We are excited to welcome November featured Talbot County artists Joan Cranor, Marianne Kost, and Scott Sullivan, to the new TRA Gallery located at 41E Dover Street in downtown Easton, directly across from the Avalon Theatre. TRA Gallery provides free exhibit space for independent artists, offering the public an intimate and unique opportunity to visit, engage with, and purchase artwork from these talented local artists. The gallery is open Thursday through Sunday. 

Joan Cranor was a Talbot County art teacher for 38 years and she continues mentoring children within venues such as the Talbot County Fair, and programs sponsored by the St. Michaels Art League (SMAL). Her watercolor work is boldly executed, using strong lines and colors to create a sense of movement. In addition to SMAL, she is a signature member of the Baltimore Watercolor Society and the Working Artist forum. She recently won the Martha Hudson Award for best watercolor in 2023.

Scott Sullivan, with a degree in graphic design, was an art director at advertising agencies in Connecticut and New York City. His clients in Washington D.C. include the Washington Post, Chesapeake Bay Magazine, Barnes and Noble, McGraw-Hill, Electronic Data Systems, Hewlett Packard and the National Zoo. As a resident of St. Michaels, Scott’s recent work include graphic design as well as traditional oil and watercolor painting, often representative of local wildlife. He is a skilled portrait artist.  

Marianne Kost is a graduate of the University of Michigan and has studied in various ateliers as well as with master artists. She enjoys traveling in lake country, both Michigan, the Eastern shore, and abroad and works from her journal sketches, photographs, and plein air to capture favorite locations. Marianne works in both watercolor and oil and draws from the two techniques to combine the expressive possibilities of each.   

TRA Gallery artists are selected by a committee represented by members of the community. Talbot Arts board members, Stephen Walker, an artist and retired arts educator, and Damika Baker-Wilson, a non-profit museum and cultural institutions development executive and senior fundraising consultant, are managing the application and committee review process. For more information and to apply, visit https://www.talbotarts.org/resources-1.

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Talbot Arts is committed to supporting the arts sector and distributing funds equitably through grants and services to enrich the quality of life and enhance the economic vitality of all citizens in Talbot County. This year, the arts council will distribute $ 185,000 in grants for arts organizations and those providing arts programs, classroom-based arts education, and middle and high school summer arts scholarships for gifted and talented students. Other services include producing “Arts in Action,” a weekly radio program on WHCP, to promote the arts in Talbot County and providing access to resources to help the arts community grow and thrive. The TRA Gallery is the arts council’s latest initiative to support the arts community. 

For more information about Talbot Arts programs, contact  [email protected].