“Keith” is one of the striking images on display in the exhibition “Peter Miraglia — Portraits,” showing at St. Joseph’s University art gallery from Oct. 1 through Nov. 2.
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gallery happenings
Anastasia Alexandrin: "My Soul is Charcoal." Female identity artist discusses how geography has affected her pallet By Marc Londo Through her innovative technique of crossing lines of charcoal, Anastasia Alexandrin is charting a fresh, new, course in the art world. A skilled draftsman, Anastasia is combining a distinctly modern use of line with classic modalities of contrast and tone. Her distinctive style sets the stage for a visual collision that offers a soulful departure from traditional expressions of European beauty. "With each line I am creating a statement," she says. "There is something very simple about a straight line. To draw it over and over can be very meditative. It's a repetition of simplicity through which a complexity of forms can emerge." Eachinacia 2, circa 2011 The result is a contemporary narrative of female empowerment infused with fragments of metaphorical structure that provide reflections of new wave feminine identity. "The subject of women and modern day struggles are a huge wellspring
housed in various museum collections including, The Woodmere Art Museum, DiCarlo Gallery, and Brandywine Workshop in Philadelphia.
for me," she says. "Partially because they keep moving and changing and I am a woman living in these times, surrounded by these circumstances as they are happening." Spring Come Early, circa 2010 Currently residing in Philadelphia, Anastasia credits living in the Northeast with being a significant factor in her choice of pallet. "I don't think I would be a black and white artist if I lived out west or in a warm climate," she says. "I like the seasons and the ebbs and flows the city goes through. There's a prolonged period of grey skies and cold weather that my creative side enjoys thoroughly." Alexandrin's artwork has appeared in solo exhibitions in New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco, as well as in group exhibitions all over the United States. Her art is
Persepolis, circa 2011 A native of the Ukraine, Anastasia fled the Soviet Union with her parents and brother when she was 5 years old. The family eventually settled in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where Anastasia attended Barnstone Studios, a nearby academy of drawing and design. "I was always an artist even as a kid," she said. "My parents knew that if they gave me a piece of paper and pencils I was satisfied for hours." When she was a senior in High School, Anastasia won the National Scholastic Silver award. She eventually matriculated at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Art (PAFA), where she served as a teacher's assistant on her way to achieving her Bachelors of Fine Arts degree.
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Period rooms at PMA predate TV and the Internet By Diane M. Fiske
R
ecently, during the summer, a little girl who looked to be 8 or 9 years old visited the period rooms on the second floor of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and asked her mother what happened to the inhabitants of the elaborate pink and green Lansdowne Room. Her mother looked pleased and went into a short explanation of 18th century English mansions. Her daughter probably did not realize she had had her first lesson in architecture or interior design. The period rooms in the Philadelphia Museum of Art are some of the finest in the country and include chances for visitors to peek into life from ancient China and the Middle East to an elaborate early 20th century New York drawing room where Eleanore Elkins lived after her husband died in the Titanic. In the past few years, according to curator Donna Corbin, who specialized in Western European art, the period rooms have tightened their grip on history somewhat and have tried to make sure that the exhibits are divested of extraneous material if possible. Out of necessity, sometimes museum curators supplied a ceiling or a floor when the original was not available in the purchased room. She said that since the legal decision that allowed the 1,200 works of the John G. Johnson Collection, which includes Italian and Northern European Renaissance paintings, to be distributed through the museum, the rooms have changed somewhat. Originally, the collection was confined in one area as Johnson’s will had
