Not only do I love, love, love Nancy Hammond's work, but this gallery shop is truly a gem…read more It is right on West Street in the Arts District. I visited in person for the first time today. I only wish I had gone earlier in the season. In addition to the gorgeous, larger format framed works, they have some amazing gift items. There are many items featuring her great designs. The holiday cards are so unique; I will remember that before buying cards for next year. They had tree ornaments, towels, glassware, and so many other gift items. Make your stop here part of a fun day out and visit one of the nearby restaurants for lunch too. Annapolis Arts District has SO much to offer.

Bottom Line: Colorful paintings and silk-screen prints that beautifully capture life around the…read moreChesapeake Bay. I don't know anything technically about art but I know what I like when I see it and that includes Nancy Hammond's colorful interpretations of life around Annapolis and the Chesapeake Bay region. As an Annapolitan I have long been familiar with Nancy Hammond Editions and I was excited to see she has a gallery in Saint Michael's in addition to her downtown Annapolis location. I think the Saint Michael's gallery might only be open on the weekends but its is beautifully done and worth a stop. When I visited a colorful heron print called "Trumpet Vine and Marshmallow" was featured up front and I just kept starring at it and all the lovely colors. There is something fun about the long-legged herons and this piece really captures that for me. While Nancy Hammond does paint a lot of herons she is also known for capturing Labrador retrievers, the Naval Academy, Annapolis, sailboats and other common sights of the region. Nancy Hammond is a very accomplished artist. She attended the prestigious Rhode Island Design School and I recently learned that some of her work has even been featured in the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Have passed this gallery more than once without stopping in. . . shame on me. A tad above your…read morenormal gallery and attention to detail obvious everywhere you looked. Owner SuAnne Martinez was informative and friendly and while purchasing art wasn't on today's agenda, I strongly urge to take any of your unframed art work to put in her capable hands. This is definitely on my list of where to visit in Annapolis.

I've been in and out of every art gallery in Annapolis. The selection and helpfulness of the…read moresalespeople here far surpassed any of the other galleries. The buyer for the Marine Art Gallery has an amazing eye for talent. Anyone can paint the water--few can capture it. The Gallery is full of artists who have managed to capture the essence of "marine life"--water, sailboats, birds, etc. They also have a couple of artists commissioned, my favorite being Willard Bond. I own several of his prints, all signed by him (he himself is an awesome person). He paints sailboats, and I have yet to come across someone who can paint life into them the way Bond can. Essentially, if you're going to go to an art gallery in Annapolis, or you want "marine art", go here. The selection is phenomenal, the staff helpful. Whatever you're looking for (as long as you have good taste), you'll find it here.

I bought a fairly good size painting and had it shipped to New York. It arrived completely…read moredestroyed. The packing was so bad the glass shattered and broke through the single sheet of bubble wrap in the oversized un protected box. It was a piece my husband especially admired. It was cut and ruined and to top it all off I had to deal with glass all over the place (watch the dog!!!). Terrible experience.

Bottom Line: Beautiful Chesapeake-inspired artwork and gifts in downtown Annapolis…read more I enjoy Kim Hovell's artwork so much that sometimes I refer to my home as "the House of Hovell" given that I have about 15 of her prints proudly framed and displayed. I also send out Kim Hovell Christmas cards each year. So, yeah, I am a fan and I am glad to see she has opened up a two-story shop on Main Street. The store is beautiful and includes original artwork, prints, home decor and other lovely gifty items.

Terrible communication and delayed shipping. I placed an order on August 26th, and it sat with no…read moreupdates. I sent two separate emails to customer service asking when my items would finally ship, but both were completely ignored. I had to look into my PayPal account just to find any information, which claimed it shipped on September 2nd for delivery today. However, the tracking has shown absolutely zero movement since the label was created. Extremely disappointed in the lack of professionalism and poor service. Buyer beware.

We went to the museum because we happened to be in town on a Wednesday when the entrance was free…read more The primary attraction for me was the wood art in the front of the museum. Apparently this new installation is comprised of pieces that you can not only buy, but touch. It almost feels wrong to touch anything in a museum, but I highly encourage it in this case. The beautiful wood carvings of furniture, art, and sculpture are so sensuous to both the eye and touch. Check out the artist's signature and embedded pennies on the underside of the pieces for fun. The rest of the museum has some landscapes as part of the permanent collection and had some various etchings and paintings of other media. I was less excited by them, but that is just my personal preference. The building also houses spaces for performing arts, an dance studio, and a ceramics studio for the community which is great.

