ZUMBA - "Ditch the Workout & Join the Party"

Have you heard of Zumba? Do you want to dance and get in shape? Our very own dance instructor, Andrea Alfieri-Quaile, will be heading a one-hour weekly Zumba class in our studio starting in January of 2009. The time will be 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm every Wednesday evening. Additional classes may be scheduled in addition to Wednesdays. Check out the video above to get an idea of what ZUMBA is all about!

Holiday Update

Just to let everyone know, the Arts Center will be closed on the following dates for the holidays:

Wednesday, December 24
Thursday, December 25,
Friday, December 26
Saturday, December 27
Wednesday, December 31
Thursday, January 1

We'd also like to take this opportunity to wish you all a safe, happy, and prosperous holiday season and New Year! Thank you for spending yet another year with us here!

Approaching the New Year

The last two months of 2008 will be action packed for us all here at the Arts Center. With the closing of the Juried Show at the beginning of the month, turning the gallery over to our annual show With Love for Our Children, scheduling a whole slew of classes (new and old favorites!), and much more, believe me when I say we've been moving non-stop!

I'm approaching the end of my fourth month as a staff member at the Ocean City Arts Center, and I've come to find a whole new family and community to fit into which makes me endlessly happy. I must say that in my short time here I've met some incredible people and have begun to implement some changes that have brought success to this institution. This past Saturday, however, was absolutely the most rewarding day out of all the time I spend here.

December 6 was the day of our Holiday Arts Fest, more commonly recognized as the Holiday Art Sale. This year in lieu of new faculty members and classes we decided to hold an open house -- teachers would do demonstrations, sell their work along with local artists and vendors, performing arts students would share with us what they've been learning, and most importantly the many people in our little tight knit community would spend the day together in one of the most creative ways possible. Our teachers and staff baked assorted goodies and our turn out was fantastic. It was a great way to get us all together and brainstorm ways to make our Arts Center better than ever... which leads me to say:

Our Winter 2009 Class Listing/Schedule is now available! Please call us to have one mailed to you, stop in, or visit our website to take a peek!

ALSO... I'd like to extend a heartfelt thank you on behalf of myself and the Arts Center staff to the teachers, artists, and students who participated in Saturday's event:

Andrea Alfieri, Fred Arnold, Bob Boney, Betty Lou Cassidy, Elaine Chaffin, Mary Daly, Ed Fischer, Chad Fisher, Rob & Kristen Gummel, Bobbi Heisman, Rae Jaffe, Lori Kintz, Leland Kuchler, Shawna Mulford, Marie Natale, Jane Petransky, Susan Rau, Carrie Reilly, Stephanie Sussmeier, Sue Van Duyne

and students: (guitar) Briar Rose Ginn, Caroline Hartman, WoJo Franks, (piano) Conor Ancharski, Lee Cortopassi, Nora Faverzani, Dante Monteleone, Nicole Nunan, Hadley Patterson, Madeline Raab, Dale Roeck, Michaela Walsh, and (violin) Maria Dattilo.

Below are some pictures from the Holiday Arts Fest!


Guitar Instructor Rob Gummel & Piano Instructor Leland Kuchler


Some children admiring Marie Natale's art work.


Marie Natale at her table.


Sculpture instructor Chad Fisher doing a demo.


Chad's bust by the end of the day.


Caricature of Perri Hansen by Oil Instructor Bobbi Heisman.


A caricature of me by Bobbi Heisman!


Come check us out!!

A busy month indeed

This past Friday, the Arts Center played host to many local artists and loyal patrons as they we all gathered for the Awards Reception for our Annual Juried Art Show. We're proud to announce the winners:

Best of Show: Morning Mystic by Chun-Yan Hilyard
Second Place: Gathering Gaggle by Maryann Cannon
Third Place: Patiently Waiting by Robert Baum

Honorable Mention: Meadow Tree by Ellen LoCicero, Philadelphia Port by Dino Sistilli, and Cracked by Wendy Tribulski.

TD (Commerce) Bank Award: Mother and Child (Pollock Style) by Diedra Stone-McGrory


Again, we extend congratulations to all winning and accepted artists as well as thanks to all artists who submitted their work for the show. We invite you all to see the exhibit for the remainder of the month, and look forward to next month's art show: With Love for Our Children.

The Juried Show is up!

During the month of November we are featuring the following artists:

Meed Barnett
Robert Baum
Shirley Belitsky
Barbara Berg
Matthew Blair
Mary Alice Campanaro
Maryann Cannon
Zigang Chen
Linda A. Colson
Dorothy DeMatteis
Peg Dittmar
Fury Feraco
Carol Hiemenz
Chun-yan Hilyard
Linda Kaufman
Warren Kenny
Ken Klander
Mary Anne Kline
Ellen LoCicero
Susan Long
Robert Manzi
Zachary Martin
Verna McClain
Christine McPartland
Charles Micsko
Eileen Moore
Katherine Mott
Marie Natale
Victoria Papale
Joseph Sang
Dino Sistilli
Pamela Stern
Diedra Stone-McGrory
Wendy Tribulski
Richard Williams
Jeanette Wyckoff
Carol Zerbe


Thanks to all of our volunteers, curators, judges, and all the artists who submitted their work. We hope to see you Friday!

