The gang’s all here
Tomorrow, Friday, July 1, at the Shaw Cramer Gallery, most of the exhibiting Island artists will be gathering to launch the summer season artists’ reception, from 6 to 8 pm. Among other impressive artistic talents will be Rose Abrahamson, Leslie Baker, Heather Blume, Ron Ehlers, Ruth Kirchmeier, Jennifer McCurdy, Julia Mitchell, Lucy Mitchell, Bill Nash, Marie-Louise Rouff, Heather Sommers, Elizabeth Taft, and Wendy Weldon.
The gallery’s Artist Talk on Saturday, July 2, at 6 pm, will present the always thoughtful and inspiring Rose Abrahamson speaking on collage and painting.
So proudly we stand
Award-winning photographer Anthony Whitaker will be at L’ Elegance on Circuit Avenue in Oak Bluffs Saturday, July 2, where signed prints of his dramatic black and white image, “Steel Standing,” will be available. The striking image captures the remaining steel façade of the South Tower of Manhattan’s World Trade Center after the tower was destroyed on September 11, 2001. For his work, Mr. Whitaker received a Proclamation Award from the Manhattan borough. “Steel Standing” will be part of the National September 11th Memorial and Wounded Warriors Museum in New York. Mr. Whitaker will be greeting people at L’Elegance between 6 and 8 pm.
It’s about time
The Allen Whiting Retrospective opens at Featherstone Center for the Arts on Sunday, July 3, with a reception in the Virginia Weston Besse Gallery from 3 to 4 pm. The show runs through Thursday, July 21.
Mr. Whiting, one of the Vineyard’s favorite sons with a long multi-generational history, has been painting on the Island for close to 40 years. As a farmer, his is a unique and intimate familiarity with Vineyard land and seascapes. He and his wife Lynne operate The Davis House Gallery in their residence on State Road in West Tisbury. Gallery visitors will see his pleine air landscapes including paintings that are being shown for the first time.
Love’s going around
A celebration at the Simon Gallery on Main Street in Vineyard Haven will be held for “Be Love Now,” the latest book by influential American spiritual leader Ram Dass and coauthored by Rameshwar Dass. Ram Dass (born Richard Alpert), author of the iconic 1971 book, “Be Here Now,” has been a frequent visitor to the Vineyard, and is a long time friend of Ronni and Peter Simon. Sunday, July 3, at 7 pm, Rameshwar Dass will be at the gallery to discuss the book, and Ram Dass, who no longer travels, will answers questions via Internet from his home on Maui.
On Tuesday, July 5, at 7 pm, Mr. Simon will be the speaker at the Vineyard Haven Library, offering his multimedia presentation on photography, celebrities, alternative lifestyles, and his own personal history.
Come be dazzled
The Granary Gallery in West Tisbury is holding its opening reception from 5 to 7 pm on Sunday, July 3 for a stellar and diverse group of artists: photographer Alison Shaw, oil and acrylic painter Ken Vincent, watercolor and oil painter David Wallis, and sculptor Dan West.
