News

By Steven J. Smith

    Event organizer Nancy Flinn, along with artists Max Matteson and Beth Sloat, have teamed with the Delray Art League to invite area artists to submit digital photos of paintings for an art show planned for Ocean Ridge Town Hall throughout the month of March.
    Applicants may submit up to two entries at a nonrefundable fee of $20 per entry, Flinn said.
    Approximately 30 paintings will be selected for the show and cash prizes of $300, $200 and $100 will be awarded to the first, second and third place paintings respectively, along with two honorable mentions at $50 each.
    All artwork must be no larger than 30 inches by 40 inches in size, including the frame. All paintings must also be wired and ready to hang and those chosen for the show may be offered for sale to the public.
    “This is a free art event for the Ocean Ridge community that would be of sustainable value under the auspices of a recognized organization such as the Delray Art League, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary and knows how to run an art show the right way,” Flinn said. “This could be a yearly event for Ocean Ridge. We’ll start with paintings this year and build on that to include multi-dimensional works in years to come.”
    Flinn, a watercolor painter, added entries will be evaluated by Sloat, who recently had samples of her own work on display at the Spanish River Library in Boca Raton in an exhibition titled “Earth, Wind and Water.”
    “We have a great deal of talent here,” Sloat said. “We’re hoping to have enough submissions that we can have a variety of very high-quality paintings — in watercolor, oils, pastels and any other type of artwork that can be hung — to present to the community. However, we are not accepting photographs for this show.”
    Sloat, who excels in oils and does plein air and studio work, added she hopes after the prizes are awarded, artists of note in the show might talk about their craft.
    “It would be wonderful if one, or several, of the artists could make a presentation to the community as well,” she said. “I like to paint in our local area. There are so many wonderful subjects here to paint. Max Matteson and I will also have some paintings hanging in the entry area of Ocean Ridge Town Hall as samples of our own work to complement those featured in the show.”
    Matteson, a Michigan-based minimalist landscape painter who winters in Ocean Ridge, said he was pleased to help bring this art show to light.
    “We did a show about three years ago that was very successful, so Nancy and I are picking up the ball and trying to put this together for this year,” he said. “It’s important that we expose the public to art. Art reminds us of the beauty that surrounds us. It creates an emotional experience like pleasure, excitement or sadness. Art also documents our past and develops technical skills in the artist.
    “But most importantly, creativity is the basis for all innovation. We wouldn’t have products or inventions without creativity, which sparks the idea of doing something new. And that something new develops into all of our progress.”
    The deadline for applicants is Feb. 16. For more information and a show application, visit https://db.tt/FBwrkw1y or contact Nancy Flinn by telephone at 561-336-2948 or via email at nancym7@yahoo.com.