Pictured: New work from artist Tim Jaeger on display at 502. Image courtesy of the artist.

The party is on Pineapple tomorrow night, as 502 Gallery invites the community to stay out late and celebrate the gallery’s annual Summer Open House, where attendees will have the opportunity to view recent work from 502’s varied member artists, see highlights from past exhibitions they may have missed, and mark the debut of two new member artists: Nathan Beard and Anthony Rice. Additional standouts include work by Syd Solomon, a rare watercolor by author Maurice Sendak, and the unveiling of a new series by artist and gallery co-founder Tim Jaeger. The doors open at 6pm with food and drink available for purchase from La Cajita SRQ and 99 Bottles.

“It’s about celebrating the spirit of the Sarasota arts scene,” says Jaeger, and so the exhibition is as eclectic as that spirit. On one wall, find largescale oil and acrylic abstractions from Tom Stephens next to mischievous contraptions from wood-sculptor Tom Casmer and great mixed media creations from Mary GrandPre. On another, see archival pigment prints from Jon Pirman that look good enough to eat, lithographs from James Brooks, and work on formica from Joseph Patrick Arnegger.

And even if they skip the tacos from La Cajita, watercolor enthusiasts will be eating well at 502, with work on display from Wilfrid Berg, Keith Crowley, William Hartman, and Loran Frederick Wilford, not to mention a fantastical map made in watercolor by Where the Wild Things Are author Maurice Sendak.

The Sarasota arts scene is also growing, if this show is a reflection of its trajectory as well as its spirit, and tomorrow’s celebration will also be a welcome party for Anthony Rice, a painter and monotype artist who teaches at Ringling College of Art and Design and whose work can also be found in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, as well as Nathan Beard, a St. Petersburg-based abstract artist whose hypnotic compositions explore repetition, memory and time.

And tucked away in the back of the gallery, a brand new series from Jaeger, still in its infancy, takes its first steps. Colorful, complex, somewhat fishy, the compositions seem simultaneously whimsical and precise, playful and seeking. “I’m just trying to make sense out of the chaos,” he says. And in the endless swirls of mass repetition on the canvas, he’s seeking one thing:

“Stillness.”

Summer Open House at 502 Gallery runs from 6pm to 9pm this Saturday, July 12.

502 Gallery, 502 S. Pineapple, Sarasota.

Pictured: New work from artist Tim Jaeger on display at 502. Image courtesy of the artist.