“This is one of our favorite shows,” said Gallery Director Susan Biebuyck. “Our artists always impress us with their innovation and fresh takes on the traditional subjects of agriculture and farming.”

The show features entries in all media from artists in Berks County and beyond. The past three years have featured a broad spectrum of work, and this year’s show includes everything from wood sculpture to watercolor to oil to mixed media.

This year, “The Farm” was be juried by Daniel Gorman, a much loved local artist who has a unique affinity for the subject matter as he lives and paints on a Berks County farm.

The show will hang through March 10, 2012.

Winners included:

Barrie Maguire – Best in Show
Todd Trainer – 2nd Place
Lyn Camella – 3rd Place

Lauralynn White – Most humorous
Crystal Domino – Produce Award
Mary Ann Daily – Most Traditional
Joesph Szimhard- Juror’s Choice Award

James Doddy – Honorable Mention
Jeff Arbogast – Honorable Mention
Earl Lehman – Honorable Mention
Amy Schade – Honorable Mention
Lynn Millar – Honorable Mention
Rhonda Counts – Honorable Menti

Over 60 of the gallery’s artist members and new friends have been invited to show their small-priced works. Various media, from oil, pencil, and watercolor to clay, glass, and fiber, will be represented.

“Remember, it is our mission at Studio B to promote the artists,” said Studio B director Susan Biebuyck. “This is another chance for the many talented people who have graced our walls to exhibit and for us to celebrate their artistic accomplishments.”

Prizes will be awarded on Friday night, including the coveted “Best In Show,” which nets the winner a cash prize as well as a featured spot during next year’s members show. The public will also have the opportunity to vote for their favorite piece to win the “People’s Choice Award.” The winner will be announced at 8:00 p.m. on opening night.

All of the pieces in the show will be priced to make the art easily accessible for holiday gift giving. In a break from the gallery’s usual rules, buyers will be allowed to take their purchased works with them or pick them up before the end of the show.

“Even in tough economic times art is an investment gift. It brings joy and hope to both the giver and the receiver,” Biebuyck noted.

Studio B is a stop on Boyertown’s annual Holiday House Tour and will hold a special reception from 5-8:00 p.m. on December 2, 2011. Tickets for the tour are available at Bause’s Super Drug Store, Twin Turrets, and the Boyertown Area Historical Society. The show will hang through Saturday, January 14, 2012.

Over 20 artists and galleries in Boyertown, Oley, and Barto will open their spaces to the public for the second annual Fall Into Winter Tour the weekend before Thanksgiving, November 18-20.

Participating artists and galleries include Linda Rohrbach Austerberry and friends Ken Burton, Gail Fronheiser, Debbie Burkert, and Angela Colasanti in Barto; Studio B, Dancing Tree Creations, Clayote, Taylor Backes, Bey’s Rock Shop, and White House Farm Pottery and Gifts with Jennifer Baro and friends Mike Hale, Rebecca Yergey, Joseph Hoover, Lisa Baro, Kelsey Frick, Alice Dake, Scott Rothenberger, and Jake Steimer in Boyertown; and Clay On Main in Oley.

The Fall Into Winter Tour was started by well-known potter, Boyertown Arts & Activities Alliance member, and former Boyertown art teacher Linda Rohrbach-Austerberry. For over a decade, Rohrbach-Austerberry held an open studio at her farm every year, the weekend before Thanksgiving. She started inviting other artists to join her, and in 2010 included new locations like Studio B, Clayote, and Dancing Tree Creations.

This year, the tour boasts eight stops with over 20 participating artists. All work will be for sale and will include giftable items as well as fine art and home decor. There will also be special events at several locations; tour-goers are encouraged to visit the tour’s official website for the latest details.

“I love how this has grown,” says Rohrbach-Austerberry. “We have so much fun with this every year, and I’m really looking forward to sharing our work with everyone who stops by.”

For tour hours, a complete list of participating artists and events, and driving directions, please click here.

Pictured from left to right: Sandy Wood, Pennsylvania Art Education Association (PAEA) Board member and retired Boyertown Area School District art teacher; Jane Stahl, 2011 PAEA Outstanding Friend to Art Education award recipient; Jackie Thomas, PAEA Board member and fiber artist.

The Pennsylvania Art Education Association recently named Jane E. Stahl, Director of Community Relations at Studio B in Boyertown, PA, the PAEA 2011 Outstanding Friend to Art Education. The award was presented to Stahl at a special ceremony in Gettysburg on Friday, October 21, 2011.

“I am honored and humbled by the award – just happy to have found a role that allows me to participate in the visual arts,” Stahl says. “I am in deep appreciation and awe for the creativity and many skills artists possess and overwhelmingly grateful that as educators their work and gifts will inspire the many lives of young people and those they touch to enhance all of our lives.”

Stahl was nominated for the award by three of her peers: Sandy Wood, Linda Rohrbach-Austerberry, and Arline Christ.

Stahl has retired from a career of teaching English in the Boyertown area, but continues to be active in the community, working with Studio B, the Arts & Activities Alliance, and the Art Mobile.

