Reception & Opening of New Downtown Art Exhibit
The work of three artists from the area is set to be displayed in Waynesboro’s downtown district for the next few weeks.
“Surfaces” will feature projects completed by Ben McAfee, Joan Bontempo and Andrew Gehman. The show is scheduled to run inside Gallery 20 East, located at 20 East Main Street, from Thursday, May 29 through Sunday, June 22.
To celebrate the opening of the exhibit, a special reception has been planned for Friday, May 30, beginning at 5:00 p.m. Singer-guitarist Jon Ingels will be providing music throughout the evening.
As part of the “Destination ARTS!” initiative, Gallery 20 East is open every Thursday from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., Friday from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m., Saturday from 12:00 to 6:00 p.m. and Sunday from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Four other galleries are open on the same days at the same time.
About the Artists
Ben McAfee was born in Waynesboro and graduated from Waynesboro Area Senior High School in 2003. He received his bachelor’s degree in Art History from Penn State University in 2007 before receiving his Master of Fine Art in Figurative Drawing and Painting from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
Much of McAfee’s work focuses on portraiture and figure paintings, exploring emotional and physical responses. He strives to capture extreme emotions through the imagery in the work and his painting technique. Ben calls his approach “emotional realism.” He now lives and works in Chambersburg and is on the art faculty of Hagerstown Community College.
Joan Bontempo has been a ceramic artist for more than 25 years, creating traditional functional works and expressive abstract sculpture in clay and mixed media. The ceramic methods she uses are high fire stoneware and low-temperature Raku firing and may include bits of glass, copper or gold enhancements.
Bontempo’s work has been shown in galleries, museums and universities regionally and nationally since 1977. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Art at the University of Notre Dame and a Master of Fine Art from Wayne State University. Bontempo is an associate professor of Art Appreciation/Art History & Studio Art at Hagerstown Community College. She lives in Shepherdstown, WV.
Andrew Gehman was born in Virginia Beach, VA but moved to Waynesboro at an early age. He graduated from WASHS in 2003. Pursuing a love of photography and filmmaking, Andrew graduated from Penn State University in 2007 with a degree in Film/Video. The seed for creating art with paint was planted while watching his brother, Mike Gehman, a gifted painter. Attracted to graffiti art, he decided to pick up a few cans of spray paint. Something clicked, and he’s been painting ever since.
Andrew lives in Waynesboro, where he makes a living as a freelance videographer/video editor and photographer, while continuing to explore all creative media.