CAMP Rehoboth Puts Art at the Heart of Our Community

Summer may be winding down, but the visual arts at CAMP Rehoboth are going strong with two fabulous group shows and a lot of talent and fun! 

Award Winners XXIII Exhibition

Work by the Delaware Division of the Arts Individual Fellowship Award Winners is on display at CAMP Rehoboth until September 8. If you have not yet seen it, make the time to stop by!

A fun opening reception was hosted at CAMP Rehoboth on August 10. Many community members, including VIPs, stopped by to congratulate the artists, and enjoy the exhibition and readings by the literary winners.

Each year, the Delaware Division of the Arts awards individual fellowships to several Delaware artists working in a variety of mediums, including literature, visual arts, performance arts, photography, and sculpture. These Individual Artist Fellowships recognize artists for the outstanding quality of their work and provide monetary awards.

In 2023, 17 fellowships were awarded to artists living throughout Delaware. Of the 17 awards, two were awarded in the Master category ($12,000), seven in the Established Professional category ($8,000), and eight in the Emerging Professional category ($5,000).

One highlight of the CAMP Rehoboth exhibit is work by B. Proud, winner of a Master award in Photography, whose photographs feature transgender and gender nonconforming couples and families. Lauren E. Peters’ large self-portraits in oil have impact. Cony Madariaga’s George Floyd acrylic is moving. 

The exhibit also includes sculptures, fabric art, and a reading nook. Spend some time watching TAHIRA, winner of a Master award in the category Folk Arts: Oral Literature, tell her story, and read poems by Christopher Penna (Established Professional, Literature: Poetry).  

Upon its conclusion at CAMP Rehoboth, the art in this exhibition will travel to New Castle County where it will appear at Cab Calloway School of the Arts.

Above: George Floyd by Cony Madariaga.

The complete list of awardees includes:
Masters
• B. Proud (Visual Arts: Photography)
• TAHIRA (Folk Arts: Oral Literature)
Established Professionals
• Joyce Barbagallo (Literature: Fiction)
• Ron Meick (Visual Arts: Sculpture)
• Michael Miller (Folk Art: Music)
• Mary Pauer (Literature: Creative Nonfiction)
• Christopher Penna (Literature: Poetry)
• Lauren E. Peters (Visual Arts: Painting)
• IVA (Music: Contemporary Performance)

Emerging Professionals
• Jill Althouse-Wood (Visual Arts: Painting)
• Bryant “Tee” Bell (Visual Arts: Painting)
• Liz DeJesus (Literature: Creative Nonfiction)
• Constanza (Cony) Madariaga (Visual Arts: Painting)
• James Morgan (Media Arts: Video/Film)
• Charlese Phillips (Visual Arts: Interdisciplinary)
• Kim Hoey Stevenson (Literature: Fiction)
• Anne Yarbrough (Literature: Poetry)

Read more about each Individual Artist Fellow at arts.delaware.gov/iafrecipients/

"Paper Boats" (below) is a poem by Established Professional Christopher Penna, who began writing poetry in his teens.  

Paper Boats (2021)

It’s drawn from memory
this lake of violets
near the broken branches
last winter’s storm took down.
The rest of the yard fades
to twigs and leaves and bare background.
Shape the lines, work in the breathing blue, look up again to see if you
remember what you saw
before you looked down to draw.

Or compose some different lines across a different page.
Stare again before you look down
to write the words, cross out, rephrase.

It’s against the grain
this drawing from memory,
this launching of paper boats on the fading blue
of what we see hoping just the same
to hold onto what we saw,
or what we thought we knew,
before we wrote or drew.

- Christopher Penna

The CAMP Rehoboth Gallery is open from 10:00 a.m. through 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. ▼

(Top to bottom): Quinta Brunson by Charlese Phillips; Self portrait (coquette) by Lauren E Peters; Wolf Whistle by Jill Althouse-Wood; Pray for Us by Bryant T. Bell.

It’s All About the Bear

In September, the Bears are back in It’s All About the Bear, an art exhibition on display at CAMP Rehoboth from September 14 until October 7, 2023.

These are not your four-legged variety of bears, but a group of men in the gay community who call themselves “Bears.” CAMP Rehoboth uses art to illuminate the talent of the community and explore pertinent themes that enlighten, educate, and build community. This exhibition celebrates the bears and runs in conjunction with the annual Rehoboth Beach Bears Weekend (September 14 to 17).

A team of community members will curate this exhibit of bear-friendly art. 

This exhibition is open to all. Watch the website (camprehoboth.com) for details, or call to register and enter (302-227-5620). Move quickly as deadline is August 20, 2023, at 11:59 p.m.▼