The Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA) announced today that a new art exhibition of works by Ben Wohlberg will be held from May 28 through July 30, 2015 at the Block Island Airport Gallery. The Block Island Airport Gallery presents the work of contemporary Rhode Island artists in quarterly exhibitions.
Born and raised in Montezuma, Kansas, Wohlberg initially studied architecture at Kansas State College before finishing his studies in fine art at the Art Center School in Los Angeles, California. Heading to New York City in 1951, Wohlberg had a long and distinguished career as an illustrator and portrait artist. Although he had actively exhibited his abstract paintings over the previous 20 years, in 2005 he retired from his commercial work in order to devote his time exclusively to painting.
Wohlberg's paintings can be found in corporate and private collections throughout Europe, the Bahamas and the United States. In addition to regular showings at Square One Gallery, Encore Gallery, Island Gallery, Payne Road Gallery and Sixty One Main Gallery, Wohlberg has also been featured in solo shows at Viridian Artists Inc. and Agora Gallery in New York City, and is represented by the Charlestown Gallery. Along with his wife, Catherine, Wohlberg is a year-round resident of Block Island.
Exhibitors for the Block Island Airport gallery were selected by a panel of artists and community members. Panelists were Grace Luddy, Robert Newhouse, Ana Flores and Neil Lang. Other artists selected for exhibition in 2015 are Aleksander Baba-Vulic, Neal Personeus and Chris Young.
The Block Island Airport Gallery, a partnership between the Rhode Island Council on the Arts and the Rhode Island Airport Corporation, promotes outstanding work by artists living and working in Rhode Island. The gallery will present art to an ever-changing audience of local, national and international travelers.
About RISCA: The Rhode Island State Council on the Arts is a state agency supported by appropriations from the Rhode Island General Assembly and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. RISCA provides grants, technical assistance and staff support to arts organizations and artists, schools, community centers, social service organizations and local governments to bring the arts into the lives of Rhode Islanders.
About RIAC: The Rhode Island Airport Corporation operates T.F. Green Airport, the Block Island Airport and four other general aviation airports in Rhode Island. A long-time supporter of public art in Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Airport Corporation has worked with the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts on a number of public art commissions.