Welcome to our online exhibit!
The Godmother of DeBlois was artist Edith Bozyan (1907-1993),
from a Newport family. Edith was an abstract artist who studied
and lived in New York City in the same New York orbit as Alfred
Stieglitz and Georgia O'Keeffe. Yes, some of the O'Keeffes were
Newporters! A student of John Howard Benson and Jackson Pollack,
and reputed to have been romantically involved with Paul Klee,
Edith returned to Newport in 1950 to help her father with his
antique store.
Although a member and teacher at the Art Association next door
(later, the Newport Art Museum), Edith saw a need for space "to
show local talent in the City of Newport". So she opened the
southern part of her building on DeBlois Alley and invited her
artist friends to form a co-op gallery and exhibit their work
once or twice a month. And show, they did. Hundreds of people
filled the alley parking lot on opening nights. Art was
vigorously discussed and argued about, and sold at healthy
prices. When, some years later, Edith closed the antique shop,
DeBlois Gallery moved around the corner to take over the
Bellevue Avenue space.
Edith Bozyan created a solid foundation, but the continued
strength of the gallery came from the dedication of its members,
a cooperative of 10 to 18 artists who kept the place afloat with
dues or a small commission from their sales, and later gained
non-profit status. Mindfully fulfilling the community outreach
required by that status, DeBlois has offered free presentations
of poetry, music sessions, readings, and classes for the local
community, while regularly exhibiting the art of members and
guest artists. The gallery sponsors non-juried open shows
yearly, and themed shows on timely subjects. It is also host to
the annual Aquidneck Island High School Art Show, featuring work
by island high school art students.
Come celebrate with us now, and THANK YOU, friends of the
gallery!
"I respond graphically to my environment."
Sachuest,
"Mythical ceramic sculpture for wall or garden"
Bird Song,
"Collage and street art"
"I have a special affection for wild creatures,
especially birds, whose colors, shapes, and poses
captivate me,
and I have worked hard to identify the birds around me
even through their songs. Through my work,
I want to share the many faces of nature, the wildness of
spirit, and the interplay of light
and shadow woven into the tapestry of the natural world."
“I must have flowers, always, and always.” - Claude
Monet
"Flowers bring joy, smiles, and heart-felt emotions.
Rather than having vases of stems,
Meredith prefers to have a garden on her walls."
"I create images using my digital camera that capture a
moment
that is very special and pleasing to look at."
"Fortyssimo!! What a Celebration!!"
Floral mirror in blue and yellow,
"These West African masks were inspired by the
ancient masks in the IFAN Museum of Art, Dakar, Senegal."
"Lately, I have felt the need of relief from the human
condition.
I have immersed myself in a kind of soft geometric
abstraction.
You could say that these works are of an academic nature,
but I am having fun with paint."
"These paintings are amongst a series of textured images
with a strong emphasis
on form rather than deep content. I enjoy doing them
in the way that many people enjoy icing cakes or doing
embroidery!"
"Birds of winter and summer flowers have come together in these new works."
The Lookout,
"Putting my experiences in nature on canvas"
Summer Flounder,
"The challenge, discipline and meditative aspects of origami make it a favorite art form for me"
Always Becoming,
"Ah the memories !!!"
Cut pumpkin,
"Always looking for the light in the landscapes that I
photograph.
Love painting the mountains and the sea. "
"Ron Wenzel is an abstract impressionist painter. His
paintings are in oil, and primarily of
landscapes, seascapes, and figures. He paints with
pallette knife, and his focus is on vivid
color and light, and how it makes form. He creates
paintings that hover between abstraction
and realism. His website is www.rawenzelfineart.com."
"I prefer iconic stances of a figure or landscape that
needs safeguarding from eroding.
It is this preoccupation to not let it go into oblivion."
"My Aquidneck Land Trust Series documents the Farms,
Parks, Woods and Open Spaces that have been conserved
forever
by the Aquidneck Land Trust. This series started in 2019
and is ongoing. I was awarded the 2024 Artist Award
from the Arts and Culture Alliance of Newport County in
support of this project."
"Artist's work is influenced by ancient cultures, folklore, fantasy & the power of imagination."
Vertabrina,
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