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THE ARTS: Week of March 1

   — On March 4, a retrospective exhibit of oil paintings by Suzanne Douglass will open at the Pennswood Art Gallery with a wine and cheese reception from 3-5 p.m. The gallery is located in Pennswood Village, a continuing Care Retirement Community, at 1382 Newtown-Langhorne Road, Newtown. The opening reception is free and open to the public. The show, which runs through April 29, is open daily from 9 a.m.-7 p.m.
   Ms. Douglass, born in Western Pennsylvania over 85 years ago, has lived and painted in Bucks County and Lambertville since the 1950s. She graduated from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and studied under Frank Scoonover and Frank Delle Donne, both associated with the N.C. Wyeth/Howard Pyle style — part of the Brandywine School, and later with Margaret Yard Tyler of Montclair. Working solely with oil paints and glazes on board or canvas with a soft, muted palette and extensive underpainting, Ms. Douglass has created almost impressionistic, haunting still-lifes of fruit, simple bowls or pots, and hazy, evocative, dream-like landscapes or riverscapes. She says her work is all about Text Box: “Turquoise Bowl with Grapes on Linen Cloth,” an oil on board. Her paintings have earned local, national and even international recognition and are in private and corporate collections throughout the United States. The gallery, which has been exhibiting artists for over 28 years, including Tony Leith-Ross, Daniel Garber, and more recently Daniel Anthonisen, Earl B. Lewis, Gail Bracegirdle, and Rachel Constantine, is located in Pennswood Village on Route 413 South of the Newtown bypass, adjacent to the George School campus. For more information, visit www.pennswood.org or call 215-504-1122.
   — There will be an afternoon of art and reception at Pebble Hill Gallery March 4 at Pebble Hill Church, 320 Edison-Furlong Road, Doylestown, from noon-2 p.m. Featured will be the work (digital photomontages, mixed media and collages) of Lee Muslin, of Lansdale, who has been a fine art photographer for over 40 years, beginning when she was a fine arts major at the University of Delaware. In 1995, she attended Parsons School of Design earning a degree in photography. The show runs to March 25. For more information, visit: www.pebblehillchurch.org or call 215-348-3428.
— Auditions are scheduled for March 3 from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. for the benefit performance of Eve Ensler’s play, “The Vagina Monologues.” Auditions will be held at SAFE in Hunterdon’s Outreach Office at 47 E. Main St., Flemington. No prior acting experience is necessary. Performances are scheduled for April 21 at 7 p.m. and April 22 at 2 p.m. in support of SAFE in Hunterdon and the V-Day 2012 Campaign at Hunterdon Central Regional High School. For more information about the auditions e-mail: [email protected].
   — Singers wanted — The Bucks County Gilbert & Sullivan Society will hold open auditions for principal roles and chorus positions for the upcoming performance of “The Pirates of Penzance,” which is scheduled to be performed the weekend of June 8-10. Auditions will be held on two Sundays, March 4 and 11, from 5-8 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church, Routes 413 and 202, Buckingham.
   If interested in a principal or supporting role, prepare one to two minutes of any Gilbert & Sullivan number you feel best shows off your talent (a piece from Pirates is preferred). Each performer must provide his/her own music. An accompanist will be provided. The Schirmer edition of Pirates is used. Those interested in chorus only may prepare any song that demonstrates an ability to sing.
   To register for an audition on one of the dates listed above, leave a message at 215-534-1932 or e-mail [email protected]. Provide name, address, phone, e-mail address, which role(s) you are interested in, voice part ( soprano, alto, tenor, bass) and the audition date preferred.
   Rehearsals will start in March. For more information, contact Carol Mikulski at 215-534-1932 or [email protected].
   — The Lambertville Historical Society and the Coryell Gallery is celebrating the 31st annual Juried Art Exhibition, held in the gallery, through March 18.
   The watercolor, “Yesteryears,” by Joanna Krasnansky was selected by members of the Lambertville Historical Society to be raffled off at $5 per ticket to benefit the society. Tickets are available in the Gallery and by members of the society. The drawing will take place in the gallery on March 17 at 4 p.m.
   The Coryell Gallery at the Porkyard is at 8 Coryell St., Lambertville. Hours are Wednesday through Sunday, noon-5 p.m. For further information, call Janet M. Hunt at 397-0804, and www.coryellgallery.com.
