Veteran artist and pastor from Chattanooga, Tenn., Charlie Newton will offer an informal presentation and discussion about his art work, discussing his dual role as an artist and pastor, and how both occupations influence each other on Tuesday, March 25 at 7:30 p.m. in Dolan Performance Hall at the Annunciation Center at CSE. The evening’s affair is set to take place on the Feast of the Annunciation, which, in Christianity, celebrates the angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary that she would bear Jesus, the Son of God.

Refreshments will be served following shortly after the program. Admission is free and open to the public. Any donations to the College’s future art gallery programs are welcomed. For more information, contact Dr. Virginia Fabbri Butera, chair of the CSE Art Department and director of the CSE Therese A. Maloney Art Gallery at (973) 290-4314 or via e-mail at vbutera@cse.edu.

Sponsored by the CSE Office of Institutional Advancement, CSE Lectures and Concert Series, and CSE Art Department, the evening’s discussion will delve into Mr. Newton’s art pieces.  One piece that will be specifically highlighted is his painting entitled, “Yo Mary,” which was originally displayed in the College’s first art exhibition, “Annunciation in Contemporary Art,” last September 2007. The eight-by-12-foot oil on canvas composition is currently on long-term loan to the College by its owner, David King of Basking Ridge, N.J.

“Mr. Newton’s painting ‘Yo Mary’ garnered such enthusiastic reviews from everyone who came to see ‘Annunciation in Contemporary Art,’ that we are thrilled to meet and talk with him,” says Dr. Butera. “We are doubly excited that the painting will hang in the lobby of the Annunciation Center over the entrance to the Art Wing, so that everyone can enjoy this beautifully painted contemporary rendition of a traditional subject.”

Mr. Newton has been painting professionally for more than 30 years. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Old Dominion and Norfolk State Universities. His public commissions include work at the University of Georgia; the North Carolina Zoo; and the Beatties Ford Road Library in Charlotte, N.C., among others. Recent exhibitions include the Therese A. Maloney Art Gallery at CSE in Morristown, N.J.; Bill Shores Gallery in Chattanooga; Red Clay Survey at the Huntsville Museum of Art in Huntsville, Ala., and the Hunter Museum of American Art in Chattanooga.