The architecture of the 18th century Colonial home enjoyed by four generations of the Cooke family won’t be the oldest art on display on Friday evening when the Martha’s Vineyard Museum opens its season with a free reception for members and guests: A traditional Afro-Brazilian dance that dates back to the 16th century will be on show, too, courtesy of a group from Martha’s Vineyard Capoeira.

Great Scot at Dragonfly

Dragonfly Fine Arts Gallery is beginning its 17th Anniversary Season with 28 new and returning artists, including a broad selection of work in various media.

Voted best of the Vineyard in 2010, 2009. 2007 and 2005, the Dragonfly Gallery opening reception is from 4 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 28. The first featured exhibit will include work from Scottish born Angus Wilson now living in California. His work focuses on bold and colorful still life oil paintings.

Student Art Show

A show featuring the work of the Martha’s Vineyard Art Association scholarship winners opens tomorrow at the Old Sculpin Gallery on Dock street in in Edgartown.

The reception is Sunday from 5 to 7 p.m.

Featured artists are scholarship winners Isaac Hurwitz and Kira Shipway and alternate Tova Katzman.

Isaac’s mediums range from oils, acrylics and inks to spray paint and watercolor. He is currently attending the San Francisco Art Institute.

Gallery Opening

Treehouse Studios is now open Thursdays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and by appointment. Paintings by Claudio Gasparini, an Italian artist and summer resident, are currently being featured. Also available are many other paintings as well as various antiques and collectibles.

Treehouse Studios is located at 472 State road in West Tisbury. For information, call 508-693-6645.

The gallery will be open daily throughout the season beginning Memorial Day weekend.

VanLandingham Exhibit

Island-born painter Dan VanLandingham, fresh from receiving his master of fine arts degree at Savannah College of Art and Design, will exhibit his Vineyard landscapes at Dragonfly Fine Arts Gallery. Mr. VanLandingham is the featured artist at the gallery through June 22.

The gallery is at 91 Dukes County avenue in the arts district in Oak Bluffs. Call 508-693-8877 or visit mvdragonfly.com.

Artist Invite

New Bedford Open Studios is extending an invitation to artists of Martha’s Vineyard to participate in the 2011 open studios event. Island artists may join over 100 visual artists, galleries and museums showcasing their work to the public during the first weekend of October. Vineyard artists can be placed in one of the artist-mill-buildings for that weekend, or create an exhibition in a space organizers will help you find. Performing artists, filmmakers, musicians are also encouraged to participate.

The Old Sculpin Gallery was full of lively energy and a crowd of people on Sunday. It was the show for the scholarship winners of the Martha’s Vineyard Arts Association.

This year’s winners are Isaac Hurwitz and Kira Shipway; the alternate is Tova Katzman.

Each of the three recent high school graduates presented an impressive array of work, stretching across mediums and subject matters.

If you visit the Alison Shaw Gallery during its opening this Memorial Day weekend, you may find yourself among the many who are inspired to go out and make photographs as calmly arresting and as quintessentially Vineyard as Ms. Shaw’s. If this is the case, the best remedy might be a copy of Ms. Shaw’s new book, Photographing Martha’s Vineyard: Where to Find Perfect Shots and How to Take Them.

Plein Air, Plus Critique

On Thursday, June 30 at 6 p.m., oil painter Meg Mercier will give a brief gallery talk about her plein air paintings on view at the Old Sculpin Gallery in Edgartown.

The evening will also include a constructive critique by folk artist Brian Kirkpatrick for anyone who wishes to bring in a work in progress. Contact the gallery for more details at 508-627-4881, mvaa@verizon.netor or visit oldsculpingallery.org.

Art, Art Everywhere

To be an art lover on Martha’s Vineyard during Memorial Day weekend is to be awash in color, hue, style and substance. Take a stroll almost anywhere on the Island and the sounds of art appreciation, not to mention wine and snacks, will lure you in for a bounty of riches. But why take a chance on missing out on any one artist? Check out the list below and start your motor running.