Pam Zappardino Columns from Jan 1 2008 to July 1 2008
July 1, 2008
Real flowers take center stage in 'Art is Blooming'I was at the Taneytown Business Breakfast some weeks ago - a miracle in itself as my being outside the house and semi-awake at that hour is a rare occurrence - when I heard about an exhibit at the Taneytown History Museum that was coming up fast. I g... Jun. 26, 2008
Art bars: As good as it getsLet me be right up front. Not only should chocolate be acknowledged as one of the basic food groups, it should be the one at the bottom of that pyramid in the spot reserved for foods we're supposed to eat morning, noon, night, and several times in be... Jan. 3, 2008
'Go Fish' exhibit is cool, fun, refreshingA master of understatement, curator Susan Williamson noted that "It's a little fishy" in the Tevis Gallery at the Carroll Arts Center. It's a lot fishy. They're everywhere, but maybe not as you might expect to see them. Lou Frisino takes the exhibit'... Jun. 19, 2008
Wide angle on Art in the ParkMy camera and I went to Art in the Park last Saturday, in the heart of Westminster. The first heat wave of the summer was upon us, and "sweltering" doesn't quite capture the weather, but being a working artist isn't for the faint of heart. They all s... Jun. 12, 2008
Botero's work filled with rich colorFernando Botero doesn't look larger than life. His work, on the other hand, is astonishingly so. And it started with a mandolin. He was always interested in volume and strength, Botero remembers. At 24, he drew that mandolin, making the sound hole ve... Jun. 5, 2008
'Distant Voices' chronicles life of Japanese AmericansThere was some amazing theater here in Carroll County last week, and unfortunately too few people took the opportunity to experience it. The Carroll County Public Library brought the Distant Voices Touring Company to the Carroll Arts Center for a per... May. 29, 2008
Stories connect us to ourselvesKnock, knock. Who's there? Gabriel. Gabriel who? Not exactly what you'd expect in a speech by a world leader. But this world leader understands the art of the story; the power story has to build relationships, even in the course of a 20-minute talk; ... May. 22, 2008
11 students display works in spring show 'Gestalt'"Gestalt" is the thing over at McDaniel College's Rice Gallery this week: the whole, more than the sum of the parts, seeing the big picture. Eleven seniors are doing just that in the last of this spring's student shows there. Melinda Hirt opens up th... May. 15, 2008
Art integral in all aspects of lifeSome folks believe art is a luxury. "Nice but not necessary" seems to be the thinking. Yet humans as far back as we can trace made art, and that art has been integral in ceremony, tradition, religion and government. It reflects who we are. It is made... May. 8, 2008
Look closely at "The Right Side of the Brain"In another life, I did research on that gray matter inside our heads, so the "The Right Side of the Brain" seemed right up my alley. Far from a physiological endeavor, it's actually the name of the senior capstone exhibition at the Rice Gallery on th... May. 1, 2008
Unchosen art on display for 'Salon de Refuses'Spring is in the air, and the juried student art shows are popping up on the McDaniel College campus at about two-week intervals. Students compete to get their work into these shows and as in all competitions; many works aren't selected. While disapp... Apr. 24, 2008
Looking upon the moon differentlyThere's something about the moon. It holds an important place in nearly all cultures and evokes emotional responses from all of us at one point or another. Christina Collins-Smith calls it "one of God's most elegant and powerful creations ... whose m... Apr. 17, 2008
Restated, the arts in Carroll are just fineFive years ago, the Carroll County Arts Council packed itself up and moved west, up the street to the site of the former Carroll Theater. It settled into its new home, redone in art deco splendor, and started in to make art. The first exhibit was "Th... Apr. 10, 2008
Legendary artist's work 'a ribbon around a bomb'At first blush, Frida Kahlo's work is complex, striking, seductive, haunting, earthbound, otherworldly. Her sense of color is perfect, her lines exact, her moods palpable, her light subtly reinforcing intent, her forms precisely what the composition ... Apr. 3, 2008
