By Craig Horleman

Area galleries and museums are filled with the works of well-known professional artists. But this month, the Arts Center/Gallery at Delaware State University is hosting art by those who may not be as familiar.

The Delaware Division of the Arts is holding the 11th annual Delaware State Employee Art Exhibition. The free showcase is open to the public until March 13. The gallery is just inside the library on the Dover campus of DSU.

This year, more than 200 state employees and their family members submitted about 170 pieces of art of all kinds, from paintings to sculpture to photography and much more.

“Just about anything that someone is working on can fit into one of the categories,” said Kristin Pleasanton, deputy director for the Division of the Arts.

“So we’ll see people that create quilts or people that carve wood. We have baskets. We have jewelry. We have lots of photographs and paintings and drawings. We always get a couple of sculptures, as well. So it’s just the full range of pieces.”

Charlese Phillips of Smyrna took this year’s $400 Best in Show prize for her mixed-media work, “Michaela Coel.”

Additionally, awards are given out for first, second and third places for adult — amateur, intermediate and professional — as well as youth/teen, an art education award, honorable mentions and People’s Choice.

Sponsored by the National Arts Program in support and cooperation with the state and the Division of the Arts, the exhibit is judged by professional artists and visual-art professionals.

Participants are required to be state employees or their immediate family members. Entries must be original works and completed within the last three years.

Ms. Pleasanton said the exhibition was started as a way to raise the spirits of state workers.

“We did it as a project because, about that time, we were sort of in a recession as employees. I think we had just gotten a small pay cut. So things weren’t great economically, and we thought this would just be a really fun thing to do for state employees and kind of a morale booster and something that could showcase their talents and just something fun. So we decided to work with the National Arts Program to put this on, and it’s been going ever since,” she said.

She added that it’s been a joy to see the work of those who otherwise may not have a creative outlet.

“From the first year, 11 years ago, until now, just seeing the amazing artwork that state employees and their family members can do — from children, teens and then three categories for adults — just seeing the talent and the range of artistic ability and the types of things that people are working on, it’s just been amazing,” she said.

Adults put themselves into one of the three categories. Joseph Arsenault of Rehoboth Beach won this year’s professional award with the painting, “Hell Hounds”; Lisa Morgan of Middletown took the intermediate category with her mixed-media work, “Riveted”; and Vittorio Ferrato of Wilmington won the amateur division with the mixed-media piece, “Fantasia Numero 1.”

“We do have a lot of art teachers across the state, and so a lot of those are in our professional category, and we have some professional artists that are also working state jobs,” Ms. Pleasanton said.

“I think the biggest category is intermediate, and that’s a lot of adults that are maybe not just starting out, but they’re also not earning money as an artist. They’re kind of in that middle range. So I think there are a lot of people that select that category.”

She thinks this effort is a great way to expose folks of all walks of life to the arts.

“The mission of the Division of the Arts is to nurture and support the arts throughout the state at all levels with everyone, and this is just another way to get art in the minds of people and to have more exposure for people to participate in the arts because anyone who enters their work will be in the show. So it’s not selective that way. Everyone can participate,” she said.

“We have full families. We have parents and their kids and their spouses. They all have artwork in the show. So the National Arts Program does this to be able to give the opportunity for organizations to showcase the talent of their employees. They’ve been just a great partner for the Division of the Arts to make this happen.”

Visitors are invited to join division and gallery staff for a celebration of this year’s participants and to see the winning artwork during the show’s final weekend, March 12-13 from noon to 4 p.m. There will be activities, snacks and giveaways.

Otherwise, the exhibition at the Arts Center/Gallery can be viewed Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Wednesday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is closed Monday.

Information can be found here.

‘Guild Hall’ at Biggs

Speaking of exhibits, the Biggs Museum of American Art premieres its installation, “Guild Hall: An Adventure in the Arts — Selections from the Permanent Collection of the Guild Hall Museum” today. It runs through June 18.

The display has 72 works from the Guild Hall in East Hampton, New York. It includes notable pieces by Jackson Pollock, Willem and Elaine de Kooning, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Chuck Close.

Paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs and mixed-media works will trace the progression of art movements in the U.S. from impressionism to abstract expressionism to contemporary arts of the 1980s and ‘90s.

An opening reception will be held today from 5-8 p.m. It is free for members, $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and free for children, college students and active military members and their families.

The Biggs Museum is at 406 Federal St. in Dover.

Robin Williams tribute

“Robin: The Ultimate Robin Williams Tribute Experience” will be staged Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Smyrna Opera House.

The evening is presented by America’s premiere Robin Williams tribute artist, Roger Kabler.

All tickets are $20 for general admission.

For information, visit here, call 302-653-4236 or visit the box office at 7 W. South St.

Folk fest performers

The first six performers for this year’s National Folk Festival in Salisbury, Maryland, were recently announced.

They are bluegrass performer Dale Ann Bradley; funk band E.U. featuring Sugar Bear; the Himalayan Heritage Band; Latin musicians Rogelio Ortiz with Eduardo Betancourt; funk and R&B band Walter “Wolfman” Washington & the Roadmasters; and cowboy and western band Wylie & the Wild West.

More performers will be announced as they are confirmed.

The festival is Aug. 26-28. For information, visit here.

Now showing

New this weekend in theaters is Robert Pattinson in “The Batman.”