Southampton - The Southampton Cultural Center's Levitas for the Arts Presents "America The Beautiful," curated by Arlene Bujese at 25 Pond Lane in Southampton, from June 7 through July 13, 2011.

There will be an Opening Reception held on Saturday, June 18, 2011, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Gallery Hours are Monday through Saturday, 12 noon to 4 p.m., or by appointment.

The focus of the exhibition is the various aspects one might find in the theme. Eleven artists draw on their impressions through memory, observation, inspiration, and experience. Each presents a perspective - objective/subjective - of a moment or place of beauty.

 • Priscilla Bowden draws on the East End landscape with small touches of human presence: a school bus; a flag; a children's camp.

 • J. Boucher-Sneddon finds inspiration in the ritual and customs of Native Americans, with emphasis on dance and dress in abstractions in vivid color.

 • Deborah Black emphasizes indigenous trees, such as the cedar, and foliage, and places them in expressionist style, using various settings on the East End.

 • Mary Daunt also uses the landscape as a point of departure, showing panoramic views of land and water painted in strokes similar to Pointilism.

 • Alice Forman paints flowers which fill the picture plane, as though they are details of a much larger space.

 • John Hardy celebrates the American city; in this instance, New York. Buildings surround small figures in one painting, while a billboard dominates the façade of a building seen from below.

 • Stephanie Reit takes the symbolic American barn and through line and color, transforms it into simplified form which interacts with land and sky in almost symbiotic existence.

 • Clare Romano fills the canvas with bursting fireworks against a darkened landscape.

 • John Ross depicts the broad, flat land of the Southwestern mesa in rich red, orange and yellow paintings and collographs.

 • Ty Stroudsburg will show paintings from her Vineyard series. The essential nature of vineyards on the North Fork of LI are painted in an impressionist style.

 • Lewis Zacks looks to American cultural icons in signage, buildings, and motifs. His approach is photo-realism, with a focus on enlarged detail.

For more information, call 631-287-4377.