Empty walls for not much longer

Today the accepted works for our Annual Juried Show will be hung in the gallery. We welcome everyone to filter in this week to get a close look and also invite you to the awards reception which will be held Friday, November 7 from 7-9 pm.

Juried Art Show 2008

Here at the Arts Center we're in the last week of Shirley Hawthorne's show Favorite Places, Special Spaces. Within the next two weeks we will uninstall what we have up in the gallery right now and on Monday, November 3rd we will hang up the accept works to our Annual Juried Art Show. This year saw some impressive work and we had a great time getting to know our judges as they went through the process of choosing what made the cut or what didn't. The awards reception for the JAS will be Friday, November 7 from 7-9. To all those involved - accepted or not accepted - artists and those who aren't --- please join us for this very special community event and support these excellent artists and the Ocean City Arts Center!

**Just a reminder, for those whose work did not make it into the show the pick-up dates for your work are 11/3 - 11/8, however you can pick it up before the 3rd if you wish.


Stay tuned!!

Autumn Excitement

A very fun and busy time began last Friday with the opening reception of Shirley Hawthorne's show Favorite Places, Special Spaces. Our annual Pumpkin Painting Party followed the next day and was a great success. Today marks the start of our acceptance period for the Annual Juried Art Show and it will last for a week. Let me tell you what a busy morning it's been! The Arts Center is just bustling with people coming in and out, dancers in the studio, and our staff filing and typing away here in the office. We welcome you to join us in these upcoming weeks, for much is to come!

To all those who are interested in continuing with classes into the Winter Session:
Are there any subjects you'd be interested in learning about that we have not offered?
Drop us a comment here or come in and fill out a survey! Even give us a call. :)

Have a great day, and we hope to see you here.

Philippe de Montebello Years Bus Trip *All Full*

We have begun a wait list for the December 4th bus trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Please call the Arts Center if you're interested in being on that list.

Jurors announced!

The jurors for our annual Juried Art Show will be Bruce Garrity, Steven Halko, and Ruane Manning. Again, we are accepting work between 10/15 and 10/22. Please contact us for more information!

Dancewave - Ocean City's Newest Contemporary Dance Company

Check out this video of the Dancewave company's Oceanography show. The team is starting up again, call us for more information!



Choreographed by Andrea Alfieri

OCAC happenings

Today begins the installation of Shirley Hawthorne's show. The opening reception will be Friday, October 10. Hawthorne's paintings capture her life and surroundings in many places throughout New Jersey and even Texas. So far the display is dazzling, with rich colors, pleasant vistas, and even some decadant frames. For the locals, the subject matter is especially close. There is a beautiful texture to these paintings, and I encourage all of you to stop in and see this wonderful process take place!



Following Shirley Hawthorne's opening there will be a Pumpkin Painting Party held by instructor Rob Gummel. For those interested in participating it is $7.50 per pumpkin and you must sign up ahead of time. There is a late morning session and an early afternoon one, and you can register over the phone.

Most importantly our Juried Arts Show is quickly approaching. October 15 begins the acceptance period and we welcome artists of all mediums (excluding photography because there is a separate show for that) to submit their work. The opening of the J.A.S. is in November.

Late fall is a very fun and busy time here at the Arts Center and we would love for as many people to be involved as possible, so come out and see us!

survey time!

Last week we began to hand out surveys to students, members, and frequenters of the Arts Center. In order to make our winter session classes (beginning in January) even more fulfilling, we'd like to get a handle on what everyone's opinion is. The survey aims to find out what programs you'd like to see at the Arts Center, any classes you've taken and how much you like them and the instructor, any expectations you have of us, and how effective you find our website to be. Please feel free to ask about it at the desk and pick up a copy of your own. We'd like to do all we can to not only target your needs but really deliver something you want.

Good Intentions

The purpose of this blog is to act as a means of more personal communication between the Arts Center and students or members of the community who frequent the building. We want this to be an open forum for those who wish to voice their opinions, offer suggestions, or just keep current with what we're doing here. Changes are happening here everyday in hopes of maintaining a progressive artistic attitude and position within our shore community. Over the next few months we anticipate the start of some new programs at the Arts Center. We will keep you posted on all of our upcoming events and hope that you will come out to join us for the very exciting times to come! This blog should signify the start of these changes occurring here at the Arts Center. This site will hopefully create a cohesive bond between our institution and our truly valued community. That being said, we would like to do all we can do make sure we're running a place like the Arts Center the best that it can be run, being as it is such a vital asset. This is also an excellent opportunity to take advantage of the fact that we are one of the few places in our area that can serve as a creative outlet on many levels. So, welcome!



*Just a reminder:
Sign ups have begun for the December 4th bus trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the spots fill up fast! $35 includes transportation. Admission is not included, but you pay the minimum suggested donation. Spaces are limited so if you would like to come give us a call and sign up right over the phone. You can find our number on the blog profile. The exhibition is the curators' celebration of three decades of acquisitions entitled The Philippe de Montebello Years.