Jeff Bye, "Corner Bodega," oil on canvas, 30 x 40 in.
JEFF BYE: FRAYED EDGES
Cove Street Gallery
Portland, Maine covestreetarts.com
Through July 12, 2025
Cove Street Gallery is exhibiting the recent paintings of Jeff Bye (b. 1971), who is fascinated by gritty urban, industrial, and waterfront scenes. Blending soft-focus and abstracted passages with others that are sharp and detailed, he conjures a powerful sense of place that might even evoke, for some viewers, the sounds and smells he experienced on site. Particularly impressive are the patinas and textures Bye conveys by scraping away areas of paint and then reworking them.
Jeff Bye, “Waterfront,” 2025, oil on linen, 24 x 56 in.Jeff Bye, “Slice,” Oil on linen, 24 x 36 in.
Bye is especially fascinated by run-down or graffiti-covered buildings — from motels and mom-and-pop storefronts to abandoned theaters and factories. Some of the sites depicted are under threat of demolition, making Bye’s artistry a valuable form of documentation. Many are located in New York City, though this show also includes a group of works illustrating Portland’s waterfront.
Trained at the Rhode Island School of Design and New York Academy of Art, Bye resides in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
The 34th annual Colorado Governor’s Art Show & Sale, one of the largest juried fine art shows to exclusively feature Colorado artists, has named its 2025 award winners.
The 2025 Best in Show was awarded to Crystal DeSpain, who also earned 2024 Award of Merit, 2023 Artist’s Choice, and 2023 Award of Merit honors. An additional 10 artists from across the state took home Awards of Merit.
Best in Show: “Heiress” (oil) by Crystal DeSpain (presented by Loveland Ready Mix Concrete)
Awards of Merit presented by Good Samaritan Loveland Village:
● Carol Dallas, “Striving for Balance” (Aurora)
● Denise Dambrackas, “Cruising Altitude” (Denver)
● Sheri Farabaugh, “Where the Lilies Grow” (Thornton)
● Daniel Glanz, “Courtship” (Loveland)
● Tammie Lane, “Cairn” (Aspen)
● Cristian Mora, “What the Swallow Saw” (Denver)
● Desmond O’Hagan, “Near Mount Evans” (Denver)
● Adam Schultz, “Life Skating” (Loveland)
● Jen Starling, “Imperfect Angel” (Arvada)
● Tanner Steed, “Flaming June” (Denver)
“Cruising Altitude” by Denise Dambrackas“Imperfect Angel” by Jen Starling“Near Mount Evans” by Desmond O’Hagan“What the Swallow Saw” by Cristian Mora
The artwork was juried by professional artists and judged on creativity, originality, technique, the quality of artistic composition, and overall appearance.
The Colorado Governor’s Art Show & Sale opened Saturday, May 3, for a six-week-long exhibit at the Loveland Museum with both in-person and online fine art sales. In 2025, 61 Colorado-based artists were selected to participate in the show and Loveland sculptor Rosetta was named the Legacy Artist.
The Governor’s Art Show is presented by Loveland and Thompson Valley Rotary Clubs, in conjunction with the Loveland Museum and endorsed by the Governor of Colorado. The Show is truly Art with Heart as 100% of the net show proceeds supporting community nonprofit programs through the Loveland and Thompson Valley Rotary Clubs.
Marcia Holmes, "St. Remy Garden, Cypresses," oil on linen, 16 x 20 in. (in frame)
Degas Gallery in New Orleans is presenting painter Marcia Holmes’s latest solo exhibition, which she has titled “Sojourn.” She lives and works in Mandeville, Louisiana, just 100 yards from the Tchefuncte River, which makes sense given, in her words, “the magnetic connectivity I have to life around water.”
Marcia Holmes (b. 1954), “Water Reflections, L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Provence,” 2025, oil on canvas, 20 x 16 in.
On view are impressionist and abstract scenes that convey “the power of gestural strokes, organic forms, neutrals, and my love of color,” Holmes says. “I’ve allowed myself a new freedom — improvisation that resonates from within.”
Housed in a historic building, Degas Gallery was named for the French impressionist Edgar Degas, who visited members of his family in New Orleans in 1872–73.
The exhibition runs through June 30, 2025. For more information, please visit thedegasgallery.com.
Join us for an exclusive solo art exhibit featuring the stunning new artwork of renowned artist John Cosby. Each piece reflects his deep connection to the vibrant scenes of the Western states and a little further.
More from the organizers:
Whether you’re an art enthusiast, collector, or simply appreciate the splendor of the natural world, this exhibit is not to be missed. Rogers Gardens is a business in the business of celebrating the beauty of the natural world. This makes for a wonderful environment to have a show that honors the land and seascape of western America. For this show, Cosby has curated a group of 17 works from time recently spent painting the west, from the inland landscapes to coastal and island seascapes.
