Studio B hosts ‘Superheroes: What the World Needs Now’
Studio B Fine Art Gallery, 39A E. Philadelphia Ave., announces the opening of a fine art exhibit in all media and book release entitled “Superheroes: What the World Needs Now.”
The exhibit will be featured through photographs and a video tour beginning July 3. The exhibit will run through Oct. 11.
The photographs and video tour can be found on the studio’s website www.studiobbb.org, the Studio B Facebook page, and as part of the Facebook group Studio B Virtual Exhibit Group.
“This exhibit had been scheduled for March 2020, as the pandemic hit; of course, we needed to pivot and adjust our ways. We found virtual exhibits a great way to promote art and artists and keep our Studio B family connected,” explained Susan Biebuyck, gallery director. “However, as soon as it’s safe, we’ll re-open for our usual receptions and celebration of talent.”
She added, “Serendipitously, superheroes have surfaced throughout the pandemic and protests; our artists have been inspired to create art in their honor. Our world is filled with superheroes of all kinds. Art is lifesustaining; our show must go on.”
Private showings by appointment for small masked groups will be available as always. Visitors to the studio will be restricted as appropriate. Patrons wishing to arrange gatherings of friends and family are always encouraged, Biebuyck noted.
E-mail janeEstahl@comcast.net to schedule.
Book Release
“Superheroes: What the World Needs Now” is the 7th exhibit combining visual and literary art in which a book of poetry and prose by local writers was created as part of the exhibit and will be available for sale. Books will be available at the studio by appointment during its regular hours — Friday, Saturday, Sunday 11 a.m.-3 p.m. or by special arrangement. E-mail janeEstahl@comcast.net to schedule.
Amanda Condict
A special exhibit entitled “Saints of COVID,” watercolor drawings by Amanda Condict, fine artist and fashion design professor at Albright College, Reading, in the Gray Gallery at Studio B. Condict was inspired by health care workers whose heroism surfaced throughout the pandemic.
“My passion as an artist lies in the drawing studio, working up images from life around me, especially people and their possessions,” Condict noted. “My artwork speaks of my everyday contact with people and positions them as central, as subjects in their own lives, as well as subjects in my artwork. I have always drawn people, almost to the point of obsession. My paintings, photographs, prints and drawings are about people; their relationships with the things they own, their relationships with each other and their relationships with me.”
Conversations with Artists and Writers
In addition to the “Superheroes” exhibit and book release, both conversations with artists and writers and poetry/prose readings will be held as part of Jane Stahl’s “B Inspired” podcast. Writers and artists will share their submissions along with the details and stories of those individuals who inspired them. The podcast can be found on Google, Apple, Spotify, and Anchor, for example.
Prizes and Sponsorships
Prizes will be awarded to artists and writers. The exhibit and prize awards were made possible through donations from BobbiGail Lipton, former owner of Zern’s
Farmers Market, and Lesley and Robert Misko, former educators. Ron Schira, art critic with the Reading Eagle newspaper for over 20 years, will serve as juror for the exhibit.
Ron Schira
Ron Schira has been published in the Greater Berks and Lehigh counties, along with a few selected shows in Philadelphia and New York City. Writing for them and a handful of other publications, covering art events in museums, art centers, commercial galleries, schools, colleges, studios, ateliers, street fairs, restaurants and garages, he has given recognition to the visual art community as well as voice to the arts.
In 2005, he was invited by Columbia University to be included in a published list of the most-read arts writers in the United States. Prior to his work as a critic, aside from the numerous exhibitions of his paintings and various curatorial projects, he has been on the recruitment board of the East Penn Emerging Artists Program and the Pagoda Gallery Installation Committee
for the Berks Arts Council. Since the mid nineteen seventies, he has been an integral cultural proponent of the area, actively participating and advocating for the arts. He recently received a Life Achievement Award from the Yocum Institute for Arts Education.