Our 25th Anniversary Celebration and Fine Arts Auction is almost here!
It is happening Saturday, October 15, at 14 Gayle Lane, Parson's Point, in the Glebe.
We hope you can join us.
Dinner by The Catering Company, music by Peyton Brabrand and the Josh Lief Band, silent and live auctions, and more entertaining ways for you to keep the art flowing in our community!!!
Tickets and be purchased and bids can be placed online at https://BS25thGala.givesmart.com . Online bidding starts October 8!
This Saturday, August 20, Mathews Markets on Main will extend into the Bay School backyard, with a Kids’ Art Walk, Ice Cream Social, live music, and even a play.
From 10:00am-3:00pm, visitors can enjoy a Kids’ Art Walk, an outdoor display of artwork created in Bay School summer art camps, and artisans will be selling their wares in and outside the Art Speaks Gallery.
Art activities for families will take place from 10:00am-1:00pm, including a Mommy & Me Hot Air Balloon class and a tie-dye station. Guests may purchase a Bay School t-shirt for $10 or bring their own garment to tie-dye for $5.
Live music by the Suite 101 Bandmates will happen from 11:00am-1:00. Bring your lawn chairs and grab a picnic lunch.
An ice cream social, hosted by the Clay by the Bay Ceramics Guild, will take place from 12:00-3:00. Potters made brightly decorated ice cream bowls for the event. Bowls can be purchased for $10 and come with a serving of ice cream and toppings. Guild members will also be selling their ceramic work. Proceeds will go toward improvements in the Bay School community pottery studio.
At 1:00, Bay School theater camp students will perform “Aesop’s Fables”. The young students have created the backdrops, costumes and props during the week-long camp.
If it rains, the day’s activities will occur under tents, in the Bay School, or in the Westville Christian Church Fellowship Hall. Updates will be posted in the Facebook event, “Family Fun at Markets on Main”.
We are excited to host an Italian Summer Wine Tasting in the Art Speaks Gallery on Thursday, July 21. Don Carlstrom, of Free Run Wine Distributors, will select and present six Italian wines for tasting. Don will be recently returned from a trip to Italy, and will have stories of each wine’s origin to share. Individual charcuterie boards will be served with foods to pair with each wine.
Peyton Brabrand will play saxophone during the event. Judy Bumgardner will be the guest artist for the evening, with her colorful and non-traditional still life paintings of food and table settings. Julia Dorsey is the Art Speaks Gallery’s featured artist for July, and her pottery will be on display as well as the Miniature Art Show.

The event is from 5:30-7:30 on July 21. Tickets are $45 and can be purchased at the Bay School or online at http://ItalianWine.givesmart.com. Volunteers are needed to help with the event and receive discounted tickets. Anyone interested in volunteering can sign up here. The event is sponsored by Janet and Freddie Dehoux.
Summer is almost here and we have a full schedule of summer art camps and classes for kids! Check them out on our online registration page, and Pay What You Can when you register, even if that is $0.00 - we want art to be accessible to all.
We are not the only ones with summer programs! Mathews County Coalition 4 Kids has published a calendar of member groups' summer programming. Check it out here, and learn more about C4K from its brochure here.
Markets on Main is back for its second season on Mathews Main Street! This event takes place every 3rd Saturday, April through August, featuring three downtown markets: The Mathews Farmers Market (10am-1pm), The Artisan Market at Bay School Community Arts Center (10am-3pm), and Markets on Main (10am-3pm), which features regional retail vendors, boutique stores, and restaurants! Some months feature special events behind the Bay School including a Pet Market in June, and Kids' Art Walk in August. Live music will be playing at each market in the morning and afternoon.
The April Market features K Music Duo at the Farmers Market at 10am, and Lane Rice Music at the Visitor Center (Sibley's) starting at noon. Enjoy all the Main Street has to offer with these additional activities on Main! This event is hosted by the Mathews Main Street Committee and business merchants, and sponsored by Chesapeake Bank. For more information, go to www.visitmathews.com/marketsonmain
Jennifer has been filming interviews with gallery artists and virtual tours of the gallery, streamed live on Facebook. Here are the links for you to enjoy any time!
Empty Bowls Fundraiser with Maurine Frank at Hands Across Mathews
Karen Pittman at her home studio in New Point
Gallery tour of the fall collection
In the Art Speaks Gallery with Gayle Merrill, November Artist of the Month
Gallery tour of the 100x100 show
In the Art Speaks Gallery with Nancy McGuffie, October Artist of the Month
Gallery tour of the Old to New show
Margaret Benton-Jones at her home studio "She-Shed" in Yorktown
Phil Dunn at his studio in Hudgins
In the Art Speaks Gallery with Sue Maida, September Artist of the Month
Gallery tour of The Pearl & Its People show
In the Art Speaks Gallery with Virginia Coyle
In the Art Speaks Gallery with Nicole McCormick Santiago, August Artist of the Month
Karen Podd at the Poddery in Foster, part 1
Karen Podd at the Poddery in Foster, part 2
Gib Pulley in her studio on Gwynn's Island
Susan Sills in her studio in Weems, part 1
Susan Sills in her studio, part 2
Susan Sills in her studio, part 3
In the Art Speaks Gallery with Joan Podd - collage demonstration
Gallery tour of the Americana show
In the Art Speaks Gallery with Julia Dorsey
Katherine Maloney in her studio in Cologne
In the Art Speaks Gallery with Tom Zuk
Sam Forrest in his Mathews studio
In the Art Speaks Gallery with Sue Henshaw
In the Art Speaks Gallery with Gib Pulley
The Bay School Community Arts Center will Celebrate the Spirit of Creativity in a Limited Edition Print Sale, beginning November 6, 2020. This sale is one in a series of fund-raising events held by the Bay School in lieu of their annual auction, cancelled this year because of the current pandemic.
The sale will feature 250 numbered prints of an original watercolor, Hanging with the Buoys, by the late artist, Martha Anne King. The cost of each 18” x 24” print is $75.00. All proceeds from the sale will go to the Bay School to support their outreach programs and classes for both children and adult artists. The prints can be purchased from the Bay School or from the Bay School website, www.bayschool-arts.com. Framing for the prints will be available from Phil Dunn Photo for $100.