England and participated in drawing up the Treaty of Paris granting independence to the United States. Lord Shelburne was named Earl of Lansdowne as a reward for his service. The room’s original furnishings do not survive today. It is known that Adam provided designs for a The Lansdowne Room in the Philadelphia Museum of Art pier-glass and a semicircular pier-table, circular picture frames and a carpet, the design for which is in the collection of a museum in London. He also designed the gilding and organized the arrangement of paintings. Intensive of research provided the background for museum curators to acquire the furnishings for the room. In 1929, Lord Shelburne’s heirs sold the house when it was slated for demolition to make way for a new street. The room was acquired by the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1931, when the “The Little Ship Room” at PMA front of the house, including the drawing room and the mandated. Now many of the floor of a London mandining room, were sold to works of art are displayed sion designed for the third the New York Metropolitan in the rooms that seem most Earl of Bute. It was called Museum of Art. appropriate for them. the Organ Drawing Room Another period room in Back to the Lansdowne because Lord Bute was the which the furnishings make Room — the young girl owner of a large mechanithe room complete is the seemed transfixed by the cal organ. The house was 17th century Dutch room mirrored pink and green sold, before it was finished, called “The Little Ship.” room that was designed to Lord Shelburne and The history of the Netherby Robert Adam, a Scothis wife. Adam continued lands room stems from the tish architect who was very working on the house. early 17th century, when it popular in the 18th century American history came was located in the back of a for neoclassical design. into the story here because house called Het Scheepje, Originally, the room Lord Shelburne served or the Little Ship. It was was located on the ground as Secretary of State for part of a brewery compound
on the River Spaarne in Haarlem. Its owner was a member of the town council. The room resembles the interiors shown by Dutch painters of the period and would have been used for both living and sleeping. The panelled wall contains a bed-alcove behind the red curtains. This arrangement was common in even the prosperous households of the day. A fireplace, which features sandstone columns with figures of David and Judith, each holding the severed head of their vanquished foe, is the central focus of the room. The fireplace tiles show children at play, boats and birds. Corbin said the rooms are
popular with visitors now, but they were the only way many people in the late 19th century, when the museum first opened in Fairmount Park, got a view of foreign countries before the advent of TV and the Internet. The little girl seemed to have become fascinated with the Dutch room and asked her mother if she could peek behind the red curtain. There, she unfortunately ran into reality, and was told by her bemused mother about museum rules and the necessity of not touching displays. — This is a monthly column about architecture, urban planning and design. Diane Fiske can be reached at dfiske_19118@yahoo.
October 20 + 21, 2012 | 10AM – 5PM GoggleWorks Center for the Arts 201 Washington St., Reading, PA 19610 610.374.4600 x104 Festival Sponsor: Penske
HIGH-QUALITY JURIED ARTISTS & CRAFTSMEN HOT GLASS DEMOS PERFORMING ARTS MUSIC & FOOD
visit www.artsfestivalreading.org
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Finding Balance at Abington Art Center Doors from “Once Was” by Winifred Lutz
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By Adam Crugnale
nspiration is found everywhere in nature. Snow-capped mountaintops, the gloom that settles over a forest at twilight; beauty is even found in the desolation and stunted growth of the trees that inhabit the bone-chilling tundra to the far north (think Greenland, Alaska, Russia). For internationally renowned sculptor Winifred Lutz, this same inspiration fuels two phenomenal exhibits, “Between Perception and Definition” and “Once Was,” both of which are featured at the Abington Art Center, in Jenkintown. The former, “Between,” is a galleried exhibit. Lutz pulled in objects from nature, found while working If You Go on outdoor sites — a slice “Between Perception of tree trunk the pieces, and Definition” and a bag of dubbed will be on view through cement, for “Signs Nov. 25, at the example — of Wear Abington Art Center, and fashioned and Col515 Meetinghouse Road, them together laboration” Jenkintown, PA 19046. “Once Was” will be on using various (2007), has a view until November paper techsoftball-size at the same location. niques, often wasp nest Hours: blending the still attached Wednesday - Friday, paper with the and intact. 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., object to such Another Thursdays, a degree that piece, made 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. & it’s difficult to primarily of Saturdays & Sundays, tell where one Belgian linen 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. $5 donation requested. begins and the paper, mainInfo: 215-887-4882 or other ends. tains various www.abingtonartcenter.org. “What I levels of denlove about sity. Lighted Winifred’s from behind, work is that it’s all very light then pours through organic in appearance,” said these differing levels of Laura Burnham, the execu- density, possibly reminding tive director at the center. one of moonlight dancing “This particular exhibit is a on a lake top, or sunbeams survey work, an overview, if that pour down through a you will, of what her work canopy of leaves. is all about.” “Hers is the kind of work For example, one of one may need to observe
Pool from “Once Was” by Winifred Lutz. Below left, Poolhouse by Winifred Lutz, in “Once Was.”
