Art Shows
Here you can find out about Somerset's Art Shows! If you would like to propose an exhibition of your or another's work, please submit an Art Agreement & submit it to the Town Hall. The Art Agreement can be found here.
The Town Hall is happy to host art shows in its meeting room to showcase the talents of Somerset artists! All our welcome to come & visit the Town Hall during during normal business hours (Monday-Friday from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm) to view & appreciate the art produced by Somerset residents & others with connections to the Town. The art is curated by Town Curator Barbara Zeughauser with assistance from Richard Siegman.
Below you can information on the current exhibit as well as previous exhibits.
CURRENT EXHIBIT
The Town of Somerset is pleased to announce its next exhibit in the Town Hall Gallery, entitled Art to Heart, displaying the paintings of Mary Vinograd, Somerset Elementary School’s very own crossing guard! Mary works ten hours per week in Somerset and says that being the crossing guard in Town is the very best retirement job on Earth!
Mary enjoys painting portraits, landscapes, still lifes, and playful artworks. The Town Hall exhibit will include several of Mary’s paintings of hearts (in a variety of sizes). Her paintings will be a perfect gift for Valentine’s Day.
Mary was raised in a third-generation military family, traveling with her family across the Atlantic to the Pacific while attending a new school almost every year. Drawing pictures was her refuge. Mary’s parents raised her and her seven siblings to be curious and creative. Mary’s father was an amateur painter and cartoonist, while her mother spent her younger adult years employed at the National Gallery of Art in D.C. Wherever they were stationed, the family visited local museums and explored the art, music, and culture of the region.
Mary began studying art formally in the 1970’s at several universities in North Carolina. In the years that followed, she painted, exhibited, taught art, managed a community gallery, and worked in art sales and framing. She moved to the D.C. area in the 1980s, settling in Bethesda, where she and her husband raised their four children. In 2019, her midlife career in social work was completed, and now Mary is back at the easel painting full-time (except for her time in Somerset).
Mary’s Art to Heart exhibit will remain on display at the Town Hall from Tuesday, January 30 through Friday, May 3. All of her work is for sale, again, just in time for Valentine’s Day. Please stop by the Town Hall during regular business hours to see Mary’s Art to Heart exhibit.
PREVIOUS EXHIBITS
Winter Colors by Richard Siegman
About the Artist & the Exhibition
Richard was born in southwestern Pennsylvania, studied art at Penn State University, & has lived & worked as a painter, sculptor, & photographer in the Dupont Circle area of Washington, DC. since 1973. In 1996, Richard established the Painting & Sculpture Studio (PASS), a gallery showcasing Washington artists creating abstract, minimalist, pop, & conceptual art. Richard’s work has been shown at many area galleries, alternative art spaces, & at local university exhibits. In addition, Richard works with the Town to hang the many exhibits in the Town Hall Gallery.
In Winter Colors, Richard explores the beauty of winter relationships through color.
Richard Siegman’s works are available for sale.
This exhibition ran from November 2023 to January 2024.
Landscapes of Discovery by Nicholas Pyle
About the Artist & the Exhibition
Local Maryland artist, Nicholas Pyle, is often found perched on the sides of the C&O canal towpath sweating from sweltering summer heat, on the Maine coast defending himself from ravaging mosquitos, or on the snowy banks of the Potomac River with numb fingertips. He fights these trials & tribulations, paintbrush in hand, in the name of exploration & discovery.
Nicholas grew up in Cabin John, Maryland, a neighborhood bordering the Potomac River & a short walk from scenic views & woodsy trails. Summer vacations with his family were often spent up in their Maine cottage, inspiring a deep connection & passion for the outdoors and its abundant adventures.
More than just an act of creating, painting (landscapes in particular) is an act of discovery. Nicholas likes to compare it to opening a book. Every painting has its own set story before it is started. Like turning pages, each line & brushstroke uncovers the story. More than just a translation of an environment, paintings offer an intimate interpretation.
In this body of work, Nicholas explores the intimate beauty of our surroundings, hoping you look closer at the trees, rocks, & buildings you pass everyday.
This exhibition ran from August 2023 to November 2023.
This exhibition ran from August 2023 to November 2023.
About the Artist & the Exhibition
An artist and Somerset resident, Lila Snow had many well received exhibitions of her art both at home & abroad. Her work is in permanent collections in Argentina, Italy, Japan, & here in the United States at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American University Museum, Radford University, the University of Maryland, University College, & the Philadelphia Museum of Judaica.
The Washington Post art critic Michael Welzenbach noted, "When a number of Lila Snow's wall constructions are on exhibit together, they give the impression of a miniature museum dedicated to the turbulent history of the 20th century as perceived through the artist's eyes." Nancy G. Heller said of Snow's work in Sculpture Magazine, "Her assemblages transform humble materials into objects of breathtaking beauty, often emotionally powerful & always intellectually stimulating."
Lila Snow passed away in 2020 & this exhibition was done in her memory.
This exhibition ran from June 2023 to August 2023.