Irma Spencer began her art studies after moving to the area in 1971. She received an A.A. degree from Montgomery College and a B.A. from the University of Maryland. She studied with Eugene Ferrioli, Martin Puryear and Orest Polisczuk, concentrating on sculpture. She has worked in stone, cast bronze and found objects.

Her sculpture has been on display in Montgomery County, the Torpedo Factory, and the Zenith Gallery, and is owned by many families. After years of carving stone, she investigated the uses of found objects. Currently she is completing the 24 part series, "Life Inside the Box.”

By combining industrial and organic products into sculpture she finds an exciting mixture of textures, shapes, colors and meaning. She is also exploring a variety of semi-precious stones in creating jewelry. She lives in Potomac, Maryland, with her husband and a Labrador Retriever

In some of his photos exhibited at Temple Beth Ami, Neil combines some images with original verse. The result is a satisfyingly emotional complement to the aesthetic experience of the images. In June, 2000, Neil received a “Gift of Life”, a new liver to replace the one that was infected 30 years earlier, while working at New York Medical College and Flower and Fifth Avenue Hospital where he participated in early liver transplant research, an irony he shares with other transplant patients he helps mentor.

Neil has exhibited in a variety of galleries and venues throughout the mid-Atlantic region as well as at the Saatchi Gallery Online (London). Besides his photographic work, Neil volunteers as a public speaker for the Washington Regional Transplant Community to encourage organ and tissue donation, and is a medical device product development and sales consultant.

Neil Willens lives in Germantown, MD with his wife, Barbara, clinical director of the Suburban Outpatient Surgery Center in Bethesda. Their daughter, Rebecca Walker, is an attorney with Miles & Stockbridge in Rockville, and daughter Tamara Brown teaches children with autism and special needs at the Gateway School in Manhattan.

Stuart Glickman retired in 2001 from a career in information technology, the last 27 in federal law enforcement. Since then he has expanded his interest in the arts including woodturning, sculpture, painting and photography. He has been taken art courses at Montgomery College for the last six years.

Sandra Levine is a Rockville resident who has two careers. She graduated from the Albright Art School, University of Buffalo with a degree in Fine Art, and later became a licensed electrologist. She is still working in her electrolysis office and her paintings decorate the waiting room.

She is an artist member of Strathmore Hall and a board member of the Rockville Art League. Juried shows include
the Seymour Knox Gallery, N.Y, N.I.H, Glenview Mansion, and Strathmore Hall. She continues to take painting classes at Montgomery College, and has studied watercolor with David Daniels and Edward Alstrom. A new interest in portrait painting was explored this summer at Glen Echo.

You may have met part of her family, Lynn and Hal Rubin, and grandchildren, Carlyn and Jeremy Rubin at Temple Beth Ami.

A favorite quote from Sunday in the Park with George is "There are only two things that matter when you depart this earth, children and art."

Fran Abrams received degrees in art and architecture and in urban planning more than 35 years ago. Since then she has worked in government and nonprofit agencies in Montgomery County, MD. She began working with polymer clay in January 2000 when she made a New Year's resolution to return to her roots as an artist.

Polymer clay, a man-made substance, can be shaped, carved, and textured. Unlike other clay, the colors of the polymer clay can be blended just like blending paint. For example, mixing together blue and yellow polymer clay yields green clay. Like many polymer clay artists, Fran uses a pasta machine not only to condition the clay, but also to blend colors and achieve new designs. Although she never uses any paint, she sometimes incorporates gold leaf or foil into the clay. All of the colors in the pieces come from the clay or the foil.

The artwork interprets in polymer clay the fluid sense of fabric caught at a moment in time. It blurs the line between what appears might yield to a touch and what actually is permanently formed.

Presenting the pieces without glass over them encourages the viewer to take a closer look. Working with the clay in pieces designed to hang on the wall allows a broader exploration of polymer clay as a fine art medium.