The sheer number of gala events in March and April is a bit of a surprise. Every weekend, it seems, there’s a fancy fundraiser for some arts nonprofit or other.
The best of them, in my view, is AVA Gallery and Art Center’s annual Silent Auction. Not because it’s a great party, but because it involves a great, free group exhibition the week before the party takes place.
The Silent Auction show opens Saturday for browsing and for early-bird bidding on artwork and other donations to the nonprofit Lebanon art center. The party, and final bidding, take place from 5 to 8 p.m. the following Saturday, April 6. If a piece in the show strikes a viewer’s fancy, there’s a “buy it now” price, a union of art and e-commerce.
Tickets for the April 6 party cost $35 for AVA members, $45 for nonmembers and $50 at the door.
The Library Arts Center in Newport, N.H., opens its annual Student Art Show with a reception from 4 to 6 p.m. on Friday. The show features artwork from students in Newport’s public schools. The opening will include an ice cream social, at which students will sell ice cream in handmade bowls to benefit the Newport Area Food Pantry. The show is on view through April 25.
The Betty Grant Gallery, in Lyme’s Converse Free Library, opens an exhibition of paintings by Liliana Paradiso on Monday. A reception is planned for 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17, and the show is on view through June.
“Promises of Spring,” an exhibition of watercolors by Brookfield, Vt., artist Marcia Hammond, is on view at Chelsea Public Library. A reception is planned for 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday. Through April.
The show at the library is part of a planned Friday evening art walk in Chelsea. The organizers included a reception at the Orange County Parent Child Center, in Tunbridge, at 5:30, featuring cookies, milk and art inspired by Tar Beach, a book by Faith Ringgold.
In Chelsea, the art walk includes “Glass Onions,” an exhibition of painted glass objects by Chelsea artist Nick De Friez, at North Common Arts.
And SafeArt, an arts organization for women who have experienced trauma, will display works made during its Healing Arts For Women programs.
The Library Arts Center in Newport, N.H., has set a submission deadline for its annual Peeps Diorama Contest. Submissions can be dropped off at the LAC from April 13 to 18 during regular hours, Tuesday to Friday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday, 10 to 2.
Also, the LAC is planning a show about color. Submissions of work for “ROY G BIV,” which must include every stripe in the rainbow, must be received through the arts center’s website, by 11:59 p.m. Thursday.
Two Rivers Printmaking Studio is holding a series of workshops led by Upper Valley printmakers through the spring. The next, collagraph and monotype printing with Sarah Amos, is scheduled for April 6 and 7 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days. The workshop costs $350 per person, plus a materials fee. For more information and to see the full slate of workshops, go to tworiversprintmaking.org.
Betty Grant Gallery, Converse Free Library, Lyme. “15 Years of Monday Painting: A Journey,” features oil paintings by the Monday painting class led by artist Aline Ordman. Through Saturday.
The Great Hall, Springfield, Vt. “Healing: The Transformative Imagery of Art” includes work by Margaret Jacobs, of Enfield; Carolyn Enz Hack, of East Thetford; and Robert O’Brien, Robert Carsten and Neomi Lauritsen, of Springfield. Through Saturday.
Gallery at the Space on Main, Bradford, Vt. Photographs by Emily Marsh. Through Sunday.
Zollikofer Gallery, White River Junction. “Landscapes Near and Far,” paintings by Thetford artist Jean Gerber. Through Sunday.
BigTown Gallery, Rochester, Vt. “Bringing the Bull Home,” work on paper and in ceramics and painted shoes by Rick Skogsberg, and “Figures in the Landscape,” recent paintings by Burlington artist Peter Fried. Through May 4.
Center for the Arts, New London. The New London Inn shows photographs by Marc Beerman; at Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, abstract work of Roger Wells and sculptures by Loren Howar; Blue Loon Bakery, photographs by Rick Stockwell; Whipple Hall Gallery shows work by Proctor Academy students; and Emil Nelson Gallery and Annex shows work by 20th-century artists.
Chew & Co. Design, Hanover. Pastels by former Upper Valley resident Phyllis Orem. Through June 1.
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon. Winter exhibitions include: woodworker Put Blodgett, a Bradford, Vt., native now living in Hanover; Neysa Russo, who makes wool felt tapestry in Corinth; Westminster, Vt., painter Liz Hawkes deNiord; photographer Bruce Parsons, of New London; painter Alan Zola Shulman, also of New London; pastelist Gale Sweet; painter Sharla Broughton; and oil painter Bill Turner, a retired automotive restorer from Milford, N.H.
Kilton Public Library, West Lebanon. Artwork by students at Hanover Street School. Through May.
Ledyard Gallery, Howe Library, Hanover. “Color Sculptures,” recent paintings by Alison Palizzolo. Through May 1. A reception is planned for 2 to 4 p.m., on April 13.
Long River Gallery, White River Junction. “The Mind Is a City,” mixed media work by Becky Coburn, of Amesbury, Mass., and “Through the Trees,” pastels by White River Junction artist Kathryn Detzer.
Main Street Museum, White River Junction. “Jack Rowell, Cultural Documentarian: Portraits of Vermont People and Other Wildlife.”
Matt Brown Fine Art, Lyme. “Considering Kunisada and His Depictions of the Chushingura,” an exhibition of prints by the madly prolific and inventive 19th-century Japanese printmaker. Through April 6.
Scavenger Gallery, White River Junction. “Bewildered,” recent work by Montpelier artist Daryl Burtnett in a variety of media.
Steven Thomas, Inc. Fine Arts & Antiques, White River Junction. Work by Upper Valley “vintage” artists, such as Alice Standish Buell, John Semple and Horace Brown.
Tunbridge Public Library. Woodburning and painting by tattoo artist Tom Ball. Through May 3.
Two Rivers Printmaking Studio, White River Junction. Retrospective of prints by Norwich artist Penelope Bennett. Through April.
Alex Hanson can be reached at ahanson@vnews.com or 603-727-3207.