Stahl’s impact on the community is visible in the more than 61 bears on display throughout the Boyertown area, designed and painted by local artists – a process she and her husband Paul began as “Bear Fever.” In 2006, she was given the Boyertown Citizen of the Year Award, and has continued her efforts to build community.

“I call her ‘Tornado Jane’ because if you get anywhere near her she swoops you up into a whirlwind and before you know it you have volunteered for one of her thousand projects involving the arts,” says Sandra Wood, a retired arts educator and artist.

“Jane Stahl is tireless,” adds local potter and Arts & Activities Alliance member Linda Rohrbach-Austerberry.

Biebuyck is well-known for her paintings of food, including a series of pears and one of doughnuts. She began painting food in the early 1990s, inspired by Edouard Manet’s “Bar at the Folies-Bergere.” Her work started with a bowl of fruit and soon became an obsession.

“It’s a subject I’ve left from time to time to paint people, scenery, the environment, commissions,” says Biebuyck. “But I keep getting drawn back to the food.”

Biebuyck is herself a foodie, along with friend and fellow artist Loretta Mestishen, who used to be a caterer. Although Mestishen wasn’t painting food previously, she successfully mastered the challenge last year in the Main Line Art Center’s “Just Desserts” exhibit where she and Biebuyck exhibited and were awarded together. It was then that Biebuyck invited her to participate in the FOOD show at Studio B.

In contrast, Rhonda Counts is known for featuring the rich textures of nature in her abstract pieces, and Suzanne Fellows was working on a series about bees when Biebuyck approached her about the show. “Food is nature,” Biebuyck reasons. “And bees are essential to the growth of food.”

The four artists decided that they will keep their responses to the subject matter secret from one another until they hang the show. Each artist is eager to see the others’ work.

“We all have our own ideas about food and that’s why it’s fun to play with people’s reactions to certain foods,” says Biebuyck. “One thing is for sure: Each of us will have a delicious response.”

“Susan Biebuyck & Friends” will conclude on November 26, 2011.

This juried showcase of artisan-level fine crafts is the first of its kind at the gallery. Nick Mohler, Program Director for the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen, has chosen pieces from twelve local craftsmen working in a variety of traditions, including metalsmithing, stained glass and mosaics, fiber craft, woodworking, and basketweaving.

Mohler will choose winners in three categories: Best Craftsmanship, Best Style (Most Unique), and Best Design.

“Each of the artists and makers included in CRAFTED have an exceptionally personal voice within their work,” Mohler said. “That was something that struck me about the final selection of works: Each featured artist had a signature style. Making objects physically well is one thing, but to also instill them with a unique style is a wholly different thing. These works are exceptional in that regard.”

Artisans include Margaret Almon of Lansdale, stained glass mosaic; Linda Austerberry of Barto, pottery; Debbie Burkert of Boyertown, basketweaving; Lyn Camella of Boyertown, mixed media; Wendy Edsall-Kerwin of Elizabethtown, metalsmithing; Cathy Hetznecker of Havertown, fiber craft; Carrie J. Keplinger of Boyertown, fiber craft; Maxine Rhoads of Sinking Spring; Heidi M. Schweitzer of Shillington, stained glass mosaic; Brad Smith of Worcester, woodworking; Bonnie L. Watton of Schwenksville, quilting; and Bonnie Wren of Boyertown, pottery.

“CRAFTED: the fine art of craft” will run through Saturday, October 15, 2011 and will be a part of the area’s American Craft Week events October 7-16.

Jean Esther is back with his ever-popular drawingclass; Angela Colasanti will take your youngsters for an art trip around the world; and former Boyertown English teacher Jane Stahl will teach teens about their leadership skills and learning styles. We’ve also scheduled adult-oriented workshops in lace-making, creative writing, and exploring the artistic experience.

We are especially looking forward to Spark It! with former Walt Disney artist Rhonda Counts. This workshop will ignite students’ creativity, and they will leave with an inspiration box and art journal to help keep their imaginations alive.

And all of our classes and workshops will be held in our shiny, new dedicated classroom, which we opened up last month!

In this unique style of exhibit, panels will line the walls of the gallery. On each panel will be a prompt – some serious, some reflective – about music, dance, theater, visual art, or “the arts” in general. Visitors will be able to interact with the show by writing their responses to the prompts on strips of paper then and weaving them into the panels.

Colasanti and Warfield, both 1994 graduates of Boyertown High School, began planning the exhibit in response to recent threats to cut art and music programs in local schools. Through their show, they will endeavor to collect thoughts and experiences about the value of art in our lives as well as provide an avenue for self expression.

“This show seeks to create lasting works of art from conversations where people reflect, publicly, on the relevance of the arts,” said Colasanti. “Too often, the voice of the average person lacks the volume to be heard. There are times, however, when different people can come together to speak about their needs, desires, and feelings, and those combined voices are loud enough to be heard.”

“Resonance: Speaking for the Arts” will conclude on September 11, 2011. A special Contributors Reception, where those who added their voices to the panels can discuss their stories with the community, will take place on Friday, September 9, 2011 from 5-9:00 p.m.