Special Arts Festival Event Here at the Hawthorne Hotel

Mark your calendars for Thursday evening, June 2.

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As its contribution to the 2011 Salem Arts Festival, Kensington-Stobart Gallery has mounted a small exhibition entitled “Painters and Painting in Salem, 1850-1950” that will run from June 2 through July 1. An opening reception will be held next Thursday, June 2 from 5-8 p.m. and will be followed by a lecture on area artists and art organizations from that period by local historian Jim McAllister.

"The intent of this show is to help local residents discover or rediscover a small piece of Salem's wonderful art heritage" says gallery Director Sandra Heaphy." It features paintings or works on paper by a number of former Salem residents, like Frank Weston Benson, Philip Little, Ross Sterling Turner, and Mariquita Gill, who built national reputations during their lifetimes. But it also introduces a pair of other other Salem painters who devoted their lives to their art but shunned the spotlight: long-time Salem High School art teacher Festus Rousseau, and his reclusive Broad Street neighbor, Quinton Jones."

Rounding out the show are works by printmaker Philip Kappel, Philip Von Saltza, Henry Orne Ryder, Harry Powers, Warren Butler and Ross Turner's brother-in-law, Henry Blaney. All lived in Salem at some point in their careers.

The exhibition was curated by Jim McAllister, who over the years has written and lectured on many of these artists. His 8 p.m. talk will focus on the greater Salem art scene between the years 1850 and 1950 but also briefly survey other important artists and their organizations in Cape Ann and Ipswich.

The talk will be held in the Hawthorne Hotel's Essex room at 8 p.m. Admission is $10. Seating is limited. Reservations may be made by telephone at 978-745-6314 or e-mail at culturecorner@gmail.com.

The Kensington-Stobart Gallery is located in Salem’s historic Hawthorne Hotel and is open from 10-5 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 10-8 on Thursdays, and 12-5 on Saturdays and Sundays. For more information about the exhibit or gallery visit www.kensingtonstobartgallery.com

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I hope to see you here.

Juli