public from February 25 to March 18, 2019 at the Art Center/Gallery at Delaware State University, Dover. The reception and awards ceremony will be held on Sunday, March 17 at 1 p.m. in the Longwood Auditorium, Bank of America Building at Delaware State University. Prizes to be awarded include:

  • Adult, Amateur, Intermediate and Professional: 3 – First Place Awards of $350; 3 – Second Place Awards of $250; and 3 – Third Place Awards of $150
  • Youth / Teen: 2 – First Place Awards of $150; 2- Second Place Awards of $100; and 2 – Third Place Awards of $50
  • A Best of Show Award of $400
  • An Art Education Award of $200 for reimbursement for arts instruction and materials
  • People’s Choice Award, Facebook and in-person ballot

Additional awards including Honorable Mentions will be awarded at the discretion of the judges. Awards are limited to one cash award per artist per classification.

Sponsored by the National Arts Program in support and cooperation with the State of Delaware and the Delaware Division of the Arts, the exhibit is judged by professional artists and visual art professionals. The Delaware State Employee Art Exhibition is designed to give artists at all skill levels a unique opportunity to exhibit their creative work and to compete for cash prizes.

Participants must be a current employee or immediate family member of a current employee of the State of Delaware. All entries must be the original work of the applicant and completed within the last three years. View last year’s participant artwork.

Gallery Hours

Monday-Tuesday, Thursday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Saturday, 3/2 and 3/9 from noon to 4 p.m. Visitor information

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Contact: Leeann Wallett, Program Officer, Communications and Marketing
302-577-8280, leeann.wallett@delaware.gov


The Mezzanine Gallery to Exhibit “Interlace” by Kevin Bielicki

On view from November 2-30, 2018
Free opening reception on Friday, November 2 at 5 p.m.

Wilmington, Del. (October 25, 2018) – Interlace, an installation of sculpture and paintings by Kevin Bielicki, will be on view in the Mezzanine Gallery from November 2-30, 2018. Bielicki received a 2018 Artist Fellowship in Visual Arts: Sculpture. The artist will host a free opening reception on Friday, November 2 from 5-7 p.m.

Kevin Bielicki’s work investigates intersections and boundaries between painting and sculpture. He makes works–often monumental, large-scale ones–that exist on the wall. But they often cascade off the flat plane and into the space of the viewer.

This exhibit will feature his distinctive ribbon-like wood forms in new colors and patterns, complimented with a series of paintings. The paintings are inspired by the shapes and silhouettes of the curvilinear sculptural elements. Bielicki will be using the sculptural forms and paintings to create a site specific installation unique to the Mezzanine Gallery.

Learn more about Bielicki with our YouTube Meet the Artist video series. Image: Interlace, 2018, poplar and mahogany, variable dimensions

The Mezzanine Gallery is open to the public weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and  is located in the Carvel State Office Building, 820 N. French Street, Wilmington.

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Contact: Leeann Wallett, Program Officer, Communications and Marketing
302-577-8280, leeann.wallett@delaware.gov


The Delaware Division of the Arts, a branch of the Delaware Department of State, is dedicated to cultivating and supporting the arts to enhance the quality of life for all Delawareans. Together with its advisory body, the Delaware State Arts Council, the Division administers grants and programs that support arts programming, educate the public, increase awareness of the arts, and integrate the arts into all facets of Delaware life. For more information about the Delaware Division of the Arts, visit arts.delaware.gov or call 302-577-8278.


The Mezzanine Gallery to Exhibit “In the Studio” an Exhibit of Drawings by Charles Allan Guerin

On view from October 5-26, 2018
Free opening reception on Friday, October 5 at 5 p.m.

Wilmington, Del. (September 25, 2018) – In the Studio, an exhibition of drawings by Charles Allan Guerin, will be on view in the Mezzanine Gallery from October 5-26, 2018. Guerin received a 2018 Honorable Mention from the Delaware Division of the Arts for his works on paper. The artist will host a free opening reception on Friday, October 5 from 5-7 p.m. Complimentary wine tastings provided courtesy of Breakthru Beverage Delaware, in partnership with Out & About.

Guerin’s current drawings are pure trompe-l’oeil, a slight-of-hand mixture of the real with the illustrated; two dimensional perspective with three dimensional illusion. They are still life drawings that capture the process of drawing, mixing the subject with the resulting drawings, but in a setting typical of the daily work environment of the studio. In these works, the viewer loses sight of the reality of what is depicted as the subject often becomes confused with content and process.

This creative activity is not unlike the author of a novel whose characters become alive in the authors mind and literally speak their dialogue to the author as he/she writes the scene. For Guerin, his process is the subject, capturing chance compositions and dynamic tension between multiple levels of perceived reality.

Learn more about Guerin with our YouTube Meet the Artist video series. Image: Still Life with Pileated Woodpecker and Yellow Pencil, 2018, Prismacolor pencil on paper, 22″ x 30″

The Mezzanine Gallery is open to the public weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and  is located in the Carvel State Office Building, 820 N. French Street, Wilmington.

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Contact: Leeann Wallett, Program Officer, Communications and Marketing
302-577-8280, leeann.wallett@delaware.gov


The Delaware Division of the Arts, a branch of the Delaware Department of State, is dedicated to cultivating and supporting the arts to enhance the quality of life for all Delawareans. Together with its advisory body, the Delaware State Arts Council, the Division administers grants and programs that support arts programming, educate the public, increase awareness of the arts, and integrate the arts into all facets of Delaware life. For more information about the Delaware Division of the Arts, visit arts.delaware.gov or call 302-577-8278.


The Mezzanine Gallery to Exhibit “Established Color” a Painting Exhibit by Thomas Del Porte

 

On view from September 7-28, 2018
Free opening reception on Friday, September 7 at 5 p.m.

Wilmington, Del. (August 28, 2018) – Established Color, an exhibition of paintings by Thomas Del Porte, will be on view in the Mezzanine Gallery from September 7-28, 2018. Del Porte received a 2018 Fellowship Visual Arts: Painting. The artist will host a free opening reception on Friday, September 7 from 5-7 p.m.

The exhibition will feature Del Porte’s still life paintings and landscapes. In his work, Del Porte intends to tell a visual story within each stroke of paint. His paintings are made with little jeweled, thorn-like curls, each stroke acting as an individual recording of a moment in time.

Del Porte explains, “I paint from direct observation, in the attempt to capture a unique portion of the infinite gifts of light, line, color and spaces that nature provides. My goal is to communicate a visual quality that reveals something new within the movement and drama of the images I translate.”

The Mezzanine Gallery, open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., is located in the Carvel State Office Building, 820 N. French Street, Wilmington. Image: Winning Cup, oil, 2018, 24” x 24”

Learn more about Del Porte with our YouTube Meet the Artist video series.

The Mezzanine Gallery is open to the public weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and  is located in the Carvel State Office Building, 820 N. French Street, Wilmington.

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Contact: Leeann Wallett, Program Officer, Communications and Marketing
302-577-8280, leeann.wallett@delaware.gov


The Delaware Division of the Arts, a branch of the Delaware Department of State, is dedicated to cultivating and supporting the arts to enhance the quality of life for all Delawareans. Together with its advisory body, the Delaware State Arts Council, the Division administers grants and programs that support arts programming, educate the public, increase awareness of the arts, and integrate the arts into all facets of Delaware life. For more information about the Delaware Division of the Arts, visit arts.delaware.gov or call 302-577-8278.