A national exhibition of oil paintings is on display in St. Augustine through the end of this month.
On Friday night, the city made way for more than 200 painters for the show’s opening reception.
The Oil Painters of America is an association made up of over 4,000 artists.
Association President Ken Cadwallder says when the group was planning where to hold its 24th annual exhibition, St. Augustine was chosen for a lot of reasons, including “its beautiful location, its history and the gallery Cutter & Cutter, which is a very prestigious gallery.”
Cadwallder says events like this raise awareness for traditional oil painting, and motivate painters like himself.
“For many of us artists we come in here, and we look at the art work, what we want to go home and paint,” Caldwallder said. “It’s very inspiring. It gets your juices flowing.”
Gallery Owner Len Cutter says the art world is on the rebound.
“It’s not easy being an artist in the United States of America, especially since 2008. They have persevered, and they have this wonderful association,” Cutter said. “They have 4,000 members, 2,000 of which were invited to submit to see if they’d get into the show.”
Two-hundred artists made the cut. One of those artists is Jin Hee Lee. She’s from South Korea and says she’s here tonight — and here in the U.S. — because of the Oil Painters of America. She says, the organization’s recommendation letter helped her get an artist visa.
“I’m so glad they helped me a lot,” Lee said. “It really means a lot because they supported me to stay in the United States.”
The name card next to Lee’s painting says its title, “By Window.” It also lists a price of $2,000 and above that, a red sticker says, “Sold.” Lee says the wilted flowers in the scene have a deeper meaning.
“They have a like blooming and they like died and dry. I think that’s the same as a human,” Lee said. “They imortal, not mortal. So that’s very special to me. It’s like a humans life. It really give me inspiring to paint.”
Painters like Lee mingle among hundreds of art collectors, buyers and tourists. St. Augustine Mayor Nancy Shaver is here too, she says, to feed an addiction.
Shaver said, “If I have an addiction it’s art. I’ve had it since I was a small child and my mother took me to the national gallery in D.C., so I’m stunned by this quality of work. I think it’s extraordinary for this city.”
The Oil Painters of America exhibition runs through May 25.
