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"Ocean Gallery" by Paul McGehee depicts the famous Ocean City, Maryland boardwalk art gallery on a sunny summer day. Started back in the mid-1960s by artist Joe Kroart and his wife Adele, the first Ocean Gallery had its beginnings as a display of paintings for sale in the lobby of the Colonial Hotel at 1st Street. As years went by, the business grew and soon had its own building on the boardwalk. The Ocean Gallery building at 2nd Street, in fact, features on its exterior decorative items salvaged from the old Colonial Hotel after it burned in the winter of 1972. The unique structure which took 17 years to complete also features parts of antique buildings from all over the world, making it Ocean City's only 'recycled building'! It is a work of conceptual art in and of itself, created by Kroart. For over half a century the gallery has offered artwork and framing year-round to a very loyal local following of art-lovers, as well as to the thousands of tourists who visit the Maryland beach resort town each year. Their longtime motto is "fine art can be fun". Proving the point, what other art gallery boasts its very own "Batmobile" parked alongside? Through the years, Ocean Gallery has seen many celebrities pass through its doors; people from all facets of the worlds of entertainment, sports and politics...luminaries such as Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas and Maryland Governor William Donald Schaefer were regulars. The Ocean Gallery building itself has been featured in several major motion pictures such as "Violets Are Blue" and "Ping Pong Summer" as well as numerous television programs and news broadcasts...it is truly an Ocean City boardwalk icon. In the distance in this scene we can also see the Park Place Hotel and the Breakers Hotel looking down the boardwalk to the north. "Ocean Gallery" is faithfully reproduced from Paul's original color pencil drawing as an archival quality print issued in a strictly limited edition of only 2,000 pieces each hand-signed by the artist. Print image size 10 5/8" x 20".
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