Sylvan Gallery is celebrating its 25th anniversary season with the sixth annual exhibition of work by Neal Hughes and Crista Pisano, which opened Aug. 21 and runs through Sept. 27. The exhibition features recent paintings inspired by the artists’ favorite Maine locations, along with work created during plein air competitions throughout the country.
A reception to meet the artists is from 4-7 p.m. Thursday during the Wiscasset Art Walk. The exhibition will be presented alongside new work by artists from the gallery’s regular roster of contemporary fine artists.
For Sylvan Gallery owner Ann Scanlan, the exhibition is particularly meaningful. Both artists have a long history with the gallery, and over the years, those professional relationships have grown into lasting friendships. Their annual exhibition has become a tradition that brings them back to Maine each August to paint, spend time with friends and create new work for Sylvan Gallery.
Pisano’s relationship with Scanlan and her late husband, Rick, began shortly after Pisano received her Master of Fine Arts degree in painting from the New York Academy Graduate School of Figurative Art in Manhattan. The Scanlans first encountered her work at an exhibition at the Lyme Art Association in Old Lyme, Connecticut. At the time, they had recently opened a gallery in Clinton, Connecticut, and were immediately drawn to Pisano’s ability to capture the essence and atmosphere of a scene on an intimate scale. Many of her paintings measured only 4 by 4 or 4 by 8 inches — and sometimes even smaller.
The Scanlans were charmed by Pisano’s work and invited her to join the gallery’s roster of artists. When the gallery relocated to Wiscasset in 2012, Pisano came with it.
Several years later, Hughes inquired about representation at Sylvan Gallery. Already well known for his maritime paintings, Hughes had been coming to Maine for years to paint its coastline, islands, harbors and working boats.
Scanlan immediately felt that Hughes would be a natural fit for the gallery. His paintings strike a balance between careful observation and poetic interpretation, while his depictions of historic and contemporary sailing craft reveal a particular understanding of the boats that boating enthusiasts recognize and appreciate.
The two artists met during a plein air competition in Easton, Maryland.
“Neal and I became best buddies, and Ann started a tradition by having an annual exhibit for us at the gallery,” Pisano said in a prepared release.
Their friendship grew through years of shared experiences at weeklong painting competitions along the East Coast and elsewhere in the country. Each August, they set aside several weeks to return to Maine, paint its iconic coastline, spend time with friends and create new work for their annual Sylvan Gallery exhibition.
Among the larger paintings in the exhibition is Hughes’ “Harbor Glow” (Rockland), measuring 24 by 30 inches. The painting captures the harbor in the warm light of late day, with the hillside and waterfront buildings glowing against the cooler, shadowed greens and violets of the surrounding trees. The sailboats resting in the harbor are rendered in cool blues and violets, while the water below reflects both the deep colors of the landscape and the brilliant golden light of the sunlit buildings and foliage above. Hughes’ impressionistic brushwork gives the entire scene a sense of movement and atmosphere. The warm and cool passages are carefully balanced, and the contrast between sunlight and shadow creates an extraordinary luminosity.
Among the smaller works are “Port Clyde Clouds,” 11 by 14 inches, an iconic Maine summer scene of roadside wildflowers, a turquoise harbor dotted with boats and towering clouds; and “Harbor Night,” at 12 by 16 inches, which recently received Best in Show at the Paint Grand Traverse plein air competition in Traverse City, Michigan.
With seven career awards from the American Impressionist Society, Hughes ranks among the most decorated artists in the organization’s 27-year history. He is an elected Fellow of the American Society of Marine Artists and holds Signature Memberships with the American Impressionist Society, Oil Painters of America, and the National Oil & Acrylic Painters Society.
Pisano’s new work includes four small vertical paintings of Maine pine trees: “Taper,” “Posing,” “Dancing” and “White Pine.” Each presents a solitary, weathered tree reaching into the sky, yet each possesses a distinct personality. Pisano carefully observes the character of each tree — the gesture of its trunk, the sparse arrangement of its limbs, and the texture and shape of its foliage — while allowing the surrounding atmosphere to flow through and between the branches. There are few hard contours. Instead, edges soften and dissolve into the sky and surrounding landscape, allowing each tree to become inseparable from the particular atmosphere of the day. In “Dancing,” for example, the graceful, irregular movement of the trunk and branches gives the tree and almost animated quality, as though it is indeed caught in motion. The individual titles lend the trees a personality and reinforce the sense that Pisano is portraying not simply a subject, but a character.
Pisano has included four additional nocturnes in the exhibition, each depicting views across water toward distant shores illuminated by sparkling lights. Through a limited palette and carefully controlled edges, she creates a strong sense of atmosphere and mood. The exhibition also includes paintings of rocks and crashing surf, as well as scenes of marinas, where Pisano finds rhythm in the masts and vessels amid the interplay of color, shape, and value.
Pisano has earned wide acclaim for her nocturne paintings, receiving Best Nocturne Awards at Plein Air Easton in 2021, the Olmstead Plein Air Invitational in Atlanta in 2025 and the Wayne Plein Air Festival in Wayne, Pennsylvania, in 2025. In 2026, she was honored with Outstanding Plein Air Painting by a Female Artist – Body of Work at Paint Grand Traverse in Michigan, a recognition of her remarkable consistency and dedication.
At Sylvan Gallery, a selection of new work by the gallery’s other contemporary fine artists will also be on display, including Peter Layne Arguimbau, Joann Ballinger, Al Barker, Paul Batch, Angelo Franco Jr., Susannah Haney, Heather Gibson-Lusk, Stan Moeller, Robert Noreika, Ann Scanlan, Polly Seip, Laura Winslow and Shirley Cean Youngs. Work from the estate of the late artist Charles Kolnik will also be on view.
For more information, call Scanlan at 882-8290 or visit sylvangallery.com. Follow Sylvan Gallery on Instagram and Facebook for exhibition updates. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Monday is by chance or appointment.
Sylvan Gallery is located at 49 Water St. in Wiscasset, at the corner of Main (Route 1) and Water streets