quietly for a moment before it hits you. It’s very delicate work, and the lighting actually plays a significant role in the exhibit. Many of the pieces are translucent in places. Winifred wants us to study them, to see how the light affects them, perhaps changing our perception of them entirely.” “The Core and the Companion” (1987-1988) is a piece made up of two separate objects. The core is a cross-section of a giant log that actually has a pulley wheel, from a laundry line, grown into it. The companion piece — made from flax paper — steals its profile from the missing section of the log, acting as a counterweight and keeping them both upright. This may serve as a gentle nudge toward the idea that
we all need something — or someone — in our lives to balance us out and keep us standing upright. The latter exhibit, “Once Was,” goes hand in hand with the former. It takes the viewer from the comfort of the indoors to the natural world found just outside the door. “Once Was” also involved laborious amounts of digging, as the entire site needed to be unearthed from beneath 6 inches to almost a foot of soil. The remains of this backbreaking work were left behind as part of the exhibit, in three giant mounds of dirt that appear to reach 6 feet in height. “It’s almost like an archaeological dig,” commented Burnham, as we
began the marvelous trek into the wild of the center’s historic grounds. “You really have to take time to study your surroundings or you may miss something,” she continued, nodding at a trail of dirt left purposely by the artist. The trail, at times narrowing to the width of a thumb, lies directly under the brushwood and follows the fallen branches that vein the stone walkways, all original and uncovered by Lutz for the exhibit. “Once Was” will be maintained until November, at which point the center will “let nature run its course,” as Burnham put it. “Perception and Definition” will run through Nov. 25, with a $5 donation requested. With shafts of light falling between the leaves overhead, the entire exhibit maintains a gloomy, gothic atmosphere — the same
ambience that we may find in the work of Edgar Allan Poe, one of America’s most well-known writers. “She left parts of the area entirely untouched,” Burnham explained. “While uncovering a patch right next to it, giving the viewer an idea of how much nature may change a setting.” When left to their own devices, trees will uproot walkways and vines will form chaotic strangleholds over our carefully laid out plans. On Thursday, Sept. 27, the center held a reception to celebrate the artist. Visitors met the curator (Janet Koplos) and toured the installation at twilight, from 5 to 7 p.m. Two other terrific opportunities will present themselves on Oct. 13 and Nov. 10, with tours and book signings with the artist and curator, rain or shine. Visit the center solo and maybe you’ll find that needed bit of balance. Or find balance with a date, or even a group of friends. However you experience it, this a tremendous exhibit by one of America’s premier sculpture artists.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Call for Artists Submissions for 2013 & 2014 are now being solicited
Central Blue Bell Campus Fine Arts Center Arts Gallery, North Hall 16 High Street, Pottstown Please contact Holly Cairns at: hcairns@mc3.edu or call 215-619-7349
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Cool Studio/Office Space in Renovated Factory In Reading, PA Rates starting at $300 610-236-0680 www.readingartworks.com
CALL FOR ENTRIES Annual Juried Photography Exhibit
October 13 - October 27, 2012
Croft Farm Arts Center 100 Bortons Mill Road Cherry Hill, NJ 08034 Fall Into the Arts Week includes multiple events designed to showcase the exhibit and draw visitors. All work is for sale; no commission applies. Please contact us for submission information.
http://CherryHillArts.blogspot.com Arts@CHTownship.com or 856-488-7868
Call for Entries 2012 Juried Art Show
New Hope Art League
Prallsville Mills, Rt. 29, Stockton, NJ
Oct. 15 Entries due online See NewHopeArtLeague.com Up to $3000. in awards Show dates: Nov. 12 - 26 l1am - 6pm daily Reception Nov. 16, 6 - 9pm
CALL FOR ARTISTS!
