The Collegetown Gallery's featured artist for April is Sam Foreman, a Lycoming College junior, who has an exhibit of his works in oil titled "A World Destined by Oil" at the Community Arts Center, 220 W. Fourth St.
An opening reception will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. April 3 during First Friday at the arts center.
Foreman, 21, a Pittsburgh native, said "A World Destined By Oil" is inspired by the current problems the world faces, such as finding alternative fossil fuels.
"I see the world in two different ways," he said. "One, I see a beautiful world with great potential that is incredibly beautiful, which I incorporate into my paintings, and also I see a world that is struggling to find answers to catastrophic problems like global warming and fossil fuels, which are inevitably caused by humans every day."
Foreman said he tries to encourage people to realize this and help find answers to the problems, whether small or large.
"The world we live in is truly beautiful and I try to display that through my artwork; however, the point of it is to keep the beautiful world we live in available to our children's children, so they, too, can experience the beauty that the earth offers," he said.
Foreman said that he hopes to show between five and 10 pieces, which he spent an entire semester working on.
His favorite piece in the exhibit is "The Italian Village." The mediums he used for the pieces range from chalks to oil pastels and oil paints.
Foreman said this exhibit features works from a Painting I class he took during the fall semester.
"I love exhibiting my work and being the center of attention," he joked. Last year, Foreman was a featured Collegetown artist, which resulted in the sale of some of his first pieces. This year's pieces also are on sale and range from $100 to $500.
Foreman is pursuing a bachelor's degree in art and plans to further his education with a master's degree in art education.
He credits his Painting I instructor Seth Goodman for pushing him and trying to get the best out of his work.
"Seth has been there and helped me prepare for the show and telling me how to present some of the paintings," he said.
For more information about the Collegetown exhibits or to become a featured artist, contact curator Connie Casale at cbcasale@comcast.net.