If you're into art, popping into the Academy Art Museum is worth a visit. Spread across several old…read morebuildings, the galleries have several exhibits up. Wandering through every gallery, I spent 30 minutes taking in local and national art. There's free street parking, a small gift shop, and restrooms. Staff were very helpful and passionate to walk me through the art. Admission is free.

This museum was a bit of a puzzler. The historic campus is quite pleasant, but the art museum is…read moreessentially a couple of rooms in the student center. I found some intrigue in the exhibits there and got a brief introduction to the famously departed Liberty Tree, but there wasn't much there to hold my attention. You can walk in as part of a tour of the area, but it wasn't much of a museum, and I expected something impressive from a school that, while small, elevates the classic.

I revere St. John's College. It is among the oldest institutions of higher education in the nation,…read morededicated to the Great Books. I always wanted to attend. I interviewed for a job there once, and I imagine someday trying to read their required curriculum, specified down to the preferred translation. Passing through Annapolis, I took a break from the drive. I stopped into the Mitchell Art Museum. Every college should have a museum. This is at the center of campus, more or less. They had a special exhibit. Three students or staff or students doubling as staff were seated in the gallery. They welcomed me. I looked around. I was done quickly. To put it into perspective, I spent more time in the bookstore browsing than I did here. That said, I wish to reiterate my enthusiasm for the college, my support for art museums, and my pleasure to have visited. I am just setting expectations. This is a brief digression, not a destination to spend a day. I hope St. John's continues to do well. In our era, we need more reading, writing, critical thinking, independent thought, and communities of scholars.

Amazing little gem of a museum. Well designed and constructed, and our hosts that day were the…read morewonderful Karen and Tilly. So much information shared in such an interesting way! Now we know what the sticks in the water of the bay are! (I won't tell) And along with the nautical ephemera, there were prehistoric animal bones on display! Nice little gift shop, too.

Bottom Line: A delightful museum about Tilghman Island and life in the Chesapeake Bay region that…read moreis a must-visit site for first time visitors to the area. I am fascinated with the unique and rich subculture of the Chesapeake Bay region. Like the Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons, The Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum in Chesapeake Beach and the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, the Tilghman Watermen's Museum tells the history of life on and around the bay. As the name implies, the museum also recounts history specific to Tilghman Island. What I like most about the museum is that it is located inside the beautifully restored historic Lee house. The historic home is built in the "W" architecture style which is an offshoot of Victorian architecture. This style is unique to Tilghman Island. In fact, there were only 13 of them built and only seven survive. I enjoyed learning about this specific architectural style so much that I was very pleased to be able to purchase a Christmas ornament that features the Lee House. Also, we enjoyed driving around the island and identifying other W style homes. There are various exhibits in the museum including a rotating exhibit that changes annually in addition to the permanent exhibits. Currently, the rotating exhibit is about waterfowling in the area as Tilghman Island is located along the Atlantic Flyway - the north-south migratory route for birds. My father has hunted ducks and geese on the Eastern Shore his entire life and I have studied the Atlantic Flyway a bit but I still learned something new, albeit a bit horrifying about big gun boats. The permanent exhibits cover fishing, crabbing, oystering, canning and boat building. I really appreciated the pound net model because I'd only seen them from the water and never could quite grasp how they worked. The exhibit that I spent the most time marveling at was about the Tilghman Packing Company. I can almost imagine being there - I can hear the boats arriving with their bounty, I can see the workers hustling and I can smell the bizarrely delightful and familiar salty, musty smell of aging, empty oyster shells piling up. The exhibit that was most surprising was about beloved Tilghman Island resident Bill Cummings. He was a commercial waterman by trade but had a natural talent for painting. He was self-taught and his work documents a time lost on the island. I assumed the museum was self-guided but that wasn't the case. We were accompanied for most of our visit. At times it was hard to immerse myself in the exhibits for that reason. My husband's take was that the docents were really excited to have us there and wanted to make sure we had a good time and got all of our questions answered. Hopefully that was the case and not that they thought we'd be disrespectful if not closely supervised. I really appreciate all of the hardwork that has gone into restoring the Lee House and creating the museum's collections and exhibits. Tilghman Island has a proud history that they graciously share. Admission is donation based and it is certainly worthy of a donation. You can drop cash in their box or donate via your credit card. I really hope people will support this neat, quaint, local museum!

It's an excellent art gallery always a treat for your eyes. Better yet, if you like them, you can…read moretake them home granted the prices for the good stuff is up there, but it's good stuff that I think most art lovers would appreciate. There are many artists represented there. I always enjoyed the place.

Cynthia McBride is just the best. She is knowledgeable and kind. When you stop in to browse the…read morewonderful art, look for her.