John Cosby, “Ocean Village,” 30 x 36 in.
Cosby currently resides and maintains a studio in San Clemente, California. He works on location around the world and is represented by some of the finest galleries in the country. Cosby is a founding board member of the prestigious Laguna Plein Air Painters Association, an Signature member of California Art Club. Cosby is founder of the Laguna Beach Plein Air Painting Invitational held at the Laguna Art Museum.
John Cosby, “California Creek,” 18 x 24 in.
From years of painting on location around the world, Cosby has developed his ability to work quickly to capture the essence of the scene. Cosby has been teaching for many years and has guided many of todays artists to a professional level. His work can be found in many private, public and corporate collections around the world.
Attention Art Collectors! May 20-22, 2025: Visit the Plein Air Convention & Expo’s robust pop-up art gallery at the Nugget Casino Resort in Reno, Nevada, where hundreds of artists, including our master faculty, will have studio and plein air works on display and ready to purchase. Register for the full event at PleinAirConvention.com now.
"Saleem," Hand stitched textile 26 x 40 in., by Aida Ayers – Embracing Blackness: Diasporic Unions exhibit
The Customs House Museum and Cultural Center is announcing several new exhibitions to the galleries this summer, celebrating the arts of Tennessee.
From the Museum:
“Within the Abstract,” the work of Nashville’s Contemporary Collective group, features abstract paintings by an established group of women artists who have been working together since 2012.
“Communion,” 2024, acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48 in., by Mary Miller Veazie (b. 1956), in Within the Abstract
“Embracing Blackness: Diasporic Unions” brings together artists working with a variety of mediums. This multimedia exhibition is part of the Crafting Blackness Initiative that celebrates artists of African descent based in Tennessee. The curatorial focus revolves around inclusion, assertions of the vital reality of Blackness’ inclusive capacity to embrace cultures, amalgamations of various hues, without diminishing their value but rather enriching them to their highest potentials. The exhibition explores the Black identity coalesced around intercultural influences, forged by displacement, interracial unions, and geographic mobility rooted from Africa.
“The Invitation Arriving in a Shaft of Light,” Mixed Media, 24 x 24 in., by Thandiwe Shiphrah – Embracing Blackness: Diasporic Unions exhibit
Haunting ceramic figures fill the museum’s Jostens Gallery in the exhibition “Magnolia: The Art of Asia Mathis.” Asia Mathis is a nationally exhibited artist based in Nashville, known for her clay sculptures that explore the human figure and nature imagery.
“Sentries,” Hand Thrown Ceramic, by Asia Mathis – Asia Mathis: Magnolia exhibit
The artist says, “My work centers around the human search for authenticity and belonging. In my sculpting, I turn again and again towards addressing the problem of being disconnected from the land and wild creatures, because without this connection it seems impossible to be our full human selves.”
“Past Flowers,” Hand Thrown Ceramic, by Asia Mathis – Asia Mathis: Magnolia exhibit
Constructed in 1898 as Clarksville’s first U.S. Post Office and Customs House for the flourishing tobacco trade, this architecturally fascinating structure is among the most iconic landmarks in the region. Today, it stands as the largest general interest museum in Tennessee. Along with the center’s exhibitions, the Customs House offers educational programming and events to engage the community. For more information, please visit customshousemuseum.org.
As part of our effort to continue to help artists and art galleries thrive, we’re proud to bring you this week’s “Virtual Gallery Walk.” Browse the artwork below and click the image itself to learn more about it, including how to contact the gallery.
Cottonwood Reflections, Michael Gault, oil painting on Belgium Linen, 24 x 36 in; Michael Gault
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Dusk’s Grand Finale, Barbara Jaenicke, oil on stretched linen, 30 x 40 in; Mockingbird Gallery Group
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Late Afternoon-Long Shadows: Malibu Hills, Marian Fortunati, oil on canvas, 12 x 24 in; Marian Fortunati
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Pine Lake Evening, Kathleen Kalinowski, oil on linen, 24 x 24 in; Kathleen Kalinowski
Want to see your gallery featured in an upcoming Virtual Gallery Walk? Contact us at [email protected] to advertise today. Don’t delay, as spaces are first come, first served, and availability is limited.
Abbeville Press recently published the first book about Itshak Holtz (1925–2018), who created paintings, drawings, and prints while living in the Orthodox Jewish communities of New York City and Jerusalem.
Making representational art was an extraordinary vocation for an Orthodox Jew, but Holtz persevered, recording the everyday lives of people he knew — working, shopping, praying, and celebrating — with the insight only a neighbor can convey.
Born near Warsaw, Holtz moved with his family to Jerusalem as a child and pursued his artistic training there and then in New York.
