Artist Patricia Fitzgerald’s “To Gather We Fly” is from a previous Perkins’ photography exhibition.
Perkins Center for the Arts will hold Photography 45 next month at its Moorestown location, an exhibit that heralds the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence next year.
The show has expanded through the years, but when Sharon Kiefer, Perkins’ curator of exhibitions, came to the center in 2021, a theme was added. In honor of the American anniversary, this year’s is “Focus on Freedom.”
“What does that mean?” Kiefer said. “It could mean anything American – past, present or future. In my eyes, I try to create a theme that’s broad enough to cover a lot of ground so that photographers can really think about it and stretch their imagination and be creative.”
Kiefer is working on exhibitions for Perkins that will contribute to the anniversary festivities. Moorestown currently has 19 Witness Houses – homes that were standing during the Revolutionary War – so artists will be required to paint one in “plein air” style, which is French for “in the open air”. Another show next year is expected to feature 50 paintings of the 50 states by watercolor artist Kathy English.
“She (will) paint a watercolor painting of each state that incorporates the state bird, the state flower, a landscape of the state …,” Kiefer explained. “Something notable from that state. Each of those 50 pieces will be hanging in Moorestown in the summer of 2026.”
Submissions for Photography 45 will be accepted through Saturday, Jan. 10. Perkins’ membership at any level is required to see it. Artists must be over the age of 18 and can submit up to three pieces. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, Jan. 17, at 2 p.m., an event that’s free and open to the public. Awards will be given at that time and winners will get time to comment on their piece.
“Everyone perceives art in a different way,” Kiefer noted. “It’s very personal, and depending on what’s going on in your life, you may be attracted to certain art pieces for certain reasons … There’s so much that can attract you to a piece of art, and then when you hear the artist’s story, it hones in …
“It tells a more personal story from the artist’s view,” she added, … “a way to learn what the artist was thinking when they created the artwork.”
This year’s juror is New Jersey-based photographer Patricia Worley, whose passion for the craft began in childhood and deepened through college, earning her a degree in film and television. She has studied landscape with master photographers from around the world and has traveled to more than 35 countries – as well as much of the U.S. – capturing some of the planet’s most iconic locations. Her focus has expanded to wildlife photography and night-sky imagery.
“Her work is very interesting,” Kiefer observed of Worley. “She does a lot of photography of space and the Milky Way and stars and creates dreamy photographs with her ideas of nature … You can put it into perspective that you’re looking at the sky and looking at space, but it’s done in a very artistic way.”
Photography 45 will run from Wednesday, Jan. 14, through Friday, Feb. 27. For more on the submission process and other information, visit canvas.perkinsarts.org/exhibitions.
