Centre for Arts embraces 'A Homecoming'

CENTREVILLE — June 1, the Queen Anne’s County Centre for the Arts hosted the opening of “A Homecoming,” a mixed-media exhibition of five regional artists, all with ancestral ties to the Eastern Shore and Queen Anne’s County.

Family, friends, community and supporters from nearby counties filled the Centre’s gallery to view works created from collage fiber and fabric, paint, photography, paintography and shell craft by artists Yolanda Acree, Janet Adams, Niambi Davis, Alani Paus, and Charlese Phillips.

Acree is also Caroline County Arts Council’s Artist in Residence, a community historian, writer, minimalist, and curator of the exhibit “The History of the Shantytowns of Kent Narrows.” As a collage artist, in addition to the homage paid to her family tree, she describes her work as “an exploration of Black femmes and folk, focusing on identity, culture, and history.”

Phillips’ work incorporates fiber, weaving, photography, painting, and photography. Her grandmother, Cecilia Shorter, the former president of the Kennard Alumni Association, is the subject of one of Phillips’ works, featured in her favorite color purple. Shorter shares space in the exhibit alongside actors Viola Davis, Issa Rae, and director Ava Duvernay. “Being able to share my work in my hometown with this incredible group of women is such an honor,” Phillips affirmed.

Adams, a retired Queen Anne’s County teacher and reading specialist described her post-retirement creative journey and what drew her to quilting. “I love creating with fabric — putting the small pieces together and making something entirely new.” In 2013 she began to paint under the instruction of Jane Bollman, a local Easton artist, a hobby she shares with her great-grandchildren.

Pauls, a 2023 Queen Anne’s County High School graduate, has always loved drawing and painting. “Once she started to draw, she never stopped,” recalled her grandmother, Regina “Missy” Bennett. “She would even draw during church services.” As a student, her work has been displayed in an exhibit of regional schools at the Academy Arts in Easton. “Our entire family is very proud of Alani and we encourage her to continue to work on her skills,” Bennett stated.

Davis, a hobbyist photographer, who describes her work as “lucky iPhone shots out of moving cars” credits Centreville artist Coleman Sellers with her introduction to paintography, described as the art of combining digital painting with photography. As a beach lover and shell collector, she creates decorative accessories from shells and thrift store mirrors.

Over light fare and smooth jazz and R&B played by bassist Ed Willz, the evening was a homecoming and forging of new connections. “It was truly amazing: a group of multidisciplinary, ed multigenerational artists from the Eastern shore of Maryland and Delaware coming together for the first time in a beautiful exhibition about coming home,” said Rick Strittmater, executive director of the Queen Anne’s County Centre for the Arts. “We were privileged to have quilting, collage, painting, and drawing, fiber arts and photography. It was fabulous.”