The 224-page book contains an introductory essay by Richard McBee, a painter of biblical subject matter.
Published six times per year, Fine Art Connoisseur is now a widely consulted platform for the world’s most knowledgeable experts, who write articles that inform readers and give them the tools necessary to make better purchasing decisions.
Fine Art Connoisseur‘s jargon-free text and large color illustrations are attracting an ever-growing readership passionate about high-quality artworks and the fascinating stories around them. It serves art collectors and enthusiasts with innovative articles about representational paintings, sculptures, drawings, and prints — both historical and contemporary, American and European. Fine Art Connoisseur covers the museums, galleries, fairs, auction houses, and private collections where great art is found.
Debra Joy Groesser with some of her work in her gallery in Ralston, Nebraska
How do you find inspiration? Debra Joy Groesser: As mainly a landscape painter, I’m especially drawn to scenes with beautiful light and atmosphere, often backlit subjects. Recently I’ve found inspiration in subjects that represent metaphors for life experiences and subjects that are healing in a spiritual way. A recent example is “Journey” (48×72 oil). We were in central Nebraska to see the sandhill crane migration and were treated to this stunning sunset as the
cranes settled in for the night along the Platte River. Here they feed for a few weeks, gaining strength to continue their journey north. Watching them in flight, hearing their calls and reflecting on the long, sometimes difficult journey ahead of them, I thought about how we all face difficulties on our own journeys through life. Sometimes we need to just stop, rest, refuel and take time to enjoy simple things, like a beautiful sunset, to soothe our weary souls and continue on our way.
What is the best thing about being an artist? Debra Joy Groesser: For me it’s being able to inspire people through my art. Art can be very healing and is truly a universallanguage. One of the best experiences is when a painting touches someone so deeply that it brings them
to tears. How lucky are we to create beauty and help people see their world in a way they might never have before?
Sara Gallagher (b. 1990), "Let Them Fall," 2024, graphite and PanPastel on paper, 23 x 30 in.; First Place ($2,500 Cash Award) / Drawing in the Art Renewal Center's 17th Salon Competition, and featured in the May/June 2025 issue of Fine Art Connoisseur
From the Fine Art Connoisseur May/June 2025 Editor’s Note:
A New Era for Arts Philanthropy
Fine Art Connoisseur, May/June 2025
Economically speaking, this spring has been a rollercoaster ride, and by the time you read this, the instability will surely be continuing. I am not getting political here, but I do want to focus on just one comparatively overlooked area of the chaos that will impact readers of Fine Art Connoisseur.
At the time I’m writing, grants supporting arts projects already awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Institute of Museum & Library Services (IMLS) have been frozen. It is likely that the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is on the chopping block next. I know something about these agencies because, last autumn, I served on a panel of arts professionals hired (for a small fee) to review and rank NEA grant applications submitted by art museums nationwide.
For Fiscal Year 2024, IMLS had received a federal appropriation of $294.8 million, and the other two agencies got $207 million each. That’s a grand total of $708.8 million for a nation of 340 million people — just over $2 per resident. The projects supported occur in every U.S. state and territory, and the presenting organizations range widely in size, from Manhattan’s enormous Metropolitan Museum of Art to tiny one-person-staff outfits in the countryside. The majority, in fact, go to the smaller entities far from the art capitals, partly because the latter have lots of private and municipal support already, and partly because the federal agencies’ mandate has always been to spread the generosity around.
As the cuts take effect (subject to a few ongoing lawsuits that will probably fail), most of the grantees are now faced with a dilemma: should we continue mounting the proposed exhibition (or other project, such as a reinstallation), or should we cancel it to avoid running a deficit? Because most nonprofits must operate on a balanced budget, they probably will cancel, and that means less for you and your family to enjoy at the local museum (or other visual art organization) later this year.
Alternatively, if they have the bandwidth, these presenters will soon solicit you and other individuals to donate funds to close the budgetary gap. The U.S. has a stellar history of private philanthropy; indeed we’ve been admired internationally since the 18th century for the let’s-all-pitch-in character of our giving. In fact, the federal cultural agencies mentioned above emerged only in the 1960s; before that era, if your community’s members did not pitch in with cash contributions, then you did not have a museum, or at least one with a lively program.
The current situation means that we all must get back into the habit of donating (or donating more) to the local and regional presenters we love. Some folks may be able to contribute only the $2 per person the feds gave until last year, while others have the capacity to give much more. That’s your decision, but I hope you will join me in dusting off the checkbook and helping our favorite institutions thrive. Now you — not awards panelists like me — can choose which ones to support, and that could actually be fun.
Please get involved, and please keep Fine Art Connoisseur posted on how things are going in your arts community.
What are your thoughts? Share your letter to the Editor below in the comments.
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