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• • • CALL FOR ENTRIES • • •
Center for the Arts in Southern New Jersey CFA/SNJ Annual Open Photography Exhibit November 5 - 26, 2012 CFA/SNJ “Family Traditions & Memories” Theme Exhibition December 3 - 21, 2012 For prospectus to exhibit send SASE to: CFA/SNJ, 123 S. Elmwood Rd., Marlton, NJ 08053 Telephone: 856-985-1009
GoggleWorks Center for the Arts 2013 Juried Exhibition Home: Interpreting the Familiar Grand Prize: solo show in the Cohen Gallery at GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, the country’s largest, most comprehensive interactive arts center. Cash prizes for first, second & third place. Open to all media. Each artist may submit up to 3 works for $35. Juror: Genevieve Coutroubis, award winning photographer and Director, The Center for Emerging Visual Artists, Philadelphia, PA. Deadline: December 21, 2012. Exhibition: May 11 – June 23, 2013 Prospectus: www.goggleworks.org/ Exhibitions/Call-for-Artists/. 201 Washington St., Reading, PA, 19601, 610.374.4600
Your resource for finding artists, soliciting entries, renting art studious and for promoting your service. For more information call 215-628-9300, ext. 226
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Photographic portraitist par excellence www.montgomerynews.com
glia,” on view this month of October in Philadelphia. The artist, who was born in 1953 in Glen Cove, N.Y., has his work installed inside the St. Joseph’s University Art Gallery. It is located in Merion Hall at 376 Latches Lane, just off City Line Ave., Merion Station. (For further information about visiting the show, contact Jeanne Bracy at 610-660-1845 or jbracy@sju.edu.) For the past several years, Miraglia has been exhibiting portraits made earlier on trips to Africa and India. Since returning to his home and studio in Philadelphia, he has resumed photographing individuals living in the city. Residents of the region might recognize them as people they have encountered at work, in church, on the street or when they go shopping for food or gasoline. Clearly, the focus is local “Phaedra” by Peter Miraglia and highly diversified with respect to By Burton Wasserman age, gender, neighborhood, vocation and station in life. The eyes in the selection called “Keith” are quite far cross the centuries, the special area of apart from each other. They counterpoint the siennahuman portraiture, whether historic colored skin, braided dreadlocks and soft, rose-toned or contemporary, continues to be lips of a man staring straight-on at you. Caught in the a source of endless fascination for vise-grip of his gaze, you feel a sense of iron will and people attracted to art exhibitions. unusual capacity for sustained concentration. Though Like a magnet attracting iron the photograph undoubtedly details the features of its filings, the aesthetically expressive sight of a living subject, you can’t help wondering how much it might face arouses and captures the interest and curiosity of also reveal such characteristics as the sincerity and spectators. With a boundless desire to explore beneath resolve of the artist who made it. the outer surface, they seek to respond to the many Within the image titled “Elizabeth,” the face of a levels of meaning invested in the artwork. woman asserts her existence as a living presence. With These several facts are abundantly evident in the absolute insistence, her appearance demands that you current solo exhibition of “Portraits by Peter Miraknow she is not simply a meaningless envelope of re-
A
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“Caitlin” by Peter Miraglia
“Elizabeth” by Peter Miraglia
“Wolfgang” by Peter Miraglia
