On view from December 3, 2021-January 7, 2022

Wilmington, Del. (November 23, 2021) – The Delaware Division of the Arts’ Mezzanine Gallery is pleased to present artist Siobhan Duggan’s exhibition, Fleeting, December 3, 2021-January 7, 2022. Duggan was named a 2021 Emerging Artist Fellow in the category of Works on Paper by the Delaware Division of the Arts. The artist will host a free opening reception on Friday, December 3 from 5-7 p.m. The opening reception will be a stop on Art Loop Wilmington, the monthly self-guided tour of art exhibits in and around the city, which is making its return on the same evening after being shuttered for over a year.

Duggan’s work truly could be described as a visual love letter to Coastal Delaware. The artist’s exhibit of pastel drawings purely captures her fondness of the regional scenery, from farm fields to beaches. “My work is inspired by the varying landscapes and inspiring world that is Coastal Delaware,” she says. “I’ve always enjoyed drawing in quiet, open spaces, recording places I’ve been, connecting with my local community. I find it rewarding to notice those brief moments when the color changes in the landscape around me.”

Duggan’s technique reflects both realistic and abstract interpretations of her journeys throughout lower Delaware. “I’ve been exploring color, expanding scale, and experimenting with abstraction,” she says. “I’m focusing on fleeting moments of color as I travel Route 1.” This exhibit, Fleeting, encompasses those moments in between that she aimed to capture.

Learn more about Duggan and her upcoming exhibition with our YouTube Meet the Artist video series.

Image in banner: Intersection, Knit Together, June 2021, pastel, 12 x 23 inches

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.  All visitors are required to wear face coverings and maintain 3 feet distance from other individuals not in their household.

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Contact: Kaitlin Ammon, Program Officer, Marketing and Communications
302-577-8280, kaitlin.ammon@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.

On view from November 5-24, 2021

Wilmington, Del. (November 1, 2021) – The Delaware Division of the Arts’ Mezzanine Gallery is pleased to present visual artist Denise Eno Ernest’s exhibition, In the Between, November 5-24, 2021. Ernest was named a 2021 Emerging Artist Fellow in Painting by the Delaware Division of the Arts. The artist will host a free opening reception on Friday, November 5 from 5-7 p.m.

Ernest’s work employs either three-dimensional forms attached to her paintings or mixed media to create a three-dimensional landscape. She integrates silk scarves, textiles and found objects with acrylic and metallic paint to build each piece. The juxtaposition of these materials, Ernest says, creates both a tension and vulnerability in her art. “The results are visual and tactile works in a language all my own.” One of the signature pieces in this exhibit, Prayer Tree In The Bleak Mid-Winter 2021, incorporates actual tree branches to represent trees in an abstract landscape.

Most pieces in this exhibition were generated as a result of her Division fellowship.

Learn more about Ernest and her upcoming exhibition with our YouTube Meet the Artist video series.

Image in banner: Prayer Tree In The Bleak Mid-Winter 2021, 2021, mixed media, 48 x 60 inches

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.  All visitors are required to wear face coverings and maintain 3 feet distance from other individuals not in their household.

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Contact: Kaitlin Ammon, Program Officer, Marketing and Communications
302-577-8280, kaitlin.ammon@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.

On view from October 1-29, 2021

Wilmington, Del. (September 27, 2021) – The Delaware Division of the Arts’ Mezzanine Gallery is pleased to present visual artist Theresa Angela Taylor’s debut exhibition, Art Imitates My Life and Inspires Young Artists, October 1-29, 2021. Taylor was named a 2021 Emerging Artist Fellow in Folk Art: Visual Arts by the Delaware Division of the Arts. The artist will host a free opening reception on Friday, October 1 from 5-7 p.m.

