Renowned artist Beth Neville to showcase 60 years of art at Milton public library exhibit throughout June

Milton Artist Beth Neville will install a June exhibit of her work in the Wotiz Gallery of the Milton Public Library which is called: “A Celebration of 60 Years as an Artist.”  This display of her paintings and drawings will be available for viewing from June 1 through 29.  Ms. Neville has had her self-owned art business, “Neville Art Enterprises,” for six decades and has become a beloved art teacher in our community over that period.

The exhibit will include art from many phases of her career including intaglio, etchings, oil and acrylic painting, drawings and watercolors.  The subjects range from seascapes to still lifes and are colorful and realistic. Most of the art will feature cheerful subjects like hydrangeas, amaryllis and lighthouses.  However, for many years, Neville created art that protested the Vietnam War and Civil Rights, winning a number of awards in exhibitions in New York City.

The MPL retrospective exhibit will also include a small sample of her “protest art,” collages about the U.S. war in Iraq and the Feminist movement.

Neville began drawing and painting in childhood and perfected her skills studying with Leonard Baskin at Smith College.  He did not allow his students to draw with pencil first, but to draw with pen alone, allowing NO mistakes! Over 60 years, Neville has had 42 solo art exhibits, including four in New York City.  The 11 art-videos of her large-scale installations, all with original music scores, can be seen on youtube. Neville currently teaches painting and drawing to adults in her Neville Art School, which she started in the 1970s.  She has taught art history and studio art at Fordham University’s Lincoln Center Campus and Adelphi University. She was honored by Who’s Who in America with a “Lifetime Achievement Award.”  She was Director of the Milton Art Museum for 5 years and served on Milton’s 350th Anniversary Committee.  She designed the historic Milton plate for the celebration.  Beth’s drawings for the plate will be on display at the Forbes House Museum in the month of June.

There will also be an open reception and program called “Let’s Talk About Art” on Tuesday, June 25th, from 6:30 to 8:30 in the upstairs cafe and also in the lower level Keys Community Room.  The talk will start at 7:00 p.m. and there is no advance signup required to attend this event.  We hope you will consider visiting the Wotiz Gallery this month to view some lovely artwork, meet the artist, enjoy refreshments, and attend an interesting discussion about a long and wonderful career in the art world!  For questions, please Email [email protected] or call the Reference Dept. at (617) 898-4964.  The Milton Public Library is located at 476 Canton Avenue, Milton, MA.