“Cue the music” …circus calliope plays in the background.

I’m “walking on a wire, high wire, I must let the show go on!” Composer Julius Fucik’s “Entrance of the Gladiators,” written in 1897, provides the circus promenade leading to the introduction of 3 Dog Night’s 1974 hit, “The Show Must Go On.” Ladies and gents, boys and girls, turn your attention to the center arena as this blog highlights some of the best art shows of the year.

The West Shore art scene took top gallery honors from Mechanicsburg to Carlisle even to York for a half dozen of the very best with fanfare enough to fill the Big Top or at least the galleries they were shown in.

Artwork by Tina Berrier for “Tangled Up in Blue”

Starting with Metropolis Collective’s two shows of the year, Hannah Dobek, gallery director, and owner Richard Reilly celebrated their 10-year anniversary with a pair of blockbusters. Winter’s “Tangled Up in Blue” and summer’s “Habitat, Reflections on the Environment,” proved that Metropolis, considered once a quirky, alternative gallery, still maintains its edgy approach in art and music, but its popularity today draws crowds from far and wide. “Blue” was dramatized, detailed and delivered throughout the spacious gallery with great forethought and deliberation from the skilled and sure-handed Dobek. Grouped by her intuitive, instinctual vision, the tour through the exhibit was not only insightful but thought-provoking and provided a straight narrative as to how an exhibit with a cogent theme should unfold. Combing the Eastern seaboard, Dobek corralled a cavalcade of creatives, capturing the blue mood as well as the color. A blue moon showed up for opening night to reveal a party atmosphere that featured poet/songstress Donna Jean Foster as the musical accompaniment on stage. Featured artists included Paul Nagle, one of the Seven Lively Artists, as well as Emily Paige, Alexis Manduke, Jude Screnzi, Jamison Eckert, Nina Rubin Mantione and Ms. Dobek.

Artwork by Joanne Landis for “Habitat”

As the calendar flipped to its second half, Metropolis opened July with a bang. “Habitat” and its works made a strong argument that, even with all our differences, mankind is still connected through caring for each other and the inherent condition we as humans share. At times detached by land and space somehow, we maintain a community of life. Local artists included the well respected Joanne Landis, Matthew Ziegler and Bonnie Lorey, as well as Mantione and Dobek. Beyond the area, a diverse roster found Sean Matthews, Amy Asher and Hailey Patrick, as well as Screnzi and Eckert, made new contributions to Habitat. What lies next for Metropolis will wait for 2023 as “Wintry Mix 7” will be mounted sometime in the early winter.

Ceramists Kirsten Olson, Janelle Hoch and Amy LeFever for “At the Table”

Carlisle Arts Learning Center’s gallery director, Cathy Stone, recently became its executive director. During 2022, she created back-to-back stellar exhibits with “At the Table,” paired with “In Full Chroma.” The two shows in one proved Stone a maestro in orchestrating dramatic pairings. “At the Table” featured a trio of skilled artisans who are also close friends. They raised the bar by setting the table for the holiday season ahead with exquisite, hand-wrought and wheel-thrown pottery, elevating dinnerware to a new gold standard. Their collective efforts graced the G.B. Stuart Gallery, fit for the royal crowd of onlookers that came out in droves to see CALC transformed “to the manor born dining experience.” Compatriots three, Kirsten Olson, Amy LeFever and Janelle Hoch, all bring a different yet complementary skillset with their ceramic creations. Of the threesome, Ms. LeFever provided the backdrop/stage set with three-dimensional bas-relief wall installations. Each piece is the same pattern, but it is their placement that presents the whole in a unique manner. Ingeniously matched up, they become a modern template for timeless tradition. Kirsten Olson’s love and appreciation of the far north images and narratives translate throughout her utilitarian vases, vessels and tableware. They contain more than food and drink as their beauty reflects a pure sense of community and culture. Janelle Hoch completes the trio’s “At the Table” exhibit with her wheel-thrown porcelain, placing priority for sharing meals with friends and family as her favorite pastime. Janelle hand-carves her graceful forms with dramatic patterns. What set the exhibit above the bar was a visual tour du force, transporting viewers to an intimate dining atmosphere down to the smallest detail. To balance the downstairs gallery, three painters clamored for attention upstairs “In Full Chroma.” Jonathan Frazier, one of the Seven Lively Artists, showcased New Orleans shotgun shacks in subdued shades suitable for that French Quarter vibe. Geoffrey Thulin’s dramatically detailed watercolors and gouache portray a sense of urgency, bringing energy to the surface of the canvas. Thom Kulp completes the group, an abstract practitioner of pattern and design with his geometric progressions completing the equation. Block printing, mandala drawing and collage are all part of his repertoire. Collectively, their use of vibrant colors pulls you into a kaleidoscope of magical possibilities.

Work by Andrea Finch for unCommon Threads

To begin the fall, Peg Belcastro and Gail Walden Coleman ruled downstairs with their dueling color explosions in their “Heartscapes and Landscapes” exhibit. While Coleman proudly wears her art on her sleeve, painting from a deeply emotional point of view propels her abstract ideas leading to canvases both creative and complex. Belcastro inhabits her landscape paintings with a bravura of buoyantly bold colors. Upstairs, “unCommon Threads” broke new ground with the bountiful breadth of textile art, demonstrating categorically challenging derring-do put forth by 30 artists, each an expert in their respective medium. Local visionary artisan, Joh Ricci from the Fairfield Valley, took “Best of Show” honors with her mind-bending creations both eclectic and wildly colorful. Other local flavor for most innovative use of material honored Rebecca Fox of Carlisle.

From “Mycotopia” at Hive artspace

York came up all roses for HIVE artspace. Gallery owner Susan Scofield, throughout the year, puts the White Rose City on the art scene map. Susan creates “fresh beginnings” associated with white roses by a new themed exhibit changing monthly, bringing visitors to her intimate gallery doors on a regular basis. Imagine a hobbit’s hovel as Hive artspace proves time and again that big things come out of small quarters. Two standout shows among a roster of 12 to choose from were “Shades of Green” in March and “Mycotopia” in August, which captivated our full attention with erstwhile artists submitting works from their East Coast swing. A who’s who of talent included local favorites Tina Berrier, Tara Poe, Heather Greenough, Julian Langeheine, Kate Durgin, Savannah Schroll Guz, Jen Simon and Kelly Nevin. In March, the men “wearin’ the green” called on Jim Hively, Mark Broomell, Andrew Smith, Michael Hower, Charlie Hubberd and Lex Rickabaugh who together brought a lucky charm for buyers to take home. Susan Scofield, time and again, takes on the task of Hercules by sheer force of will, mounting a dozen brand new shows each year and selling an amazing amount of art from each. Over a year, it adds up to a gallery’s worth of art.

Getting to view these shows firsthand with the glamour and excitement of opening night was well worth the price of admission, except all were free to see. In other words, be it from the lexicon of the circus or Mastercard…the experience: priceless.

November Dates to Note: “Art and Motherhood” at CALC through Dec. 3 is a one-woman show from the artistry of Pamela J. Black and her “assistants.”

3rd in the Burg, Nov. 18, All Around the Town and Odd Ones Bizarre at the Millworks Nov. 26, Shop Small Business Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Most photos courtesy of Jana MacGinnes

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