J U N E 2 0 2 6

Doré Vorum, The Eyes are Always Watching, photograph, View Gallery

SUBMISSIONS FOR SMALL WORKS EXHIBITION

A&C Members Showcase and Sell Original Art at ArtWalk

The Arts & Cultural Council of Bucks County invites artists to submit original artwork for our Small Works Exhibition held at the Penn Medicine Doylestown Hospital’s ArtWalk; work will also be available online for viewing. This exhibition celebrates creativity on a smaller scale while offering collectors affordable opportunities to purchase original art before the holiday season; all sales take place through the online gallery.

Eligibility:

• Open to members only. Nonmembers may join HERE.
• Completion of loan agreement HERE, which includes contact information for sales, and a brief description of the work entered.
• Original artwork only.
• All 2-Dimensional work accepted (painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, fiber, and mixed media.) Digital art and giclée are not accepted.
• Work must have been completed within the last three years.

Erica Wolf, Parula on Pears, acrylic

View Website

Sales: All artwork must be available for sale. A&C commission: 25%.

Entry Information & Important Dates:

Location: The ArtWalk, Penn Medicine Doylestown Hospital

Duration: From August 26 to November 16, 2026

Important Dates for Artists:

• Drop-Off: Wednesday, August 26, 9-11 a.m.
• Pick-Up: Monday, November 16, 9-11 a.m.

Entry Information:

• $25 for up to 2 works.
• Maximum size: 20” × 20” including frame.
• Proper wiring for hanging; no sawtooth hangers allowed.
• Enter at EntryThingy beginning on August 5, and closing on August 19 at 11:59 p.m.

Elissa Goldberg, Ethereal Hydrangeas, pastel, View Gallery

Questions: contact us at exhibitions@bucksarts.org

FIRST THURSDAYS CONTINUE ALL SUMMER

Art Share July 2 @ 7 p.m.

Join us for a sharing of artwork and supportive feedback in a warm and collegial atmosphere at Freeman Hall. Bring one easily transportable piece of visual art to share. Light refreshments will be served. Hosted by Hernan Faraci and Louise Levy.

Literary Salon Aug. 6 @ 7 p.m.

First Thursday Lit Salon with Rhianna Searle, (Montgomery County Youth Poet Laureate), Joanne Leva, Elizabeth Esris and Jean McWilliams. Hopefully on our porch. Join us for our well-known Q&A and refreshments to follow!

< Hernan Faraci, Bubbly Goose, oil

View Artist's Website

30 DAYS OF INSPIRATION

Uplifting Artist/Poet Salon

Our successful “30 Days of Inspiration” culminated in a First Thursday held on May 7 with four pairs of our artist/poet matches. Bernadette McBride and Thomas Mallon, Christine McKee and Elissa Goldberg, Joanne Leva and Tracy Fitzgerald, and Tom Mallouk and Barbara Martin presented their united poetry and art and mesmerized our audience with the obvious connections and then with new discoveries. We had a full house and it was a great evening spent together which left everyone feeling uplifted.

PRIDE SALON LAUNCHES WITH SUCCESS

Community, Creativity, and Pride Take Center Stage

Author Bill Hemmig.

Photo courtesy of Immersion Photography / Ember Wood

The Arts & Cultural Council of Bucks County celebrated Pride Month with its First Annual Pride Literary Arts Salon on June 4, welcoming a large and enthusiastic audience to Freeman Hall in Doylestown. Held on a beautiful summer evening, the event took place on the spacious front porch of the historic venue, creating an intimate and welcoming atmosphere for writers and guests alike.

The salon featured readings from four acclaimed local authors and poets—Chad Frame, Sean Hanrahan, Bill Hemmig, and Nicole Steinberg—whose work explored themes of identity, community, resilience, and the human experience. Books were available for purchase, and guests lingered after the readings to connect with the authors and one another.

“The turnout was terrific, as was the audience response,” said Arts & Cultural Council Salon Co-Chair Julie Standig. “Everyone’s looking forward to doing this again next June.”

