Del Mar Art Center Season Opening Reception This Week

Although Don Coordt’s art has been displayed at the Del Mar Art Center for several years, this is the first time the local artist’s work is featured prominently on the walls.

The Del Mar resident is one of six local artists whose work is currently featured on the gallery’s walls and will be highlighted during the season opening reception on Sept. 8.

“It’s a good opportunity for me to show what I've done recently and some of the things that I've done in the past,” said Coordt, who has lived in Del Mar since the mid-1970s.  

He added that it was an opportune time to be selected as a featured artist because he recently returned to painting after taking a yearlong sabbatical for personal reasons.

Coordt began watercolor painting in 2003, and describes his career as an artist as “relatively short.” Still, he was exposed to watercolor painting when he studied at the School of Architecture at Berkeley.

"I'd always wanted to come back to watercolor,” said Coordt, who has 10 watercolor pieces and a few stoneware pieces on display at the Del Mar Art Center. “Being an architect, which is an art in itself, I started to cut my practice back to give me an opportunity to return to watercolor.”

Unlike Coordt, it’s not the first time artist Libbie McMahon is being featured at the Del Mar Art Center. It is, however, the fused glass artist’s first time focusing on creating pieces intended to hang on the wall rather than sit on a shelf.

McMahon has designed stained and fused glass applications for more than 30 years. Much of her work consists of fused glass plates, platters, bowls and vases. Among her roughly 50 pieces currently on display, however, are a mirror, wall vases, mermaids, fish and seahorses.

"These pieces forced me to push my creativity,” said the Rancho Santa Fe resident, who also serves on the gallery’s board as vice president. 

Pamela Fox Linton, another featured artist, has seven paintings and 30 pieces of jewelry on display at the center. Originally an interior designer, she began painting 15 years ago.

“I saw how much artwork costs because I had to buy it for clients,” said Linton, who has lived in Del Mar for 30 years. “I thought, ‘I could do it myself.’”

Other featured artists include ceramics artist Ed Eginton, painter Robert Glick and painter/photographer Bruce Stewart.

All of the featured artists, including the remaining 30 members of the Del Mar Art Center, are local community members.

Since its founding in July 2000, the nonprofit Del Mar Art Center has promoted local artists through art shows, demonstrations, educational activities, receptions, concerts, literary readings and various other activities.

“We all contribute to it,” said painter Dannette Brennan, who serves as president on the gallery’s board.  “It’s a co-op and we all contribute to make it work.

“We’ve got some really good artists. I think this is probably the best group of artists we’ve ever had.”

Every quarter, the Del Mar Art Center rotates the work of its 36 artists and features six of the artists by giving them additional space – a 7-foot-wall – to display their pieces.

“I think it’s always important to promote art, especially original art,” Linton said about the center’s mission. “If you can get an original piece of art, it’s much more special.”

Coordt added that events like the upcoming reception attract art enthusiasts, as well as newcomers.

“There's a lot of artists in Del Mar, and there's a lot of people who are interested in art,” said Coordt. "A lot of communities don't have a place. To have one locally in terms of the Del Mar community, I think, is very important.”

This quarter’s artwork was installed Aug. 1 and will continue to be displayed through Oct. 30. The opening reception will be held 6-9 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 8 at the Del Mar Art Center, located at 1555 Camino Del Mar, Suite 112.