After the renovations of its collapsed ceiling, the Alva de Mars Megan Chapel Art Center opened the new year with its fall exhibition, The Silent Heart: Modern Illuminations by Anne Connell. The gallery officially opened its doors on Sept. 6, and featured an extended run of its Permanent Collection until Sept. 24. During this time, the gallery hosted a concert series event: “Exploring the Franco-American Tradition in Music.” The musicians, including Joe Deleault of the Dana Center, presented a concert of original and traditional music in the Franco-American style.

On display until Dec. 10, the fall exhibition features 24 paintings and works on paper by the Oregon-based artist. Artist Anne Connell is a “consummate contemporary” master. Her works are multilayered, small-scale, highly detailed paintings that draw the viewers in and encourage them to consider a mysterious world beyond their own.

When asked what is most special about Connell’s work, Margaret Dimock, assistant curator, responded, “What I especially love about Anne Connell’s paintings are their layers upon layers of visual detail and conceptual complexity. They also have a lightness of touch about them; her paintings are beautiful, jewel-like, and fun.”

Connell often employs techniques associated with Renaissance masters, including silverpoint drawing and application of gold leaf. The paintings commonly allude to specific imagery drawn from Italian Renaissance art, these images and symbols then re-contextualized into a surreal world.

Following the opening reception of The Silent Heart, Anne Connell visited the gallery to give a talk on Oct. 21. Assisted by Chapel Art Center Director Fr. Iain MacLellan, O.S.B., Connell led a group of visitors in a broad and fascinating discussion about the artistic processes and techniques employed in her paintings, and from where she drew her ideas and inspiration.

On Oct. 27, Fr. Iain MacLellan, O.S.B. led “A Director’s Tour: Design and Wonder,” in which he discussed certain techniques employed by Connell in her works and how each created a poetic mood. This tour was meant to help visitors discover elements to the paintings that may have otherwise gone unseen.

The most recent Chapel Art Center event took place on Nov. 3 and featured assistant curator Margaret Dimock’s talk “Oculus, Ordinaries, Ordonnance,” which explored the architectural, art historical, heraldic, and literary elements of the fall exhibition.

There are two remaining events for the fall season at the Chapel Art Center. “Enchanting Voices: Sirens in Early Modern Opera” will be a music lecture given by Eugenio Refini, Ph. D., assistant professor of Italian studies at Johns Hopkins University on Nov. 17 at 4:30 p.m. This lecture will explore the various ways sirens are given a voice in early modern opera. The final event will take place on Dec. 1 at 4:30 p.m.: “The Elegance of the Mandolin,” a concert and lecture given by mandolinist August Watters, will present classical mandolin music ranging from the eighteenth to twenty-first centuries.

The gallery is open on Tuesday-Saturday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and on Thursday from 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; go visit before it closes for winter break.