This month's exhibit will feature works by local artists Jean Duffy, Erichovermale, Donna St Amant, and George Salter! Head to the Hoxie Gallery from 5-7 pm Wednesday, February 4th for an opportunity to meet the artists and enjoy light bites. Works can be viewed in the Hoxie Gallery from Wednesday, February 4th-Thursday, February 26th during library hours.

About the artists:

Multi Award winning and internationally shown Photographer Jean Duffy resides in Hope Valley, RI and received her BFA from Rhode Island School of Design. With her sophisticated and lighthearted photographic style she aims to create images that both spark the senses and speak to the soul. Jean will feature her Infrared Photography as well as her Abandoned Series in this Exhibit.

Eric Hovermale lives and works in Newport, RI. Although he studied to be a fine art painter, he has concentrated on photography for the past twenty years. His subject matter centers principally on the portrait and the figure. His figure studies are primarily explorations of movement, form, and light. His portraits attempt to intrigue the viewer, whether they know the subject or not.

Donna St Amant uses a high-resolution flat bed scanner as her ‘studio camera’ and the fine detail it captures never ceases to amaze her. She records the close-up beauty of flowers, worn beached objects, and elements of nature that cross her path. Whether a single bloom or a ‘medley’ of treasures, the objects are placed directly on the scanner glass with the cover left open. She build depth and layers from foreground to background on the glass surface. Using a preview feature, she can see the image as it will be recorded and rearranges elements until it’s just what she had imagined.

George Salter is an award-winning photographer and world traveler based in Rhode Island. For many years he has specialized in street portraiture in countries all over the world, using photography to share the stories of daily struggles and triumphs written on the faces of people in their native lands. His travels have brought him to such places as Cuba, Bolivia, the Philippines, Kenya, Egypt, Russia, India, Bhutan and, in June 2025, Ethiopia.

These photographs are portraits of members of the Suri tribe in the Omo Valley of Ethiopia. The Suri are one of the most remote ethnic groups in all of Africa, living their traditional lifestyles and maintaining their ancient customs deep in the Omo Valley. This is a culture that has no need for clocks or calendars, as their lives are in sync with the rhythms of the rising and setting sun. The Suri are truly a part of the natural world, and that connection is clearly seen in their traditional face and body painting designs and their use of vegetation as adornment.