Gallery Night on Off the Wall Friday

One thing that came out of the Pandemic of 2020, is the fact that I will NEVER take "Date Night" for granted ever again.  This week's installment was one for the books!  One night a month, the art scene in Erie comes alive to host a Gallery Night.  Galleries and small business open their doors to show off what's new. 

First stop, was the Grounded Print and Paper Shop.  Ever since I've heard about this place, I've been dying to visit.  It's a former machine shop warehouse located in a neighborhood where people have been fighting to revitalize.  I love their goal which "is to provide creative space to explore new ideas and perspectives."  It truly is a space of endless possibilities.  We walked in and I see Eric Berdis stitching on his textile art piece.  Ohh this is unexpected. The next thing you know, we're talking thread, sewing, quilting, and art.  He was kind enough to share the Insect series he's been working on.  To tell you the truth, I was a bit annoyed that I couldn't grab a needle and chat all night.  But we had other stops!

Hide and Seek, Eric Anthony Berdis

Next, onto the Erie Art Museum, where the Spring Show was up.  This local annual event is THE art show for local artists. With different jurors, every year you never quite know what is going to show up and getting juried in is kinda a big deal. This year's juror, Gaëtane Verna put together a show that was strong on folk art.   I walked in and immediately saw the work of Eric who had gotten two pieces in.  Seeing the vision he had just described to me installed in a gallery setting was moving.  There were several other fiber art pieces juried in as well.  One thing, I was happy to see is that digital art hadn't taken over the show like in prior years.  This show is all about mark of the hand!

Peppermint, Ghost Swan, Eric Anthony Berdis

Essence, 2023, Lynn Marie Finel

The museum is connected to another Erie fixture, Glass Growers Gallery.  I love this store.  It's not only that I've shown work here myself, but it has such good memories.  So many times, I would gather up my pennies to buy some kind of treasure from there.  They had an exhibit of local artist, Malcolm Christhilf.   He managed to bring ordinary objects alive in his still lifes of bold color.   There were so many good paintings on the walls of the shop that I'm not quite sure how we managed to get out of there without buying one!

Finally, we headed to the west side of Kada Gallery which was featuring Ron Bayuzik’s Quiet Parts Out Loud with 2D and 3D sculptures and paintings.  The exhibit was interesting but the work of Tessa's high school art teacher, Jaime Borowicz caught my eye.  For the last few years, he's been working on these mosiac-like paintings which had me itching to design one myself and do it fabric rather than paint! 

Jaime Borowicz

 I mean really, wouldn't this look great in fabric?

All in all it was a fabulous night.  We did miss a couple of galleries that we wanted to visit, but to tell you the truth it was all a bit of sensory overload.  It took me a whole quiet weekend to recover!  

So a reminder... go out and enjoy your own local art scene.  You never know when you'll make a new friend and get some new inspiration.

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