mains left behind haphazardly in the midst of some proach and remarkable technical virtuosity are absoforgotten yesterdays. Instead, live here and now, vigor- lutely second to none. As an amazingly gifted expert ously involved with the challenges and the demands of in his chosen genre, he searches for and defines the her world. complexity and mystery of the human face in passages The view of a young boy called “Wolfgang” is of brilliantly nuanced color, tone and texture. Together, startling and direct. Unlike an advertising illustration, they convey a tangible measure of physical solidity, it isn’t trying to sell you something. Instead, it illumiflashes of intuitive insight and extraordinarily expresnates the innocence of childhood with unabashed grace sive fluidity. and surprise. Neither pretense nor fanIn the pursuit of his oeuvre, Miraglia tasy mar its open-eyed look of curiosity makes subtle use of posing and lighting If You Go and puzzlement. the people he sets up in front of his cam“Phaedra” is a close-up study of era. In a similar way, he employs such “Peter Miraglia someone with nerve, muscle, tenderness techniques as cropping and enlarging to — Portraits” and the patient strength to endure, no effect a resonance of eloquent drama. will be on view matter how difficult her circumstances Through the exquisitely controlled use at St. Joseph’s University, might be. The face has been composed of these measures, he brings images into University Gallery, with the model situated close to the existence that are never obvious, corny Merion Hall, framing edges of the overall composior tiresome. Avoiding approaches that Maguire Campus, 376 N. Latches Lane, tion. Such basic pictorial ingredients are either trite or stereotypical, he strucMerion Station, PA 19066, as sharp and blurred focus, bright light, tures deeply moving photographs of Oct. 1 – Nov. 2. dark shadow and the tilt of the head thoroughly credible human beings. They Info: 610-660-1845 or have all been adroitly managed with just stay attached to the receptive memory www.sju.edu/gallery. the right combination of no-nonsense of your eyesight long after you leave know-how and exceptionally sensitive the gallery where they were initially thoughtfulness. installed and observed. Few artists in the Delaware Valley Invariably, the faces you find in these have pursued portraiture with all the concentrated artworks remind you of people you’ve met and know commitment, artistic consistency and sheer philosophi- from past experience. Simultaneously, they each also cal integrity of Peter Miraglia. His honesty of apmanifest a mystery and complexity that lends authen-
ticity and uniqueness to their being. The differences seen in the many photographs on view are truly staggering. They reminded me of the wide assortment of facial types you find on the many figures Michelangelo brought together in his paintings on the ceiling and altar wall of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. The more you take note of this consideration, the more you appreciate the vast range of individual variation “Lance” by Peter Miraglia there is in the appearance of living people everywhere. in the recesses of your brain. There, they kindle proUnlike simplistic snapshots, the photographs of Peter foundly moving insights into appreciating the meaning Miraglia are fascinating stories without words. Rich and worth of an ever-present human condition. with artistic appeal, they speak in the language of design to unlock additional supporting details filed away
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CLAY COLLEGE CERAMIC ARTS STUDIO, Cumberland Co College
Friday, September 28, 2012
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Exhibit Info: Our October First Friday Show will feature artwork by Nicholas Santoleri. On display will be his drawings and his prints of local Philadelphia area scenes. We are also featuring our American made crafts, including Jewelry, Art Glass and Decorative Eggs. The opening reception is from 5pm to 8pm on Friday October 5, 2012 and will include refreshments and light fare. The artwork will be shown for the entire month of October. Come meet the artist and enjoy some good conversation
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October 2012 Listings Studio Tours (P.O.S.T.) For more information see: www.philaopenstudios.com. Opening reception at MRAC: Sunday October 7, 2012, noon to 3:00 PM The Annual Members’ Show runs through Sunday, October 28th. The Annual Members’ Show – accepts submissions from the art center’s membership along with work by the Manayunk-Roxborough Artists’ Co-Op.
