GREG MORT & JON MORT Open Studio 2015 ~ NIGHT & DAY August 1 & 2, 2015

Greg Mort continues his annual summer tradition hosting “NIGHT and DAY – OPEN STUDIO 2015” together with his son artist Jon Mort on August 1st and 2nd, from 10 am to 5 pm at Fieldstone Castle in Port Clyde, Maine. A “Studio Tour and Talk” will take place on Saturday at 1pm. New works of art by Greg and Jon will be on display and a behind-the-scenes tour of their work-space will include: works-in-progress, still life arrangements and preliminary drawings and sketches. Greg works exclusively from life or his own handcrafted models and figures. He will present many of these including the model created for “One World” his painting that is currently on exhibition at the White House. 

Throughout 2014-2015 Greg’s art garnered global attention with feature articles in International Artist Magazine and ArtScope Magazine, a one-man exhibition at The Academy Art Museum and major acquisitions by the Biggs Museum of Art, the American Visionary Art Museum and the Brandywine River Museum. This spring the United States American Embassy in The Hague acquired four new Mort paintings for permanent display.  Greg has been represented by two world-class galleries for his entire career: the Carla Massoni Gallery and Somerville Manning Gallery which will host a major exhibition titled “TWO ROADS A Father and Son Exploration” opening November 19th, 2015 featuring artwork by Greg and Jon.  In 2016 the Serlachius Art Museum in Mänttä Finland will exhibit Greg’s celestial themed works of art in an exhibition titled “Starry Skies of Art”. It will include his watercolor “ZERO –G Apples” which was part of the first art exhibition in space, aboard the International Space Station.

As artist, astronomer and outdoorsmen Greg’s artwork reflects a fascination with the intersection of art and science that clearly displays his innate and insatiable desire to discover and explore. Maine’s fabulous clear night skies as well as stark sun drenched days have been Mort’s artistic subjects every summer since 1977.  His earliest collectors were St George fishermen and lobstermen.  Now his art can be found in the private collections of three US presidents, two vice presidents as well as in premier museums around the world including the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum and Air and Space Museum, the National Gallery of Art and the Portland, Delaware, Farnsworth, Academy Art Museums.  Luminaries such as Carl Sagan, Neil Armstrong and John Hendricks are counted among Greg’s patrons.  He has served on the Board of the Lowell Observatory for twenty years combines his avocation and vocation as a NASA artist since 1983 producing numerous works of art inspired by man’s exploration of the universe. 

Mort’s passion for ecological issues is a favorite artistic subject.  An advocate and speaker for water conservation he partners with Circle of Blue, the global media leader highlighting the freshwater crisis.  In 2007 Mort founded The Art of Stewardship Project to assist and encourage artists to form similar collaborations with environmental organizations. Locally Unity College and The Georges River Land Trust have been prior Art of Stewardship allies. This year Trekkers, Inc. was the 2015 recipient of The Art of Stewardship Recognition Award.  Through The Art of Stewardship Project Greg produced and will soon release a new children’s activity book “Rainbow Colors - The Art of Stewardship” to inspire the next generation of environmental artists.

Jon, a rising star in the art world, has exhibited at the Portsmouth Museum of Art, The Phillips Museum, the Sandy Spring Museum and many more.  His recent "Local Legends" one-man exhibition was featured on Maryland Public Television's Around Town with Robert Aubrey Davis.  Jon started participating in juried showings as a teen and has been in over twenty gallery exhibitions. The Carla Massoni Gallery also represents his art worldwide as well as the Somerville Manning Gallery.

Painting since childhood Jon is a recent Masters graduate in Architecture from The Rhode Island School of Design. He is a frequent and enthusiastic speaker leading Masters Art Classes at the University of Maryland and his The Art of Story Telling video was just released by Ignite. Jon's new creations in the challenging medium of colored pencil have received rave critical reviews siting their unique design and exceptional artistic execution: " Jon Mort’s remarkable contemporary colored pencil creations elevates the medium to new heights." 

This unusual farther and son creative collaboration will offer viewers a unique opportunity to see works in progress as well as completed paintings and drawings.  Creating with very different mediums, Greg in oil and watercolor and Jon in colored pencil and graphite, each artists offers their own very unique interpretation of the mysteries of the Night and visions of the Day. Both artists share a passion for science, astronomy and the outdoors.  Traveling and hiking together they have visited over forty National and State Parks throughout the United States.

Greg and Jon’s studio is located in Port Clyde at historic Fieldstone Castle on the road to the Marshall Pt Lighthouse.  To learn more: 207 372 8658,  www.facebook.com/GregMort , GregMortCollection.com, http://www.JonMortStudio.com, facebook.com/JonMort, facebook.com/GregMortandJonMortNIGHTandDAYOpenStudio

July 2013 Announcement

Greg Mort ‘s Portrait of Carl Sagan at the Smithsonian 

High Art: A Decade of Collecting

This exhibition will consist of 50 works of art acquired by the Museum from 2003 – 2013. A range of styles and media will be represented in the show, which will be divided into sections, such as “Visions of Flight” (conceptual works), “Faces of Flight” (portraits) and “Looking Back” (works related to historical events.)  Greg Mort’s 2004 Portrait of Carl Sagan is featured in the exhibition, which runs from July 26th to December 31st 2013.