Hanging with the Buoys reflects Martha Anne’s love for Mathews and the Chesapeake Bay. It also reflects the creative spirit of the Bay School, which ignited Martha Anne’s passion to make art. Retiring to Hallieford in the early 2000’s with her husband, Terry, Martha Anne stepped away from the corporate world and began life anew as an artist. After enrolling in her first watercolor class in 2007, Martha Anne grew her craft through the years in a variety of media, taking more than 100 classes at the Bay School. In addition to taking classes, Martha Anne was an avid supporter of the school, serving as a volunteer for 17 years. In appreciation for the Bay School and the role it plays in the development of aspiring artists, Martha Anne’s two daughters, Tracey Barrett and Virginia Leggett, have given permission to the school to print the limited edition of the original painting for this sale.
After courageously fighting cancer for 2 ½ years, Martha Anne lost the battle in July 2020. The joy of her creative spirit, however, lives on not only in the hearts of all who knew her but in her art as well.
We have needed to rethink their fundraising plans this year due to the pandemic. Unable to host a large gathering of people, the annual Fine Arts Auction was cancelled. Bay School activities have continued, and funds are needed, so alternative fundraising efforts are underway. Bay School Board members have purchased gift certificates to local business to create a “Mysteries of Mathews” raffle basket. There are currently gift cards to five businesses in the basket, with a value of $350: Richardson’s Café, Moughons Ace Hardware, Caroline’s Cakes, Zoll Vineyards, a Watercolor Painting Lesson with Jan Finn-Duffy, and the Bay School. The basket will continue to grow with additional gift cards and mystery items. Raffle tickets are available now and will be sold online and at the Bay School until the winning ticket is drawn on December 22. Tickets are $5 each or 5 for $20. Purchase your tickets here or in the gallery.

