Selected artists, from a special juried exhibition to honor the late CEO Emeritus Frederick H. Gaige, will be featured from Sept. 7 to Oct. 5, with an opening reception at 6 p.m. on Sept. 7, in the Penn State Berks Freyberger Gallery. This event is free and open to the public.
More than 40 artists from Berks County and surrounding regions exhibited in the Gaige Memorial Juried Exhibition in March 2017. The following artists were selected ffrom this exhibition: Laura Gelsomini, Ed McCarty and Joe Szimart.
Laura Gelsomini is a female figurative artist. Working in collaboration with artist Susan Duby, she has created a large body of work that focuses on the female figure, personal identity, and connectivity. According to Gelsomini, the figures, some of which are tethered and restricted, exist in a state of reverential oblivion, representing a true testament of the female experience.
Joe Szimhart is an artist whose commissions include "14 Stations of the Cross for St. Columbkill Church," Boyertown and murals for St. Vincent Hospital, Santa Fe. He earned a bachelor of arts in fine arts from the University of Dayton and studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. His studio is located in the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Reading.
Ed McCarty is a self-taught artist who took every high school art and mechanical drawing class offered and put his training to work as a technical writer and illustrator for electronic companies. After retirement, he decided to try pen and ink. Much of his work is inspired by the scenic beauty of Berks, Lehigh, Chester and Montgomery counties.
The Freyberger Gallery is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays, and noon to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. For more information, contact Marilyn Fox, gallery director, at 610-396-6140 or [email protected].