Thanks to some artist friends and acquaintances, our second stop in the Brandywine Valley was on our list of things to do and places to go before we even left home. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

The location of the 24th Annual National Juried Exhibition of AIS was just a short trip from the Brandywine River Art Museum into Delaware on a gorgeous country road, winding alongside the river. I had an idea of what to expect to see at the show – exquisite art from artists all over the country who have reached top levels. The Somerville-Manning Gallery’s fabulous location in the small stone settlement of Brecks Mill – Henry Clay historic district is what I wasn’t expecting. In 1813 the settlement was the home to Alfred Victor du Pont’s early 19th century woolen mill. The stone gallery shares building space with the village’s Post Office and the Brandywine River runs through the settlement tripping over the stones lining the stream bed.

Photo: The host of the 2023 AIS National Juried Exhibition was the Somerville-Manning Gallery located on the second floor of this fabulous historical stone building in Montchanin, DE.

The gallery assistant was both welcoming and knowledgeable. I could have stood in front of each and every painting for a whole afternoon. Too many words are needed to describe the quality of the work and all that I was seeing in each painting. My twin sister summed it up by saying “I have never been exposed to fine art like this in an exhibit anywhere.” But, our life-time experiences have been different even though we are twins.

What else was of great surprise to me, was to come across Chula Beauregard‘s painting “Winter Gathering” which won 2023 Artist’s Choice Award! I met Chula while living in Steamboat Springs, Colorado for ten years (her home town). At the time she was represented by Wild Horse Gallery, a place where I worked. I had the great honor of writing a book about one of her earliest art mentors, Richard Galusha. Chula and I became nice art acquaintances when I interviewed her in November 2011 for a post about her vision for her art career on this website AllThingsFulfilling.com. Wow! Has her command of her art ever grown since then and her collectors list has too!

I share photos of just a few more images of the many, many paintings included in the 2023 American Impressionistic Society‘s Show. My apologies for the poor photography. The paintings were many, and getting good photos with corresponding attribute labels was difficult. Outstanding images of all paintings, and of AIS Masters, including Quang Ho, are in the show catalogue. It may still be available by contacting the Somerville-Manning Gallery.

(Photo: The building which housed du Pont’s woolen mill can be seen across the Brandywine River.)

Before you leave this post, check out the Somerville-Manning Gallery website, too, for more information about the exhibit.

In a few day’s time, I will share more about our Magical Day in the Brandywine. We hit one of our regional bucket list items. It was quite overwhelming!