Exciting news! After months of pandemic hibernation…with Borough Hall opening back up, Swarthmore Friends of the Arts is now able to exhibit local artists’ work again!

The first 2021 show will be held at Swarthmore Borough Hall starting the week of June 14. Our first exhibition – There and Back Again – will be a collection of artworks by Swarthmore Friends of the Arts board members: Martha Perkins, Michele Southworth, Skip Gosnell, Lora Lavin, Megan Lee, and Alicia Ruley-Nock. The various works include acrylics, oils, and mixed media, with varying textures, colors, and designs.

Lora Lavin is a well known local Swarthmore artist and Secretary of SFoA, her works include landscape, still life, and figure in both oils and acrylics. She loves to work on location outdoors and always prefer to work directly from the subject…not an easy hurdle to overcome during the past year.

Michele Southworth is a family therapist and educator by day, a mixed media artist at other times, and Exhibitions Chair of SFoA. Although the pandemic brought her creative process to a standstill for a full year, she has recently returned to her studio to finish up prior unfinished work, and to see what new work may emerge into and from our changed world.

Martha Perkins is a 20+ year resident of Swarthmore, owner of Gallery on Park and President of SFoA. Her work is  known for its whimsy and joyous botanical themes.

Skip Gosnell is a an artist, visual designer living in Swarthmore, and Publicity Chair of SFoA. Life during covid was and still is an adventure, working on projects and commisions via email and zoom, exploring techniques to create new crashing waves on ever increasing canvas sizes…and making it work in a small studio space. Back again with a new appreciation for the vitality of life outside the studio.

Megan Lee is a local mother/maker who strives to enhance the metamorphic nature of painting and Social Media updater of SFoA. She uses an interdisciplinary technique to create  and showcase her work. Primarily a painter, she also finds quiet passion in embroidery and bookmaking. 

Alicia Ruley-Nock, also a Swarthmore native, works in fiber and textiles , who describes her creative process as a key to balance in her life, and a reminder, as she pieces shapes, colors and textures together.d. She is inspired by the elements of nature, and what she describes as its limitless possibilities.

The public is invited to the outdoor artists’ reception as part of the Swarthmore Town Center’s “Nights in The Ville” events, on Thursday, June 17, from 6 to 8 pm. As always, the exhibit and reception are free, child friendly, with complimentary beverages and hors d’oeuvres to be enjoyed by all. 

The exhibit will be on display from June 15 through July 30, at Swarthmore Borough Hall, 121 Park Avenue, Swarthmore.

Exhibit hours are Monday-Tuesday, 9:30am to 6pm, Wednesday-Thursday, 9:30am to 7pm, Friday, 9:30am to 5pm, Saturday, 10am to 1pm

The exhibit is sponsored by Swarthmore Friends of the Arts. For information about Swarthmore Friends of the Arts, visit www.swarthmorearts.org or contact PR Chair Skip Gosnell, skipgosnellart@gmail.com.

Follow us on https://www.facebook.com/Swarthmore-Friends-of-The-Arts-448756008550524 and on https://www.instagram.com/swarthmorefriendsofthearts/