There will be a free panel discussion with the student members of the Akron Painting and Drawing League Show and show curator Del Rey Loven in the Summit Artspace on Tusc gallery on Tuesday, April 17, 7 p.m.

The event is free and open to the public. Reserve your seat here: bit.ly/2GbdiGW.

The First Annual Akron Painting and Drawing League Show will fill the windows and the first floor gallery at Summit Artspace on Tusc through April 21. The art center is located at 571 W. Tuscarawas Ave., Barberton.

The show will be open Fridays, 5-8 p.m., and Saturdays, noon-5 p.m.

The Akron Painting and Drawing League (APDL) is a student-run organization at the University of Akron that allows for the camaraderie of painting and drawing enthusiasts across disciplines.

The group is dedicated to providing members with meaningful experiences that will help to develop their passion for the arts, including individualized, meaningful critique in a supportive setting outside the classroom. This allows for students to develop a dialogue about their work in a low pressure setting. The league also aims to assist students in building their resumes by offering workshops in grant writing and coordinating service opportunities.

Members of the Akron Painting and Drawing League are McKenna Carder, Katie Cooke, Madelyn Jack, Emily Olszewski, Monica Pirie, Gavin Reiland, Elise Radzialowski, Megan Stobaugh, Maria Uhase, Janet Voyraber, Avery Whitman, Kristina Wolin and Carly Zimmerman.

Del Rey Loven is the curator of the show. He has held the rank of tenured Professor of Art at The University of Akron since 2006. His prior academic appointment was Chair of Art, Design and Architecture at Judson University in the Chicago area.

Recent solo shows of Loven’s work were presented at Dacia Gallery (New York City, 2013), Kenneth Paul Lesko Gallery (Cleveland, 2012 and 2017), and Emily Davis Gallery, University of Akron (2008). Loven’s paintings have been exhibited in numerous group shows including the Baltimore Museum of Art, Minnesota Museum of Art, Butler Institute of American Art, Santa Monica Art Museum,\and Louis Meisel Gallery, New York City.

Loven was born in Thief River Falls, Minnesota and grew up in Minneapolis where he graduated from Minneapolis College of Art and Design with a BFA in Painting and Drawing. There he studied with international visiting artists, including Fred Thieler (Germany), Kenneth Dingwall (Scotland), Juhana Blomstedt (Finland/France) and Siah Armajani (Iran/USA). He earned the MFA degree in Painting from Maryland Institute College of Art, Hoffberger School of Painting. His mentors, Grace Hartigan and Salvatore Scarpitta, joined by Alex Katz, formed Loven’s MFA thesis committee.

Summit Artspace on Tusc is part of Summit Artspace, a non-profit community art center organization that provides studio, exhibit and programming spaces in Summit County and the surrounding area for local artists and arts organizations; and is a center for art education open to all residents. Contact Summit Artspace at 330-376-8480. On the Web at www.summitartspace.org.  Find us on Facebook, on Twitter @AkronAreaArts, Instagram and Snapchat.

Drawing by McKenna Carder