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Regional Artists from the Permanent Collection of the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts
March 12 - April 25, 2004
The Washington County
Museum of Fine Arts in Hagerstown will present an exhibition of the 
works by contemporary artists of the region from the Permanent
Collection. The exhibit includes paintings in oil, watercolor, acrylic and
pastel as well as drawings and etchings. The artists selected for the exhibition
were born in or have a strong connection to the region. (right: Joseph
Holston, Rope-a-Dope, 50 x 96 inches)
Works by Maryland artists include Cove Creek, 1994
by Lee Weaver, former art director for the Washington County Board of Education,
Baughman's Lane, Frederick by Debbie Souders, Timberneck, 1974
by Greg Sullivan of Funkstown, Mennonite Lady Peeling Pears by William
Donald Kimler, M.D. who lived in Smithsburg and Taxco by R. Jack
Garver, former resident of Hagerstown. Pamela J. Garver, Lonnie Jenkins
and Mac Fisher are also represented. Several artists 
with
strong ties to Baltimore, such as Ann Didusch Schuler, Raoul Middleman,
Grace Kennedy and Ralph McGuire, will also be on view.
McGuire was born in Hampden, Missouri and enjoyed drawing and painting from an early age. After graduating from City College in Baltimore, he took a job at the Social Security Administration and continued to paint in his off hours. He took a summer class offered by the noted painter, Donald Coale and Herman Maril. The latter became his mentor, guiding him and critiquing his work for many years, until Maril's death in 1986. McGuire began showing his work in Baltimore galleries and in 1947, he held a one-man show at the Baltimore Museum of Art. The artist and his wife opened a framing gallery in Baltimore to support their family. After a number of years of relative obscurity, although McGuire continued to paint, he recently had a one-man show at the University of Maryland where several of his works are on permanent display. (left: Shirley Z. Sturtz-Davis, Alice's Begonia)
County Fair, Hagerstown, Maryland,
a watercolor by Lily Gabriella Spandorf will also be on view. Born and educated
in Vienna, Spandorf spent many years traveling throughout England and Italy.
She came to the United States in 1959, settling in Washington, D.C., where
she illustrated for numerous publications and newspapers. Spandorf preferred
to paint and draw on site and was best known for her paintings of 
what she termed, "movement scenes." Her interpretations
of the individuality and beauty of places have become historical documents,
as she captured the essence of old buildings that were razed in the so-called
"march of progress."
Two West Virginia artists Mary Ellen Robinson and Diana Suttenfield are represented in the exhibition. Robinson is a free-lance artist, specializing in portraiture in pencil and pastels, illustration in pencil, watercolor, ink and calligraphy. She received her degree from West Virginia University in Morgantown and her work is in numerous private collections. Suttenfield, from Shepherdstown, began her career with pen and ink sketches of local historic sites. Today she is known for her large pastels and has exhibited widely, receiving critical recognition and garnering numerous awards.(right: Ralph McGuire, Family Scene, 1948)
Representing Pennsylvania are artists William Clutz, Lester
Jay Stone, Betty Snow and Shirley Zampelli Sturtz-Davis. Clutz, raised in
Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, began his artistic career with classes in the
Museum's Art School in the late 1940s. In 1952, he entered and won first
prize in the 20th annual Cumberland Valley Artists Exhibition. Following
graduation from the University of 
Iowa
and study at the Art Students' League, Clutz received international recognition
for his art, holding numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout the
United States and Europe. Clutz has approached his art from many different
angles including abstraction, but his oil and pastel figural street scenes
are his signature style. Inspiration for these compositions comes from the
turbulent activity of the streets of New York City, where he now resides.
His work is represented in major collections throughout the country, including
the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim and the Museum of Modern
Art. (left: Louise Gage Keuper, Farmer's Market III)
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Copyright 2003, 2004 Traditional Fine Arts Organization, Inc., an Arizona nonprofit corporation. All rights reserved.ed.