Other ongoing and upcoming fundraising efforts include a “Succulents and More” plant sale, with donated plants and pots made by the Clay by the Bay Ceramics Guild; a limited edition print sale starting in early November, and an online auction from November 12-15. The annual Empty Bowls Fundraiser to support Hands Across Mathews will feature “really empty bowls” this year, with bowls available for sale online and at the Bay School, with no in-person soup event. Check out the Fun! Raising tab to keep up with our events and efforts.
More information and raffle tickets are found on the Bay School website. Proceeds from the raffle and all fundraising except Empty Bowls will support Bay School community programs, such as Art-to-Go and the free OpenArts After School Program.
Sharing art with our community is what we are all about. This is what inspired us to create our take-home art kits with Art-to-Go.
Each week while schools are closed and through the summer, we will put out new art kits. They will cover different materials, methods, and age groups. We will work up to having quick lessons in some of our kits. Some will have a video link for demonstrations.
Photos, materials lists, and instructions will be made available for families who have lots of supplies at home and don't need to pick up the kits. Use this link, https://www.bayschool-arts.com/ , to go to our website and then scroll down to find instructions for kits we have already distributed. This list will be updated as we add more kits.
Have fun, be creative, and show us what you made! You can post pictures of your completed crafts on the Bay School Facebook page or email them to makeart@bayschool-arts.com. We will share them here!
We need some help to make this happen. We are paying our teaching artists to create the kits and our staff to keep them flowing to you. You can help out by donating here. Every little bit helps, and you have our thanks!!!
Virginia Coyle is one of our teaching artists that is creating some of these kits. We asked Virginia a few questions about this program.

How different is Art-to-Go from teaching classes?
Art-to-Go verses teaching classes has been a little more challenging. You have to come up with projects that don't need a lot of hands on instruction and can be completed with minimal basic supplies for the most part. I'm more of a hands on kind of teacher. I like being able to get students hands in messy stuff like paints, glues and paper mache.

How do you see this changing the way you teach in the future?
I don't think this current situation will change the way I teach in the future but it has provided new opportunities to get art out to the individuals who don't have access to the Bay School.

Do you have any creative advice for those in quarantine?
My advice to people in quarantine or people that have found a little extra time on their hands is to take that time and slow down a little. Try to enjoy it if possible. Create something beautiful. Do something that will make your soul happy - even if it's not creating art. You may never get a chance like this again.
Sharing art with our community is what we are all about. This is what inspired us to create our take-home art kits with Art-to-Go.
Each week while schools are closed and through the summer, we will put out new art kits. They will cover different materials, methods, and age groups. We will work up to having quick lessons in some of our kits. Some will have a video link for demonstrations.
Photos, materials lists, and instructions will be made available for families who have lots of supplies at home and don't need to pick up the kits. Use this link, https://www.bayschool-arts.com/ , to go to our website and then scroll down to find instructions for kits we have already distributed. This list will be updated as we add more kits.
Have fun, be creative, and show us what you made! You can post pictures of your completed crafts on the Bay School Facebook page or email them to makeart@bayschool-arts.com. We will share them here!
We need some help to make this happen. We are paying our teaching artists to create the kits and our staff to keep them flowing to you. You can help out by donating here. Every little bit helps, and you have our thanks!!!
Lisa Leavell is one of our teaching artists that is creating some of these kits. We asked Lisa a few questions about this program.

How different is art-to-go from teaching classes? Art to go is a whole different animal for a variety of reasons. I am limited to the projects where I can gather all the supplies from the classroom and have to rely on the student having necessary supplies like glue, tape, markers etc that we are unable to send home in each kit. Writing directions in a manner in which the kids can understand the steps and directions to a project can also be very time consuming, something I do not have to consider when doing a class face to face with students. It has also been really different not being able to see the creative process as I can when I am teaching them on site. I am always amazed at the uniqueness of each individuals project given the same assignment they all put their creative flair into it and make it their own and that is a very rewarding part of teaching.

How do you see this changing the way you teach in the future? Honestly it truly is making me appreciate the time I have with them in class. You don't necessarily connect and bond with every student but the possibility is there and for me connection with the students is a huge part of teaching. My desire is not only to provide a time and space for them to be creative but to also get them thinking a bit deeper about the world around them and how they relate to it. I love the opportunity to have a positive and encouraging voice in their lives.

Do you have any creative advice for those in quarantine? My advice would be to expand your creativity and have a "use what you have" mindset. If we look around our homes, our yards and our neighborhoods we can find all sort of materials that we could use creatively. The more we use our creativity the more it continues to grow and unfold. I talk to people all the time that tell me "I don't have a creative bone in my body." To these folks I always say, "take one step and begin to do something creative and you will find an untapped well of creativity inside of you." We all have it. It doesn't all look the same, but it's there. The one thing that I have enjoyed thinking about while putting together these kits is families sitting around a table being creative together, we all need to pull away from the news, our phones and our work and take time to decompress and creativity is a powerful tool for that.
My advice during this unprecedented time in our lives would be to encourage your kids in a journaling process and to begin one yourself. Even very young kids can start a picture journal about their feelings, about what they are grateful for, what might be making them sad, or happy, or afraid. It is a great time to get kids talking and sharing.