Art Reception: Verdant Visions

We invite you to the galleries of the Francis Cope House to see

“Verdant Visions”

This exhibition will be on display May 3 through June 26, 2022 (Mon-Thurs, 10 AM – 4 PM and Sat-Sun 10 AM – 2PM, unless there is an event at the Cope House) with an Opening & Artist’s Reception on Thursday, May 5th, 5:00–7:00 PM. 

Admission is FREE. No registration required.

Location: the Cope House, 1 Awbury Rd, Philadelphia, PA

Click here to learn more about art exhibitions at Awbury Arboretum.

Artist Bios/Statements:

Betsey Batchelor: Betsey Batchelor is an artist and teacher that lives and works in Philadelphia. She received her MFA in Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design and her BFA in Painting at The University of the Arts (Philadelphia College of Art). Her work has been shown at the Woodmere Art Museum in Philadelphia, Dartmouth College, Swarthmore College, Arcadia University, and the Jessica Berwind Gallery, Jeffrey Fuller Fine Art, and the Matthews Hamilton Gallery in Philadelphia. She is the recipient of grants from both the Pennsylvania State Council on the Arts and Rhode Island State Council on the Arts. Betsey is a MacDowell Colony Fellow. Batchelor says “The most interesting place to be is between. The state of not knowing, not naming, of becoming and not yet being holds a particular energy. I am fascinated with how the small and intimate world of the everyday, the known and particular, sit within a larger, expansive, and mysterious world that resists knowing through touch or measure. Shape, with it’s boundaries, contours and gesture, offers a metaphor for the limits of our ability to know a world that goes beyond the reach of our senses.”

Iman Jones: Jones says “Simple shapes laid in an unspecific or set pattern that creates an intricate mosaic design that allows you, the viewer, to get lost in the details. That’s how I would describe my mosaic paintings. I create them with the hope to give someone a chance to interpret each individual piece differently upon viewing them over multiple times. The paintings are done on a multitude of surfaces, from paper and canvas, to wood and glass. I’ve created pieces for walls but also I’ve made pieces to be used as artistic furniture. I encourage you to take the time to get lost in my remixed vision of what mosaics are and can be.”

Julie Kring: Julie Kring received a B.S. from Kutztown University and an M. Ed. From Penn State University, both in the field of Art Education with concentrations in Aesthetic Education and Museum Education. As an art educator for over 30 years, Julie has taught in public and private schools in Coatesville, Philadelphia, Camden, NJ and Seattle WA. Since 2012 she has enjoyed pursuing her own art career in painting and printmaking, exhibiting her work with The Cheltenham Printmaker’s Guild andThe American Color Print Society, along with two individual shows in 2017 and this 2020. Her work has received the Printmaker’s Award at the Annual Cheltenham Center of the Arts Members Show in 2013 and 2015 and the Stella Drabkin Award from the American Color Print Society in 2016. Julie is the co-founder of Artful Devotion, a program offering retreats and workshops for groups interested in discovering ways to enhance their spiritual practice through art making.

Richard Metz: Richard Metz is a 62-year-old Philadelphia based artist, husband, father, former art teacher, writer, and activist with a focus on environmental issues. He has been showing work mostly in the Philadelphia/NY area for forty years. He graduated from Tyler School of Art, and received an MFA from Maine College of Art in 2000. His artwork since then has included drawing, printmaking, painting, illustrated stories, sculpture, indoor and outdoor installations, performance and theater. Much of the work can be seen on his website: www.mistermetz.com. Metz says “Art making is to me ecologically, about the process, about my choices of where to make work, what to use, why make it, and what do I want my work to say….The choice to depict animals and birds in a portrait-like manner is to attempt to decenter humans. What if we aren’t the most important creatures on the planet, just the most deadly?”