---

Greg Mort’s “One World” at the White House

Greg Mort is honored to have his 2008 oil painting “One World” moves from the United Nations American Embassy in New York City to the White House. Fifty years ago President John F. Kennedy formalized an Art in Embassies program, which ever since then has found ways to facilitate exhibitions of American art around the world – mainly by displaying artworks in the U.S. Department’s diplomatic facilities throughout the world (including Embassies and Ambassadors’ residences as well as the White House). The program was first envisioned by the Museum of Modern Art in 1953 and ever since then it has played a leading role in U.S. public diplomacy.

---

Greg Mort at the American Museum of Natural History

INSAP conferences are the leading international forum for bringing together astronomers, artists, historians and philosophers who are inspired by the sky.  The American Museum of Natural History INSAP VIII Conference in July 2013 investigated a wide variety of cosmic themes that explored the effect of the glorious spectacles we see in the heavens on humanity and human culture.  Using images of his original watercolors and oils Greg Mort presented "The Enduring Cultural and Scientific Influence of the Red Planet Mars."

---

Greg Mort 2013 Open Studio Narrative:

Open Studio Celebrates Smithsonian and White House Exhibit of Port Clyde Artist Greg Mort

American artist Greg Mort will host his annual Open Studio: “Fieldstone Castle Centennial Celebration” August 3 & 4, 10 am to 5 pm at 129 Marshall Pt. Lighthouse Rd. Port Clyde, ME 04855, 207-372-8658, www.gregmort.com & Greg Mort Artist on Facebook. Widely recognized as a leading influence in contemporary realism his work is found in prominent private, gallery and museum collections around the world including the Smithsonian, Corcoran, Farnsworth, Academy Art, Portland and Stamford museums.  Mort will display recent watercolors and oils as well as images of his iconic portrait of Carl Sagan now featured in the Smithsonian’s new “HIGH ART ~ A Decade of Collecting” exhibition and his large scale painting of planet Earth titled “One World” now on display at the White House.  Both paintings have a Maine connection.

The Carl Sagan portrait was commissioned by his widow, Ann Druyan following a chance meeting at the White House where both Mort and Druyan were invited to the to hear Stephen Hawking speak.  Druyan recalled that Carl had used two of Mort’s paintings in his last book Pale Blue Dot.  She traveled to Maine the following summer to visit his Port Clyde studio, view a wide variety of Mort’s artwork and proposed the portrait project.  Druyan returned to Port Clyde the next summer along with nine members of the Sagan family for the unveiling and approval of the portrait, which was then acquired by the Smithsonian in 2004.  “HIGH ART” opens at the Smithsonian July 26th and runs until December 31st.

Mort’s “One World” painting was completed and featured in his 2008 Port Clyde summer open studio as he launched his Art of Stewardship Project. The Art of Stewardship Project encourages partnerships between artists and environmental institutions to build awareness of the Earth’s fragile ecosystems through the arts. Mort’s global partner is Circle of Blue www.circleofblue.org and his local partner is The George’s River Land Trust www.GRLT.org. Following its debut in Maine, “One World” was selected by the Art in Embassy program for exhibition at the United States United Nations Mission in New York City.  This month, “One World” was chosen for display at the White House.

In addition to the above honors Mort’s year was highlighted with a number of one-person museum exhibitions including at the beautiful Stamford Museum, which hosted “NIGHTWATCH The Art of Greg Mort” a traveling collection of the artist’s celestial and astronomically inspired paintings. In February the Academy Art Museum opened the first in a series of three one-person exhibitions titled: “The Art of Greg Mort: Selections from the Hickman Bequest.”  This exhibition draws from the Hickman gift as well as some preliminary drawings that were donated by Greg Mort to enhance the collection. In 2011, David H. Hickman, an Easton-born, Washington DC resident, generously donated 38 Mort paintings along with a $500,000 conservation gift making it the largest public repository of the artist's work.  The Farnsworth Museum’s current director Christopher Brownawell was formally the director of the AAM and facilitated this donation during his tenure.

Mort’s spring exhibition at the Carla Massoni Gallery titled “Midstream” reflected the artist’s ongoing process ever evolving creativity.  In April Mort brought together the works of over thirty artists highlighting environmental issues for his annual Art of Stewardship Exhibition celebrating Earth Day.  Earthzine Magazine recognized Mort for his efforts to encourage fellow artists to use their talents to build environmental awareness in a recent article: “Into the Mind of Visionary Artist Greg Mort."  

A commissioned NASA artist since 1983 and a long-standing board member of the Lowell Observatory Mort is a frequent speaker on the arts and sciences.  In March he gave a Master Class at the University of Maryland on “The Science of Creativity”. He just returned from a speaking engagement at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City presenting: “The Enduring Influence on Culture and Science of the Planet MARS”.

Greg Mort’s 2013 Open Studio Fieldstone Castle Centennial Celebration makes the 100th anniversary of his Port Clyde home/studio.  Built in 1913 by Russell W. Porter, Mort restored Fieldstone Castle in 1988. Visitors will view twenty new Mort paintings as well as a collection of memorabilia about Porter and his achievements as an artist, astronomer, and arctic explorer.