At Whitaker Center, there’s an art space called the Curved Wall Gallery.
This may come as a surprise to even regular visitors, as it’s beyond the entryway to the theaters and science center, so the exhibit area may not catch the eye right away.
However, the Curved Wall almost always has art worth your attention along its 700 linear feet of space, which spans two floors. And most is by local artists, including, through late this month, painter Sue Marrazzo.
Marrazzo’s display, “Exploring the Boundaries,” primarily focuses on experimental, floating canvases, pushing boundaries and delving into new mediums and colors.
“The art is very linear, and the colors really pop,” said Exhibits and Cinema Systems Manager Joe Easton, describing the exhibit’s Andy Warhol-esque features. “It’s textural mixed media.”
Marrazzo creates using an array of techniques, including acrylics, collage, sculpture and encaustic painting. Through her work and teaching, she expresses how the connection of art and music adds to people’s lives, tying it all together. A world without art is dull, she believes, and she hopes to help remedy that through her work.
“Whitaker Center is a grand venue that highlights each piece,” Marrazzo said. “I feel I contribute to aesthetics, have an art appreciation and share what I love.”
Through the Curved Wall Gallery, Whitaker Center offers a platform for rising artists to show their work, thus gaining them important exposure. Artists usually live within a 90-mile radius of Harrisburg, keeping the art relevant to the area.
“[Marrazzo’s display is] the largest body of work from a single artist,” said Easton. “The art represents the body—in a broad spectrum. Each piece speaks for itself.”
Easton discovered Marrazzo through an affiliation between Whitaker Center and the Art Association of Harrisburg, where Marrazzo has taught and shown her work. She currently teaches at the Art Center School & Galleries in Mechanicsburg, where she also hosts art parties, and is represented by local galleries Gallery@Second in Harrisburg and Art & Soul Gallery in Lemoyne. Another solo exhibit of her work is slated for Cornerstone Coffeehouse in Camp Hill this fall.
“The Art Association has been very supportive,” said Marrazzo before quoting French artist, Edgar Degas. “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.”
For Marrazzo, art is a way of life. Sharing this love is not just a passion but a calling. Besides her teaching work at the Art Center School & Galleries, Marrazzo holds classes and workshops at the York Art Association and speaks to middle-schoolers on the significance of art in history.
“I’m an advocate for art history,” she said. “It’s important to know what others have done before.”
“Exploring the Boundaries” is on display until April 20 at the Curved Wall Gallery at Whitaker Center, 222 Market St, Harrisburg. For more information, visit www.whitakercenter.org.
For more information about Sue Marrazzo, visit www.suemarrazzo.blogspot.com, her Facebook page and Instagram (both Sue Marrazzo Art).
