Marion Art Center to host ‘Emergence’ exhibit

MARION  — The Marion Art Center, 80 Pleasant St., will host its newest exhibit,” Emergence,’’ featuring works by textile artist Paula Stebbins Becker and painter Tracey J. Maroni, from April 1 to May 6.

An artists’ reception is scheduled 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 9.  

Becker is an artist and textile designer who lives in Rhode Island. She received her masters in fine arts in fibers from Cranbrook Academy of Art and her bachelor of fine arts in TD/fibers from University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.

She said she is “inspired by people, nature and our relationship with the environment and human experiences.” She explores themes of memory, time, and the delicate structure of human existence through the medium of fiber by weaving, knotting, stitching, unraveling, and reconstructing threads and fabrics.

Maroni is a visual artist from Massachusetts who works in paint and mixed media. She holds a bachelor of fine arts with a painting major and art history minor from University of Massachusetts at Amherst. 

Maroni, whose most preferred medium is painting, draws her inspiration from nature and describes her artwork as 80 “an investigation and exploration of the natural world and the planet as a living, giving entity.”

The center will host a closing event during the show, which kicks off ten days of SouthCoast Spring Arts events, from 6 to 7 p.m. Thursday, May 5. 

During this free event, Becker will share her inspiration and discuss her various processes of unraveling and weaving threads, natural dyeing, and using thread in her printed works on paper. 

At the same time, guests can also view an image slideshow in the Marion Art Center Theater featuring more works and images by Maroni. 

For more information, visit marionartcenter.org/events.