Cape May Artists Cooperative Announces Featured Artists

CAPE MAY – The Cape May Artists Cooperative will feature the work of members Betty Campbell, Mary Stewart and Louise Zemaitis in their recently renovated gallery at the West End Garage from May 8 through June 10, 2011.
Betty Campbell, a versatile local artist, captures the beauty of nature in all her art. Campbell’s wood turning truly transforms nature into art. What begins as a log left at her backdoor by a friend or neighbor is transformed on her lathe into a wonderful wooden bowl, candleholder or vase. Betty says, “For me, it is all about the wood — the look, the smell and of course the touch. I am a storyteller, trusting my hands and my intuition to find the tale the wood needs to tell, what is hidden inside waiting for my tools to uncover.” Betty also explores the colors of the vibrant sunsets along the Delaware Bay in pastels.
Mary Stewart is a fiber artist who has been sewing since she was ten years old. A BA in Fine Arts from Rosemont College helped her develop her sense of design, color and texture. She relocated to Cape May from Philadelphia in 1986 and works for the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC). Sewing is her way of relaxing. Mary “enjoys the challenge of taking two dimensional raw materials and creating three dimensional pieces. Sewing really is a sculptural art, but it’s also like painting to me. My fabric stash is my paint box. Each piece is unique and I work largely without patterns, letting the texture and hand of the fabric dictate what it will become.” Mary lives in Town Bank with her husband and two entertaining cats.
Artist/naturalist Louise Zemaitis lives in West Cape May. An honors graduate from Temple University’s Tyler School of Art, she enjoys working as a freelance artist and her illustrations have been widely published. In Cape May, she works as an associate naturalist with New Jersey Audubon’s Cape May Bird Observatory and is coordinator of the Monarch Monitoring Project. Louise is known for her enthusiasm for all natural history subjects, a theme incorporated into her artwork. Her proudest accomplishment has been the raising of her two sons, Bradley, a biologist and artist, and Alec, a philosopher and musician.
On May 8, the Second Sunday Reception will be held and the featured artists will be on hand to discuss their works. The Second Sunday Reception is part of the city-wide Second Sunday Gallery Walk, a partnership of the Artists Co-op, Gail Pierson Gallery, Splash, Soma Gallery, Spiritcatcher Gallery and Mad Batter Restaurant. The event runs from 1:00pm to 5:00pm. It’s easiest to start your gallery walk at the Artists Co-op in the West End Garage, 484 West Perry Street, Cape May, where there is plenty of free parking, and spend your afternoon enjoying the beautiful and unique work each gallery offers.
The Artists’ Cooperative Gallery is a group of local artists who have joined together to showcase and sell their work as well as educate the public about their art forms. May’s featured artists as well as other artists from the Cooperative will be on hand to meet the public and discuss their work. Light refreshments will be served.
Co-op president Diane Cutshall is delighted that Second Sundays are now a city-wide celebration of local art. “We began Second Sundays so the community could meet our artists and learn about their work. Now the opportunities for artists are so much greater with the wonderful gallery scene that has grown in Cape May.” The Artists Cooperative Gallery is open Friday, Saturday and Monday from 10am – 6 pm and Sunday from 10am to 5pm. Call 609-770-8261 for information.