Artist-owned gallery showcases local art
Columbia’s founder James A. Rouse was a daily visitor when the Artists’ Gallery first opened in the lobby of the American City Building on Wincopin Circle in the heart of town.
That was 1994. The New Arts Alliance, a fledgling Howard County arts organization, negotiated a temporary lease with the building to hold monthly invitational exhibits showcasing the best work of area artists.
One of the founding members, Bonita Glaser, 63, remembers Rouse walking through the lobby gallery. “The corporate offices were upstairs, and whenever he and his wife Patricia were in the building, they always paused at the gallery,” she recalled. “I believe it served as a retreat from their busy lives.”
As the building filled and more of the space was needed for commercial enterprises, Rouse was reluctant to lose the fine arts presence in the new downtown area, Glaser said. He offered to design a smaller, more affordable space in the lobby, and the Alliance began to put together an artist-run co-op gallery concept that is still going strong.
Three other original members — Carl Segal, Jing-Jy-Chen and Debbie Hoeper — continue to be active in the gallery today.
Although the gallery encompasses a smaller area than it enjoyed in earlier times when all the lobby space had not been rented out, its walls are filled with paintings, and shelves hold packets of note cards with photos of paintings and sculpture from the gallery.
The floor-to-ceiling windows offer passersby tantalizing glimpses of a collection full of watercolors, pottery, photography and textiles, all produced by the 20 members of the only cooperative gallery in Howard County.
Current and upcoming exhibits
On a recent morning, several of the artists gathered around the sales desk, where everyone volunteers several hours a month as part of the membership requirement.
They updated each other about recent sales, some out-of-town galleries where they were showing, a recently discovered computer program that could be used in their work, and the current holiday show, “The Gift of Art,” on exhibit through Jan. 31.
The latter is an all-member show highlighting a variety of media (including oils, watercolor, collage, acrylic, pastels and charcoal) as well as traditional, hand-colored and digital photography, stained glass and clay.
But the hottest topic of discussion was the upcoming “Poets and Painters” show running Feb. 4 through March 29. It’s a collaboration of works by area poets displayed alongside similarly themed artwork. The opening reception and poetry reading will be held on Feb. 8 at 5:30 p.m.
Local poets are invited to obtain more information at www.artistsgallerycolumbia.com or by calling the gallery at (410) 740-8249. Poems will be accepted for possible inclusion through Jan. 11.
While they were talking, a customer walked in. Unlike most visitors, she didn’t look around, but went straight to a painting by Debbie Hafer that she had decided to buy.
“I have one of hers hanging in my home already, and I wanted another to go with it,” she tells the group. “I really appreciate her work, I find it so soothing.”
Nancy Davis, 73, who was manning the sales desk, was not surprised at the selection. “People who come by frequently do develop an appreciation for our different styles,” she observed.
Davis, a resident of Clarksville, paints in oils, favoring landscapes and “children in action.” Her work, along with that of fellow member Rana Geralis, will be featured in the gallery during the month of May.
A gathering place for artists
Gallery members drop by often, too, even when they’re not on desk duty.
Diane Dunn, 65, visits frequently as the public relations contact for the group. Her favored media are watercolor and acrylics for painting, building on a continuing interest in photography honed during a career in publications.
Now she is experimenting with infrared film, hand-coloring the black and white photos with oils and pastels. A Columbia resident, she also participates in juried shows at the Art League Gallery at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, Va.
John Stier, 62, comes in several times a month in addition to his volunteer work at the sales desk. Stier works in photography, concentrating primarily on “witnessing nature in settings that many do not see,” as he explains it. He lives in Columbia, and is a self-described avid backpacker and cross-country skier.
Glaser, who serves as the gallery’s archivist, considers herself a traditional landscape painter, but uses transparent watercolor glazes that give her works a touch of the abstract. After graduating from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, she worked as a commercial artist and illustrator in Pittsburgh, and in Silver Spring as a staff artist for the Wall Street Journal.
A Columbia resident for the past 20 years, she actively networks with other regional organizations, including the Howard County Council for the Arts, Carol House and Slayton House Center.
Images of member artists’ works are included on the gallery’s website (maintained by Stier) at www.artistsgallerycolumbia.com.
The Artists’ Gallery is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The gallery is located in the lobby of the American City Building, 10227 Wincopin Circle, Columbia. In case of inclement weather, the gallery advises calling (410) 740-8249 during gallery hours.