The Arts & Cultural Council extends its gratitude to the participating writers, volunteers, attendees, and Ember Wood of Immersion Photography for capturing the joy and spirit of this inaugural event. Based on the overwhelming success of the evening, the Pride Literary Arts Salon is poised to become a cherished annual tradition in Bucks County.

CALLING ALL WRITER MEMBERS

Recently Published? Share Your Work for the 2027 Salon Season

We're starting to plan for 2027 First Thursday Literary Salons. If you have a book that was recently published or scheduled for publication next year, please let us know! Send an email to programs@bucksarts.org. Priority will be given to writers who will not have read at a First Thursday in 2026. If you fit this description but are not an A&C member, please consider becoming one. We look forward to hearing from you!

-- Bill Hemmig & Julie Standig,

A&C Programs Co-Chairs

Author Chad Frame. Photo courtesy of Immersion Photography / Ember Wood

A&C IS EXPANDING

Passionate About the Arts? We Have a Place for You

Devon John, Making Mermaids, chlorophyll print on kale, View Website

The Arts & Cultural Council of Bucks County is growing, and we're looking for talented volunteers to help us expand our impact throughout the community.

As an all-volunteer organization, A&C is working to increase membership, enhance communications, and offer more arts and cultural programming across Bucks County. To support these efforts, we are seeking volunteers to fill positions for a social media coordinator, graphic designer, journalist, editor, photographer, and PR expert.

Whether you're a seasoned professional, a retiree looking to share your expertise, a student building your portfolio, or simply someone who is passionate about the arts, we'd love to hear from you. Volunteer opportunities can be tailored to fit your interests, skills, and availability.

If you'd like to become part of a dynamic organization dedicated to strengthening the arts in Bucks County, please send a letter of interest to info@bucksarts.org.

Join us in helping the arts thrive. Whatever time you can spare can make a difference.

POLICY NEWS

Adjustment Supports A&C's Long-Term Growth and Impact

Since its founding, the Arts & Cultural Council of Bucks County has maintained an art sales commission rate of no more than 20 percent. As the organization continues to grow its programs, expand opportunities for artists, and strengthen its role as a leading regional arts organization, the Board of Directors has approved an increase in the commission rate to 25 percent, effective July 1, 2026.

The Board unanimously approved this change as part of A&C's commitment to long-term sustainability and continued service to artists and the community. Commission revenue helps support exhibitions, programs, events, and other initiatives that advance the arts throughout Bucks County. Thank you to our members, artists, patrons, and partners for your continued support of A&C's mission to enrich, connect, and inspire our community through the arts.

Susan Roberts, Sunset Over Lake Eufalua,

View Gallery

40 ART IS ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS

Bucks County's BIGGEST Little Art Show 

Whether you’re collecting or creating, this is your chance to be part of something truly special. Hundreds of original, anonymous 5”x7” artworks — all just $40 each. This year's show and exhibit is a hybrid event, with the opening sale happening online and then a live art show and pick-up party.



Submissions are accepted from Saturday, June 27 - July 11. Learn more and submit your 5x7 artwork HERE.

To purchase art, the online exhibition opens at 7 p.m. on Friday, followed by an in-perception reception on Sunday, July 19 from 12-3 p.m. July 17 to get the best works! The action happens online at 40art.live!

REPORT FROM HICKS ART CENTER GALLERY Perspectives on the American Experience

As Bucks County marks America's semiquincentennial, the Hicks Art Center Gallery at Bucks County Community College will host "Visions of America," an invitational group exhibition through July 25 on the Newtown Campus.

The multimedia showcase seamlessly blends contemporary art with significant historical loans, brought together by local artists and cultural organizations, to capture select evolutionary moments of the country’s 250-year history told through both human and animal perspectives.

Funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, "Visions of America" addresses pivotal topics within the history and evolution of the United States. Artworks and historical loans explore themes of personal independence, patriotism, war, animal conservation, queer trans identity, 1960s politics, creativity within the Quaker faith, and the trauma of slavery.

Clifford Eberly, Senior Manager of Galleries and Exhibitions at the Hicks Art Center Gallery, curated the exhibition by asking a diverse group to self-select or invite artists to propose works that reflect on the nation's past, present, and future.