Growing up in Harlem, Taylor was enveloped in art, music, creativity and activism. Her father and grandfather were both artists; her father was a painter and her grandfather a musician during the Harlem Renaissance. Other early influences came from artists like Pablo Picasso, Jacob Lawrence, Banksy, Georgia O’Keeffe and Kara Walker; from Motown musicians like Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight and Smoky Robinson; and from civil rights activists like Malcolm X, Angela Davis and Nikki Giovanni. Her artwork is also informed by her encounters in everyday life. “News, kids, interesting things I read or see, my own thoughts,” she says. But what inspires her most is “Life and spreading positive energy through visual expression.”

With this exhibition, she chose the title and pieces because they collectively mirror her life’s direction. “Each piece talks about my life,” she says. “You see a representation of who I am; images of my ancients; my work with children in Dover, Delaware; even the insurrection at the Capitol. I want my audience to know…how I feel about my characters, the things that are important to me, and the message that the country is telling me as a Black woman in the United States.”

For more information about Theresa Angela Taylor and her upcoming exhibition, watch her Meet the Artist video.

Image in banner: Moon To Heart, 2020, acrylic, 24 x 36 inches

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.  All visitors are required to wear face coverings and maintain 3 feet distance from other individuals not in their household.

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Contact: Kaitlin Ammon, Program Officer, Marketing and Communications
302-577-8280, kaitlin.ammon@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.

On view from September 3-24, 2021

Wilmington, Del. (August 30, 2021) – The Mezzanine Gallery is pleased to present photographer Jason Jellick’s debut exhibition, Peninsula, from September 3-24, 2021. Jellick was named a 2021 Artist Fellow in Photography by the Delaware Division of the Arts.

Jellick began the artistic journey of this exhibit about a year ago, driving the meandering, contemplative two-lane roads of the Delmarva Peninsula, working mainly in Delaware and Maryland, but occasionally Virginia as well. It is a series about place, he says, but it is also about the metaphor of a peninsula itself — one way in and one way out — providing a means to express the gamut of the human experience and emotions.

His stark black-and-white images speak to the viewer both powerfully and purely. He creates that emotive feel through the use of 35mm cameras and Ilford HP5 film. The work is challenging, he notes, but “…it should be after all. To produce anything aesthetically high should be a huge challenge.”

On inspiration for his work, Jellick says, “I would say most of my influence comes from literature and poetry…I read a lot and I go into the world and make pictures with as few notions as I can.”

Originally from the Central Pennsylvania area, Jellick has been a Delaware resident for about six years, but has also enjoyed stints in Monterrey, CA; New York City; Portland, ME and even Switzerland and France.

Image in banner: Untitled, 2019, 35mm photograph, 11 x 14 inches

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.  Visitors must wear face coverings and maintain 3 feet distance from other individuals not in their household.

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Contact: Kaitlin Ammon, Program Officer, Marketing and Communications
302-577-8280, kaitlin.ammon@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.

On view June 4-July 30, 2021

Wilmington, Del. (May 26, 2021) – The Journey, an exhibition of watercolor paintings by Howard J. Eberle, will be on view in the Mezzanine Gallery from June 4-July 30, 2021. Eberle is the recipient of a 2021 Artist Fellowship in Painting from the Delaware Division of the Arts.

The majority of works in this exhibition span his journey of the last decade of a professional career that has lasted over 25 years. Included are award-winning paintings that have been exhibited in public museums in the USA and abroad.

Eberle describes himself as a portrait painter of objects. He is drawn to the peeled paint of an old barn, the rusty patina of an anchor, or the weathered wood on an old workboat. He carefully balances his compositions and eliminates some details that might distract the eye.

“I am greatly influenced by the Zen principal of kanso, and in my paintings keep only what is necessary to allow more space for quiet moments of contemplation. Through composition I strive to eliminate clutter in favor of simplicity.” – Howard J. Eberle

The paintings are transparent watercolor using a drybrush technique which enables him to achieve realistic, fine detail not typical of this medium.

Image in banner: Skiff, 2016, transparent watercolor, 11 x 30 inches

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. Visitors must wear face coverings and maintain 3 feet distance from other individuals not in their household.

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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.