The Marion Art Center's next exhibition will feature coastal landscapes by Peggy Call-Conley and Deidre Tao.

A reception in their honor will be held on Friday, Sept. 30 at the Marion Art Center, from 6-8 p.m. The center is a not-for-profit organization located at 80 Pleasant St. The reception is free and open to the public, as is admission to the exhibit during regular gallery hours (Tuesday-Friday, 1-5 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.) The exhibit will run through Nov. 11.

Peggy Call-Conley earned her bachelor of fine arts degree in art education in 1972 from Southeastern Massachusetts University. Graduate courses in art developed her desire to pursue fine arts further, especially watercolor painting.

Call-Conley's paintings are in private national and international collections, and she has also done commissions for private home and building portraits. The most recent award she has received is the 2016 David Aldrich Award for Excellence in the Little Compton Community Center Summer Art Show.

Of her work, she says, “I paint what intrigues and surrounds me. My eye may be drawn to a shadow’s shape, contrasting light or subtle color changes. The personal challenge is to complete a sense of place. While painting on location, I aim to capture compatibility with nature, including the energy which exists momentarily: stillness, tension, motion, strength, tranquility or serenity.”

Tao earned a bachelor of fine arts degree with a major in illustration and a minor in painting at UMass Dartmouth in 1993. Following that, Deidre moved to Boston to work in freelance illustration as well as in interior design, while maintaining a Cambridge art studio. Tao has participated in The Lydia Fair and Cambridge Arts Open Studios as well as a new, grant-funded juried project called Community Supported Art. After 10 years as a working artist, Tao made the choice to transition into fine arts and become a painter exclusively.

Tao is self-represented and exhibits regularly in juried, group and solo shows.

Of her work, she says, “New England landscape painting is so compelling to me because it is so beautiful and it is always changing. As a native-born person of this region with a family tree rooted deeply here, I feel that I may have a unique perspective, approach and voice to contribute to the abundance of art made about this region.”