Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts hosts Sandra Corpora’s “Plein Air” exhibit

To recognize and honor artists who are continuing the decorative art traditions so revered in the Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts, Historic Bethlehem reopens the museum with a new gallery set aside to feature local artists.

Named the Artist Spotlight, the gallery will open September 20 featuring Sandra Corpora: Plein Air & Informed Plein Air, a solo exhibition of landscape paintings. An opening reception will be held Saturday, September 28 from 4-6pm, and Corpora will host an “Artist’s Talk” on Saturday, October 12 at 1pm. The exhibit runs through January 5, 2014.

Nearly 20 paintings will be on display in the Artist Spotlight, including Bright Winter at Burnside and Azaleas on the Fence

“This selection of recent paintings from the mid Atlantic region is mainly plein air paintings. With ever increasing experience painting from life outdoors, I feel a greater ability to see and describe with paint. My paintings attempt to capture the essence of a place and time and the beauty I see around me. The way the light falls to create a pattern of values and colors is often the thing that excites me. Of the 19 paintings, only three were painted in the studio. Those paintings were created the way I approach plein air painting. I was in those places, understood the day, the light, and the magic element that inspired me to want to paint it in the first place” Corpora said.

Corpora is an award-winning artist, who studied with Nelson Shanks, and has been recognized in many juried shows, selected exhibitionists, publications, and award programs over the years. Corpora paints all subjects, including figurative, still life, and landscape, and takes pride in following the long tradition of Bethlehem artists who depict the landscape and the people in our community.

Among Corpora’s many allocations and distinctions:

• Member of Oil Painters of America where she won an Award of Excellence
• Member of the Mid Atlantic Plein Air Painters of America
• Invited to compete in the first New Hope Plein Air Event and won for Best River Painting
• Competed twice in prestigious Plein Air Easton in Maryland
• Finalist in the Artist Magazine Competition in the Landscape Category
• Studied in workshops with well known plein air painters Kenn Backhaus, William Scott Jennings, John Phillip Osborne and T. M. Nicolas
• Featured artist for Historic Bethlehem Partnership in 2012 for the Holiday Dinner and Art Auction and featured painting, Sunset at the Sisters’ House, oil on linen, sold for $7,000.

The Kemerer Museum and Artist Spotlight opens this Friday, September 20 through Sunday, January 5, 2014 with regular hours Friday through Sunday from 10am to 4pm beginning Friday, September 20.   Admission is $12 for adults, $6 for children; members visit for free.

For more information, guests can visit historicbethlehem.org or call 1-800-360-TOUR.