Beginning on May 1, the Manayunk-Roxborough Art Center (MRAC), in partnership with the Roxborough Development Corp., will open its newest installment featuring student artwork from the community. Visitors are invited to attend receptions from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. at MRAC at 419 Green Lane and the nearby ROXART Gallery at 6148 Ridge Ave.
The art on display throughout May will showcase the talent of youth from local schools and those who attend weekly classes at MRAC, and will serve as inspiration for the ongoing Mural Arts Program projects in Manayunk. Students, families, friends and visitors will be able to vote for their favorite entries, and finalists will receive prizes at June’s art opening.
Center City resident Quincy Carpenter joined the MRAC Artists’ Co-Op in November and shares her passion by teaching drawing and painting classes to 6- to 14-year-olds, many of whom have artwork in the upcoming show.
“We’re trying to bring life back into the Center,” she said, adding that she’d love to see a more active schedule of art classes and critiques as well as community participation in the monthly openings.
Founded in 1956, MRAC resides in a 19th century brick stable building tucked behind a row of Victorian houses on the high hills of Green Lane. The two-story center is comprised of a downstairs gallery for exhibits and an upstairs gift shop and studio space for classes.
“It has so much potential,” Carpenter said.
Her father, Gary Carpenter, a resident of Lansdale, also joined the Co-Op with the intention of inspiring appreciation for art in the community. Both artists have landscape pieces featured in MRAC’s current April show, Natural Studies.
“This is a place where we like to show our artwork and have people in the community come see,” Gary Carpenter said. “We don’t need to make a fortune doing it.”
For more information, visit mrartcenter.org.
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