Leo Wanenchak’s music: I do it because I can’t not do it

Passing by the 1400 block of Bolton Hill, you just might catch Leo Wanenchak playing the piano by the front window of his home.

Wanenchak, an accomplished pianist, organist, composer and music teacher, is the Associate Conductor of the Baltimore Choral Arts Society, Director of the Larks, a women’s vocal group, and Musical Director of the ParkinSonics choral group sponsored by the Johns Hopkins Center for Music and Medicine.

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Sarah Ramirez Cross’ work is art with a message

In a recent art show at Memorial Episcopal Church, Coming of the Light II, Sarah Ramirez Cross exhibited her latest block prints. One piece, North American Endangered Species, consists of a series of postcard-size prints on canvas depicting a Black Rail (a marsh bird) and a Gopher Frog. Printed in black ink on beige canvas, the animals are elegantly composed, with curved lines that form patterns suggesting feathers and skin. Multiples of the images are stitched together to create a vibrant homage.

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Says our guru: these times require meditation

Great changes are happening everywhere, and everyone is affected. We see and feel the changes socially, politically, and environmentally. Globally, the climate is changing and so are our lives. We know that positive change is desperately needed, but we have so far to go. Where do we start

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In Karen Warshal’s art, the ordinary becomes extraordinary

“Someone, Somewhere, Something,” is the title of Karen Warshal’s solo exhibition, currently on view at Gallery Blue Door. In the cozy and bright front room of the Mount Vernon gallery (833 Park Ave.). Warshal’s paintings are glimpses into intimate spaces, where a bowl of lemons, a bouquet of roses, and a basket of vegetables are portrayed with precision and careful attention.

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Artist of the month: Linda DePalma’s work is site-specific and anything but utilitarian

Upon entering Linda DePalma’s studio in Woodbury, one of the first pieces to catch the eye is a graceful, lilting and leafy branch, a powder-coated aluminum cut out representing the foliage of a ginkgo tree. There are other pieces like this, the main feature of a large-scale public art piece, “Ginkgo Canopy,” installed at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton. The piece provides both shade and aesthetic interest within the garden’s natural landscape.

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