She has posted notices in the local newspaper, the city newsletter and on the local TV station and reserved peg boards from Laurel’s Montpelier Arts Center. Now all Imelle Brooks, New Carrollton’s assistant city clerk, is waiting on are the local artists who will bring their drawings, paintings and sculptures to display in the city’s annual Showcase of Art.
The showcase, previously scheduled for 8:30 a.m. through 5:30 p.m. Saturday, had more than 70 participants last year. But as of Wednesday, there were only three people who had registered. Assistant City Administrative Officer Karyn Riley said the city will postpone the event to 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 17. Brooks said county schools’ art teacher Bob Snyder had previously submitted artwork from classes he taught at New Carrollton schools such as Lamont and Robert Frost elementary schools. Brooks added that students from art classes at Lanham’s DuVal High School, Riverdale’s Parkdale High School and Suitland High School contributed pieces last year. Brooks said an art teacher from Parkdale contacted her with interest but said she wished the artwork could stay up for a week rather than one day.
A county schools’ art teacher for 11 years, Snyder said most of his time has been spent preparing students for the county schools’ art show in Hyattsville where student pieces will be up for at least six weeks, compared to the city’s showcase where work has to be removed by 5:30 p.m. the same day. Snyder does not have any New Carrollton schools participating this year.
‘‘They would get more participation I think if they kept it up for a whole week, maybe through two weekends,” Snyder said. ‘‘When they just do it for a weekend or a day it just seems like they’re doing it out of obligation.”
Snyder said he believes a different location would be best for artists who want to display their work longer.
‘‘There’s a big New Carrollton library,” Snyder said. ‘‘Sometimes libraries are a good place for show because you can keep things up for a month. There are several big hotels there and office buildings. I think they could have it someplace like that and they could leave it up for several weeks.”
Brooks said security is the main reason the showcase lasts for a day. She said because participants could have worked on a piece for months, the city does not want to take a chance on leaving it out where it could be accidentally damaged.
‘‘This is not an art gallery per se where the building is going to be closed,” Brooks said. ‘‘The building is open. A lot of people come in here and they use the community [center] for meetings and things like that.”
Brooks is counting on returning artists such as 40-year resident Margaret Tintle. With 19 awards from city showcases over the last nine years, Tintle, an oil painter, is proving it is never too late to cultivate a new talent and get recognition for it.
‘‘I started when I was 60,” Tintle said. ‘‘Never had a paintbrush in my hand before I was 60. Now I’m 73.”
More than a decade ago, Tintle said a friend was taking a drawing class at Largo’s Prince George’s Community College. After Tintle discovered an opening in the college’s oil painting class, she met art instructor Gerald King of Riverdale, whom she considers her mentor and the reason she has continued painting as her hobby. Tintle, who now paints in King’s Riverdale art studio on Thursdays, said she paints pictures in realism style which emphasizes detail and making paintings lifelike, and also does charcoal drawings.
Tintle said the only other oil painter she knew from New CarrolltonĘbesides her was her son’s doctor, the late Dr. William D. Rosson. Rosson, who practiced medicine from his 85th Avenue home for 46 years before suffering a heart attack Aug. 19, was a frequent contributor to the showcase according to both Tintle and Brooks.
Others are newer to the contest, but not any less experienced. Resident Prisco Vasquez Jr., 18, learned about the contest last year as a Parkdale High School student upon seeing a flyer in his Advanced Placement studio art class. Vasquez, who now attends Montgomery College in Rockville, entered a charcoal drawing and a pastel drawing, winning second and third place ribbons for each. Vasquez remembers how excited his parents were to see his work recognized.
‘‘They were surprised that I actually won a competition,” Vasquez said. ‘‘They’ve seen me enter other competitions and come out with nothing. That was my first year competing in a competition in a place that I had lived for most of my life.”
