Jonathan Garcia of East Taunton is showing his two most recent pieces at the Dartmouth Cultural centers Member-Guest Summer Invitational. 

He used oil on canvas as his medium of choice, enjoying the time oil allows him. His first piece shows a bridge, which leads the eye into the painting. The second piece is of a lighthouse, and he loved the arrangement and the way the light hits the building.

Garcia has always liked art, and went to college for architecture. He found this too restricting and changed to graphic design. He was required to take a painting class, and found he liked painting. He is now a middle school art teacher. 

The Member-Guest Summer Invitational from Sept. 5 through Oct. 4. The show will feature 25 artists and over 50 pieces of art, and is themed “Composition.”

The gallery director, Jill Law, chose the theme to stand out as most art shows have a strict theme. This could mean any of the many elements of design, such as line, focal points, color or the rule of thirds. She wanted artists to have the freedom of interpretation with the art they exhibit in this show. 

She has two pieces in the show, both abstract. One is acrylic and the other is pastels. 

“Picasso to Pollack and Rubens to Richter, composition is not lost,” states the website inviting artists to join, “Whether it is the traditional triangle or the abstract overall off-the-canvas application, it is what the artist strives for.”

Playing with lines, shapes, and color to create an atmospheric quality, Michael Hubert of Dartmouth identities as an abstractionist. He has one piece on a homemade canvas frame, and the other on wood. 

“While I wasn’t particularly trying to put something that was up to this theme,” said Hubert, “Every work of art involves that.”

Nadine Flowers from Little Compton has two pieces of mixed media collages in the show; one is a single piece and the other is a triptych — involving three frames to make up one piece. She uses shoreline findings to make her art, such as shells, glass, and broken pottery. 

Her single piece is made up of shells creating small pockets to showcase other pieces of shoreline findings. Her triptych is called “Three Sides To The Sea” after a book she read, and shows the three sides of the sea. 

Flowers has worked in graphic design both in college and professionally, and has recently started to branch into “fine arts.”

Using thrown clay to make uniform shapes as her medium of choice, Calli Almy of Westport has two pieces of pottery in the show. Her two pieces are different, but with similar color palettes to make a set of sorts. Her larger piece mimics a landscape, while her smaller piece plays with texture. The orange color in the pieces remind her of the autumn season. 

“So they’re a pair but not a pair,” said Almy. 

Almy is a retired high school teacher. She wanted to dedicate more time to art, which brings her joy, now that she has more time to do so. 

The opening reception is on Sept. 5 from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. at the center, located at 404 Elm St. The center is open from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Thursday through Saturday for viewings.