About Us

Welcome!

The Conshohocken Art League is located at the historic Mary Wood Park House, 120 E.5th Avenue in Conshohocken, PA 19428. First organized as a sketch club by an enthusiastic group of professional artists in October 1923, the art league was the first of its kind in Montgomery County (see History).
Now entering its 99th year, the non-profit Conshohocken Art League(CAL) has continuously provided fine art classes, visiting artist lectures, educational and exhibition opportunities to the Conshohocken and area communities' adults and children.

Along with our crucial painting and drawing programs, we have also offered several exciting introductory printmaking classes as well, such as Japanese Mixed Media & Collage, White-line Woodcut and Monoprinting. In the midst of our final season (March 2020!?) we were happy to have also presented new adult short-term classes, such as Essential Skills and Basic Materials and Techniques. We will continue to offer smaller classes along with the classic Independent Projects critiques, as all are ideal opportunities for student artists to affordably venture into new territory, learn the history and properties of their materials, hone their existing skills or simply enjoy the experience of watching a professional at work.

Our Visiting Artist series has been represented by established Philadelphia area artists Moe Brooker, Joe & Kathy Winter, Stanley Bielen, Jim Victor & Marie Pelton, Julie Zahn, Stuart Shils, Mark Bockrath and Christine Lafuente all of whom generously used several of their original works as backdrop for projected presentations --and the rare opportunity for intimate dialogue between them and CAL's local artists/community residents.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions at conshohockenartleague@gmail.com

Instructors

Ava Blitz: BA University of Toronto, MFA University of Georgia. Director of Art Dept. at Bryn Mawr College for 12 years.

Ava Blitz is a visual artist who currently divides her time between studio work in sculpture, works on paper, digital photography, and public art. Blitz's public works and commissions are many, including installations in Tokyo, Japan, at the Philadelphia International Airport, and at the University City Science Center. Ava Blitz served on an International Sculpture Symposium panel in Japan, and has lectured on public art for the American Institute of Architects, the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, and the Michener Art Museum. She has been the recipient of numerous honors, awards, and fellowships, many of which have funded her public art projects. These include grants from the Japan Foundation, the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the Leeway Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Geraldine R. Doge Foundation, and the Jerome Foundation. Blitz has shown in the Philadelphia area at the Michener Art Museum, the Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts, the Philadelphia Art Alliance, Grounds for Sculpture, and the Allentown Art Museum. From 1986 to 1998 she taught at Bryn Mawr College, where she directed the fine art department.

To contact Ava directly, please go to avablitz.net

Eileen McDonnell: BFA, Moore College of Art, Philadelphia; Post Bacc, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia; Violette de Mazia Foundation at the Barnes Foundation, Merion

A painter, Eileen McDonnell prefers to work observationally. Following separate concentrated periods of drawing and painting exploration, she presently incorporates both disciplines into a current body of mixed media application. McDonnell's most recent informal lectures have featured fundamental composition and conservation; watercolor and pastel techniques. Regularly commissioned and represented in both public and private collections, she continually presents new work in juried exhibitions as well.

To contact Eileen directly, please go to eileenmcdonnell.com

Julie Zahn: Certificate, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA

A painter and printmaker, Julie Zahn works in a variety of media. After completing the 4-year Certificate program at PAFA, she apprenticed with an antique screen restorer in Kyoto and studied with a Japanese stencil dyeing (katazome) master. This taught her many ways to work with paper and has informed her studio practice ever since. In her studio, she produces woodblock prints, katazome pieces and mixed media work. She has a distinct and direct approach to making art, exhibits widely and enjoys teaching.
To contact Julie directly, please go to juliezahn.net

We'd like to thank our sponsors and friends for their generous scholarship, donations and consistent community support:

The Florence R. Collins Family

The Corson Foundation

Conshohocken Historical Society

Yaniv and Sarah Aronson

Destination Conshohocken

The Borough of Conshohocken

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Julian Miraglia

Todd Nurick/Nurick Law Group

Judy Alexy-Rayner

Rotary International CPW Club

The Mary Wood Park House Commission

Chad Dixon

Shelly Castorino/St. Clair CPA Solutions

Plymouth Meeting Historical Society

JCF Construction

Gilmore and Associates

Waytek

Conshohocken Free Library

William Jeanes Memorial Library

Wissahickon Valley Public Library

Betty and Jeff Stanley

Mary English

Jack and Brian Coll

Kevin Tierney

Polly and Beau Harrington

Daniela De Souza/'Feine Coffeeshop

Mary Dean

Robin Gupta/Guppy's

Bill Webber/Flanagan's Boathouse

Whitemarsh Art Center

Allens Lane Art Center

Bob and Gina Philips

Rittenhouse Lumber

Bowe's Exxon/Bob Shoemaker

The Frame Shop

Board Members

President/Director of Development: Matt Mashaintonio

Secretary: Fran Beaumont

Director of Membership and Publicist: Judy Alexy-Rayner

Treasurer: Al Rayner

IT Communications Director: Sydney Alexy

Eileen McDonnell

Because the cost of providing these services to adult and junior students is only partially covered by tuition and membership fees, we welcome the generous donations from our community. We sincerely appreciate the consideration of such a gift --in any amount-- as it will substantially enhance the funding of our programs.

Thank you so much for your support.