Society often overlooks artists' contributionsI watched the American Masters special "Pete Seeger: The Power of Song" debut on PBS a few weeks back. It's the story of 89 year-old Pete Seeger's life, but it's much more than that. It's the story of the power of music, and by extension, all of the ... Mar. 27, 2008
Singer-songwriter puts on show unlike any otherCheryl Wheeler walked onstage at the Carroll Arts Center last week without, as she noted, even checking her hair in the mirror. "Too late now," she mused, doing some one-handed tidying. Wheeler's self-deprecating sense of humor is still intact. So is... Mar. 20, 2008
Take time to appreciate Jones' works in exhibit"About a Hundred Things I Forgot," at McDaniel's Rice Gallery, is a very unusual exhibit that doesn't seem like it should be. The subtitle: "Figure Paintings" might lead you to expect an emphasis on those figures. Robert Jones has some other ideas. F... Mar. 13, 2008
Art rules in Carroll schoolsThis time of year, I, a self-confessed lover of winter, get giddy about two things. I can't wait for my first crocus sighting. There's something about it that just makes me happy. The second thing has the same effect. It's the Annual Youth Art Month ... Mar. 6, 2008
South Carroll league takes its show on the roadThe South Carroll Fine Arts League is on the move - in more ways than one. This no longer fledgling group has increased its membership and has a couple successful members' shows under its belt. Headquartered in South Carroll, the league has members w... Feb. 28, 2008
Aldrich puts together powerful exhibitionIt takes a lot to render me speechless, but Cynthia Aldrich managed to do it last Sunday with the opening of her installation "Bearing Witness" in the Gallery at Carroll Community College's Scott Center. It is simply the most powerful exhibit I have ... Feb. 21, 2008
Planes, parallels worth the effortThe Rice Gallery at McDaniel College can be challenging. A long, somewhat narrow space with a wall of west-facing windows, it has rather inflexible lighting that can't quite compensate during the day nor illuminate well at night. And then there are t... Feb. 14, 2008
Exhibit showcases the beauty of glassSiO2. Silicon dioxide. An everyday chemical we use constantly, paying little or no attention. It holds stuff, like water, flowers, maybe a martini. It keeps things out or in: rain, dearly bought heat. Sometimes we notice that it's pretty. Sometimes, ... Feb. 7, 2008
Light provides different view of artThis dark thing is starting to get old. Don't get me wrong, I'm one of those weird people who actually loves winter, but the excessive amount of darkness gets to me. Depression can set in around this time of year and doctors say some of it can be tra... Jan. 31, 2008
Hopper's National Gallery exhibit is full of surprises"What I wanted to do was paint sunlight on the side of a house." A bit surprising coming from Edward Hopper, perhaps best known for his images of a gritty New York. I caught the traveling exhibition of Hopper's work at the National Gallery last week... Jan. 24, 2008
'Expressions of Carroll' exhibit lacks energyThe Carroll County Artists' Guild has many talented artists, and attending one of its shows usually interesting. I was a bit surprised, though, by "Expressions of Carroll," the guild's current exhibit in the Community Gallery at the Carroll Arts Cent... Jan. 17, 2008
Comedy Pigs 'Wreck the Halls'Jesus and Santa Claus walk into a bar, and from that opening scene on, even if you managed to miss the broad hint in the title, you know that "Wreck the Halls" is not going to be the most reverent of holiday fare. The nearly sellout crowd in Frederic... Jan. 10, 2008
Rock Ball to benefit nonprofitGroup seeks to help offset rising medical costs For the second straight year, Granite House is holding a fundraiser to subsidize the costs of mental health care for people who cannot afford it. Granite House is an affiliate of the Sheppard and Enoch ... Apr. 17, 2008
20080701 Pam Zappardino Columns from Jan 1 2008 to July 1 2008Kevin Dayhoff www.kevindayhoff.net http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/