OLD CITY MUSE GALLERY 52 N.2nd Street, Phila. PA 19106 P: 215-627-5310 Hrs: Wed-Sun, noon 5pm Exhibit info: Muse Gallery will feature “endure.”- an exhibition of landscape impressions and figurative drawings in paint by NANCY E.F. HALBERT. October 3rd THROUGH October 28th 2012 Opening Reception: First Friday, October 5th, 5-8:30 pm Refreshments with the artist during Phila. Open Studio Tour (POST): October 20th, 2-6 pm October 21st, 2-4 pm THIRD STREET GALLERY – 58 N. 2nd Street p: 215-625-0933 Hrs: Wed-Sun, noon-5pm www.3rdstreetgallery.com Exhibit info: POST: Philadelphia Open Studio Tours 20123rd Street Gallery Members Exhibition Exhibition: October 3 thru 28, 2012 First Friday: October 5, 5-9 PM Receptions: Saturday October 20 and Sunday 21, 4-6 PM. Gallery Hours: Wednesday thru Sunday 12-5 PM Post Days: Saturday October 20 and Sunday 21: 12-6 PM
OLD CITY COUNTY INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY – ART – University of Pennsylvania 118 S. 36th Street(at Sansom) 215-898-5911 Hrs: Wed-Fri, noon-8pm, Sat & Sun 11am-5pm www.icaphila.org Exhibit Info: Stefan Sagmeister The Happy Show __To place your listing in__
ART MATTERS,
____For Information____ Call 215-628-8330; ext 226 jlendvay@montgomerynews.com
Charcoal Works by: Anastasia Alexandrin
BUCKS COUNTY
October 25-28th 3rd Floor Rotunda, Bucks County Courthouse Thursday, Oct. 25 5-8pm V.I.P. Wine & Cheese Reception (tickets: $35) Featured Artist: Emily Thompson, Contemporary Abstract Oil Painter Free admission to show & sale Friday through Sunday and special events Saturday & Sunday Friday, Oct. 26 10 am - 7 pm Show & Sale Saturday, Oct. 27 10 am - 7 pm Show & Sale 11am-12:30 pm Beading Workshop with Galaxy Artist Nora Lewis (ages 4 and up) 1-2:30 pm Children's Illustrator & Author Event With Lee Harper & Eric Wight 3pm "Self-ExpressionThrough Art: Exploring Your Personal Journey" presented by NOVA Counselors Charity G. Mackey, M.S., LPC, & Joyce Jefferies, M.S. Sunday, Oct. 28Th 10am - 4pm Show & Sale 11:30am-1:00pm Jazz & Mimosas with Delaware Valley Saxophone Quartet 2pm-3:30pm AfternoonTea with featured Artist Emily Thompson
Thursday, October 4 Rosemont College, Lawrence Gallery, 4 – 6:30pm, Rosemont, PA Friday, October 5 Saint Josephs University Gallery, 6 -8pm, Merion Station, PA Muse Gallery, 5 – 8:30pm, Philadelphia, PA Sweet Mabel Folk Art, 6 – 9pm, Narberth, PA Blue Streak Gallery, 5 – 8pm, Wilmington, DE Goggle Works, 5:30 – 8:30pm, Reading, PA Phoenix Village Art Center, 6 – 9pm, Phoenixville, PA Pennsylvania College of Art & Design, 5 – 9pm, Lancaster, PA The Great Frame Up, 5 – 8pm, Wayne, PA Wayne Art Center, 5 – 7pm, Wayne, PA Saturday, October 6 Center for the Arts in Southern New Jersey, 7 – 9pm, Marlton, NJ Sunday, October 7 Philadelphia Sketch Club, 2 – 4pm, Phila., PA Manayunk-Roxborough Art Center, Noon – 3pm, Phila., PA Wednesday, October 10 Camden County College Art Gallery, 5 – 7pm, Blackwood, NJ Thursday, October 11 Chester Co Art Association, 6-8pm, West Chester, PA Friday, October 12 Ocean City Arts Center, 7 – 8:30pm, Ocean City, NJ Saturday, October 13 Daylesford Abby, 3 – 6pm, Paoli, PA Abington Kids Creative Arts Studio, 1 – 4pm, Abington, PA Main Line Unitarian Church, 2pm - , Devon, PA Sunday, October 14 Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, 1 – 3pm, Galloway, NJ Lancaster County Art Association, 1 – 5pm, Strasburg, PA Thursday, October 18 Freedman Gallery, Albright College, 5 – 7pm, Reading, PA Friday, October 19 Main Line Art Center, 6 – 9pm, Haverford,PA Cumberland County College, 6 – 9pm, Millville, NJ Saturday, October 20 Third Street Gallery, 4 – 6pm, Phila., PA Sunday, October 21 Community Arts Center, 2 – 4pm, Wallingford, PA Third Street Gallery, 4 – 6pm, Phila., PA Thursday, October 25 Center for Emerging Visual Artists, 5 – 7pm, Phila., PA Friday, October 26 Gloucester County College Art Gallery, 6:30 – 8:30pm, Sewell, NJ Villanova University Art Gallery, 5 – 7pm, Villanova, PA Sunday, October 28 Philadelphia Sketch Club, 1– 4pm, Phila., PA Wednesday, October 31 Lehigh University Art Galleries, 4pm - , Bethlehem, PA