LynnArts asked its members a simple question: “What is it about Lynn that inspires you?” and invited artists to create works that depict their view of the city.
The flood of responses ranged from realistic portrayals of life in Lynn to the beauty of the ocean and interpretations of the industrial landscape.
Tomorrow from 3 to 6 p.m., a reception will be held in LynnArts’ main gallery for the “What’s Your Lynn” exhibition. Featured will be the work of a dozen artists, culled from the dozens of entries. Admission is free.
During the Beyond Walls Rock the Block celebration on July 22, visitors were encouraged to create images that asked the same question. The drawings of nine young artists will also be displayed.
One of the impressive works is “Sunday at Sachem,” a large acrylic on canvas created by Raw Art Works’ Michael Aghahowa that is a portrait of a family enjoying dinner together.
“This is his Lynn. Everyone’s around the table, talking, sharing a meal and laughing,” said Annette Sykes, curator of “What’s Your Lynn.”
Yetti Frenkel is represented. Her watercolor “Teagan’s House” shows a young girl drawing with chalk on the sidewalk, while “Appointment at Oumou’s” reveals several women socializing and getting the hair and beauty treatment at a neighborhood salon.
Barry Ridlon’s “Tranquility: Lynn Reservoir” is a gorgeous, restful oil painting and his “Waiting for a Bus, Central Square, Lynn, MA” depicts a scene most of us see each day.
Sykes is represented by the sea scene “Deer Cove, Lynn, MA” and “Rock the Block in Central Square,” a depiction of that festive July day when hundreds visited the city to check out the work of 15 muralists.
Sue Kyer, an Ohio resident who grew up in Lynn, sent along prints of graphite drawings of Stone Tower and High Rock Tower.
The work of Trinidad Martinez, John Bakos, Arlene Zubris, Joey Bean, Leslie Fahn Rosenberg, Cara Tarmey and Emmanuelle Le Gal is also part of the exhibition. The Rock the Block youth artists are Nyari Lane, Lucian Moore, Aliyza Padilla, Alexandra Boyce, Lily-Ann Duchene, Madison Marsh, Ariana Foden, Philomena Gaines and Maxwell Gaines.
What’s Your Lynn runs through Sept. 2.
In the adjacent LynnArts Community Gallery, Haley Sullivan, a St. Mary’s High/Salem State University grad, will present her first solo show, “Bits and Pieces,” also from 3 to 6 p.m. It’s a collection of paintings and ink drawings of the “female form in its truest form, without it being edited, with every lump and bump” said Sullivan, operations coordinator at Lynn Museum/LynnArts and a graduate student at the New Hampshire Institute of Art. “Bits and Pieces” runs through Sept. 23.