“I invited a broad sampling of artists and cultural workers to present the most dynamic grouping of viewpoints that grapple with America’s history and where we are going as a nation,” Eberly said. “Within the exhibition framework, my goal is for gallery visitors to feel like they learn something new that sparks a shared dialogue within themselves and with others.”

The resulting multimedia collection contrasts the possibilities of democracy with critical realizations, emphasizing that for global civilization to advance holistically, humility toward one another and the natural world must begin at a local level.

Vincent Hawley, Write Your Own Constitution, micron pen and oil pastel on styrene paper

For example, the earliest artifact on display is a Continental Army enlistment oath, selected by Library & Archives Director Annie Halliday at the Mercer Museum in Doylestown. In a contemporary contrast, artist Vincent Hawley, invited by Michener Art Museum Registrar Emma Falcon, presents an inspired drawing of America’s founding document titled “Write Your Own Constitution.”

Historians Dave Callahan and Kathy Gonsalves of the Newtown Historic Association have loaned their 1976 documentary film capturing the commemorative July 4th Bicentennial parade in Newtown.

Artist and designer Edward Bennett contributes “Focal Point,” a large collage fashioned from salvaged razor blades that includes a painting of a very small American flag. Meanwhile, printmaker Mikel Elam’s multi-color print “Veil,” selected from the personal collection of Past Present Projects founder Heather Moqtaderi, features a close-knit group of Black figures rising above the shackles of slavery through spirited mindfulness.

Duwenavue Santé Johnson, invited by the College’s Arts faculty member Mary Henderson, researched the work of her newly discovered distant relative, Mary Ivins Cunningham, a historic Newtown-based Quaker artist. Johnson will exhibit an original textile symbolically evoking the ethereal spirituality found in Cunningham’s observational artwork.

Shifting to the natural world, Paul Swenbeck, Director of Exhibitions at the Academy of Natural Sciences, presents an experiential installation of objects and photographs advocating for animal voices within the context of America's future survival.

These and many more “Visions of America” are on exhibition June 5 – July 25 at the Hicks Art Center Gallery at Bucks County Community College, located at 275 Swamp Rd., Newtown, Pa. For a campus map and directions, visit bucks.edu/newtown.

Gallery hours are Tuesday - Friday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. and by appointment.

For more information, please email gallery@bucks.edu.

SOMETHING IN THE ARTS FOR EVERYONE!

Art, Music, Literature, and Discussion

Linda Fanning LeFevre, Harbor View Late Afternoon, oil, View Gallery

Skytop Lodge Plein Air Days I Painters of all skill levels are invited to paint on the grounds of the historic Skytop Lodge. 2026 Days: May 31, June 28, July 26, August 30, September 27, October 5. One Skytop Lodge Road, Skytop, PA.

First Thursday: Art Share I Join us for a sharing of artwork and supportive feedback in a warm and collegial atmosphere at Freeman Hall. Bring one easily transportable piece of visual art to share. Light refreshments will be served. July 2 @ 7 p.m. Freeman Hall, 181 East Court Street, Doylestown, PA.

Under the Same Sky I Step into the shared world of two artists whose work is inspired by time spent outdoors. The Artists' Gallery presents the evocative wildlife paintings of Beatrice Bork and the atmospheric landscapes of Joe Kazimierczyk. I June 4 - July 5, Meet the Artists Reception: Saturday, June 13, 5-7 p.m. Artists' Gallery, 18 Bridge St, Lambertville, NJ.

40 ART I Phoenix Art Supplies & Framing I Online Opening July 17 @ 7 p.m. at 40art.live! Live Art Show July 19, 12-3 p.m. I Phoenix Art Supplies & Framing, 1810 S. Easton Rd, Doylestown, PA.

Visions of America I Group exhibition of artifacts, artworks and objects capturing select evolutionary moments of the country’s 250-year history from human and animal perspectives. Hicks Art Center Gallery on the Newtown Campus of Bucks County Community College I June 5 - July 25.