BOSTON GLOBE September 24, 2020 By Murray Whyte OGUNQUIT, MAINE – They were ready, if it came to it. In late June, just a week before the Ogunquit Museum of American Art was ready to shake off its pandemic-induced slumber with a delayed seasonal opening, just six of Emily Nelligan’s dark, dreamy charcoal drawings hung…
By Carole Aaron Michael Kenslea (1938-2019) was a driving force behind OMAA, serving as board member, treasurer and president from 1992-2009. From the early days, Michael gave generously – financially, emotionally and consistently. During his tenure, Michael raised funding for Ogunquit’s Barn Gallery renovation, restoration of the museum’s Bernard Langley outdoor sculptures, and digitization of its permanent…
Welcome back to OMAA Online and our ARTifacts Series. This week, OMAA Curator and Collections Manager Ruth Greene-McNally talks with conservator Molly O’Guinness Carlson about conservation efforts on the museum’s contemporary sculpture of St. Francis of Assisi, created by John Dirks (1917-2010).
By Lisa Aubin Chair, 2020 Art By The Sea Auction & Fundraiser If you know Ogunquit, you know our beautiful town features amazing restaurants, retail shops, lodging establishments, sandy beaches, scenic spots like the Marginal Way, and a reputation for warm hospitality (fun fact: Ogunquit has hosted a number of celebrities as well, including a young Bette Davis, who was a lifeguard here in 1926,…
Welcome back to OMAA Online and our Artifacts Series! OMAA Curator and Collections Manager Ruth Greene-McNally takes you through Charles Woodbury: Open Studio, an installation re-imagining Woodbury’s workspace as it appeared in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Founder of the Ogunquit Summer School of Drawing and Painting, Woodbury is credited with establishing Ogunquit’s reputation…
Welcome back to OMAA Online and our Artifacts Series! Today, artist Kathleen Speranza creates a floral arrangement with Curator and Collections Manager Ruth Greene-McNally. Set against the backdrop of “Vanitas Vita: Kathleen Speranza,” OMAA’s current exhibition of Speranza’s ethereal floral still-life paintings, the artist discusses her work, its relationship to 17th-century Dutch vanitas paintings and…
Welcome back to OMAA Online and our Artifacts Series! Today, join OMAA Curator and Collections Manager Ruth Greene-McNally as she discusses a Cubist-inspired watercolor painting by Romare Bearden. In celebration of the close of the school year, the video includes an outdoor drawing exercise appropriate for younger audiences.
If you’ve been following our ARTifacts Series, you may recall an earlier post sharing our behind-the-scenes preview of OMAA’s re-creation of Charles Woodbury’s Perkins Cove studio. Today, as part of OMAA Online, Curator and Collections Manager Ruth Greene-McNally and Preparator Larry Hayden provide a progress update as they install original artifacts on loan to the museum for the upcoming exhibition, “Charles Woodbury: Open Studio.” OMAA is grateful to exhibition sponsors Elizabeth Cutler & Joanna Manikas and the Maine Bicentennial Commission for their support. Stay tuned for updates on the completed project and be sure to share your questions and thoughts in the comment line!
Welcome back to OMAA Online and our ARTifacts Series. Today’s behind-the-scenes tour explores the connection between 17th- century Dutch vanitas paintings and the still life florals of contemporary artist Kathleen Speranza. Enjoy this curator-led, installation preview and be sure to share your questions and thoughts in the comment line. “Vanitas Vita: Kathleen Speranza” opens to the public on July 1st along with “Light Southerly: Henry Strater in Verde Valley“; The View from Narrow Cove”; “Charles Woodbury: Open Studio” ;“Nocturne: Emily Nelligan” and “After Party: Andy Rosen.”
A major advocate of cubist-influenced Precisionism, Charles Demuth’s celebrated industrial landscapes established his career as a Modernist. Yet Demuth achieved equal regard for his poetic still-life florals, primarily painted in watercolor. Most of Demuth’s florals were created at his Lancaster, Pennsylvania home from gardens tended by the artist and his mother. The still lifes represent the peak of his career between 1915-1920.
