The featured exhibit for August at Laurelwood Arboretum will be watercolors by landscape painter, George Polazzi.  His work will be on view from August 2 to August 31at the Knippenberg Center for Education at Laurelwood Arboretum, 725 Pines Lake Drive West in Wayne.  The Opening Reception will be on Sunday, August 4 at 2:30 pm. Admission is free, and the public is invited to attend.  For anyone who wishes to view the exhibit at another time, the Knippenberg Center is open Tuesdays through Sundays from 12 noon to 4 pm.

Polazzi, who lives in Bloomingdale, received a BA and MA in Art Education at Jersey City State College.  He also studied at the Art Students League in Manhattan, the Ridgewood Art Institute and the New Jersey Center for the Visual Arts in Summit.  Polazzi taught art at Weehawken High School for 41 years.  He is a member of the Essex Water Color Club and the Ringwood Manor Art Association.

“Now that I’m retired, I finally have time to travel and paint,” Polazzi said. “Most of my landscape paintings reflect my travels.  I get inspired by visiting new places and have always been moved by the beauty of nature.”

Polazzi’s exhibit will be accompanied by pottery works from the personal collection of June Fisher-Markowitz, a fellow member of the Essex Water Color Club.  Under the name of June Riemersma, she owned The Clayhouse, which sold handmade hand-painted stoneware.  Her work was featured in Better Homes and Gardens and included in a New Jersey Designer Craft Guild Show.

The August exhibit is one in a monthly series sponsored by Friends of Laurelwood Arboretum, the nonprofit organization that helps preserve and manage the 30-acre arboretum in partnership with Wayne Township.  For additional information about exhibiting at Laurelwood Arboretum, go to www.laurelwoodarboretum.org or send an email to displays@laurelwoodarboretum.org.