   Nine cash awards have been selected to the following artists: The Lambertville Historical Society Award of $100 is to Dean Thomas, of Sellersville, Pa. for his oil, “Lambertville from Above”; The Coryell Gallery Award of $100 is to Barbara Postel, of Point Pleasant, for her oil, “River Dawn”; the Hunterdon County Cultural & Heritage Commission Award of $100 to a Hunterdon County artist Jack Muessig, of Ringoes, for his pastel painting, “The Sentinels”; The Friend of Coryell Gallery Award of $100 is to Pat Smythe, of Glen Rock, for her watercolor, “The Inn at Phillips Mill”; The Stoller Family Award of $125 is to Tom Chesar, of Ringoes, for his gouache painting, “The Conversation”; Award in Memory of Charles A. Wilson of $125, given by Don Wilson is to Dot Bunn, of Doylestown, for her oil painting, “Descent to the River”; Award in Memory of Elaine Restifo, of $125 to Michael Budden, of Chesterfield, for his oil painting , “Evening in New Hope”; Award in Honor of Janet Marsh Hunt, Given by Robert Pritchett, for $200, is to Richard Lennox, of Erwinna, for his oil painting, “The Pink House, Lambertville”; Carol and Louis Della Penna Award of $250 is to David Hahn, of Doylestown, for his oil painting, “Solebury Landscape.”
   Judge Douglas Wiltraut selected all the awards, including four Honorable Mentions and they are; Robert Beck, of New Hope, for his oil painting, “From Goat Hill”; Jeff Gola, of Moorestown, for his egg tempera, “The Delaware at Prallsville”; Carol Cosh-Harrison, of Flemington, for her watercolor, “Traffic Jam in Lambertville”; Jas Szygiel, of Chalfont, for his oil painting, “Early Evening, Lambertville.”
   The Delaware River Mill Society, in partnership with the NJ State History Fair, will be sponsoring an Art Exhibit featuring NJ’s Historic Heritage at Prallsville Mills, Stockton, from April 14-28. Awarded works will be exhibited at the fair on May 12, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Washington Crossing State Park, Titusville. Entry receiving days are April 7 and 9 (noon-5 p.m. on Saturday and Monday). This is a juried show, open to all media, with 12 categories of awards. All entries must feature a New Jersey historic site or landscape (example: historic house or structure, lighthouse, battlefield, village, etc.) Artistic subjects should feature those historic resources that provide public access. Historic sites administered by nonprofit organizations or local, county, state and federal governments are eligible. Subjects can be located within a state park or along a federally recognized scenic byway. For a propectus, e-mail: [email protected], or call 397-3586. For more information and to print prospectus, visit: www.drms-stockton.orgwww.njhistoryfair.org (click on SPECIAL FEATURES).
   The fair started as a celebratory event marking the 100th anniversary of New Jersey’s state owned historic sites. Its purpose is to cultivate the public’s awareness and appreciation of NJ’s historic resources by providing visitors with the opportunity to experience history in a fun and engaging manner. The year 2012 marks the eighth year of the fair. Annual attendance at the fair has averaged 5,000 visitors. Last year over 130 exhibitors participated in the event. Previous years have seen this figure as high as 160. Each year the fair attracts exhibitors from nearly every New Jersey county and is an award-winning event, receiving an Award of Recognition from the New Jersey Historical Commission in 2008.
   — An economic downturn disrupted the American marketplace, and unemployment reached double digits. Urban dwellers retreated to the country, embracing a simple and moral work ethic, and sought a path to a better life by working on farms and making things by hand.
   This may sound like the times we are living in today, but similar circumstances in the 1890s led artists to embrace the concept of integrating art into everyday life, using native craft traditions and indigenous materials to produce decorative objects that were simple in form and functional in design.
   The creative energy, broad technical repertoire, and innovative designs of these artists are subjects of the Michener Art Museum’s new installation of work by studio craft artists of the Delaware Valley. “Intelligent Design,” which opened Feb. 3, highlights regional studio craft from its earliest beginnings to the diversity of expression today.
   The exhibition features work from the studio shops of such makers and designers as Frederick W. Harer, Wharton Esherick, George Nakashima, Mira Nakashima-Yarnall, Phillip Lloyd Powell, Paul Evans, David Ellsworth, Mark Sfirri, Robert Dodge, Toshiko Takaezu, Robert Winokur, and Matthias Pliessnig.
   ”Intelligent Design” highlights studio craft in the Delaware Valley region from its earliest beginnings to the diversity of expression today. “The creative energy, broad technical repertoire, and innovative designs of the artists represented here make them highly desirable candidates for the Michener’s permanent collection,” said Curator of Collections Constance Kimmerle. “The strong studio craft tradition of southeastern Pennsylvania represents a significant collecting opportunity for the Michener Art Museum, and it’s exciting to be doing this in the area in which the museum is actively building its permanent collection.”
   The James A. Michener Art Museum is located at 138 South Pine St., Doylestown, Pa. Museum hours: Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. For information on admission fees, etc., visit www.michenerartmuseum.org or call 215-340-9800.