New York, NY: Accompanying the Waterfront Museum's popular "CIRCUSundays" Series, a visual panorama of circus artistry will roll in when Karen E. Gersch debuts a new body of gouache and oil paintings, line drawings and pastels, on the Showboat's walls.

Ms. Gersch has a long and celebrated career in both circus and art. An Honors Graduate of Brooklyn's Pratt Institute and founding member of the Big Apple Circus, she has traveled with, performed in, and painted circus life from its very heart for the past four decades. She has also created murals, backdrops, illustrations and graphics for prominent circus, theater and ballet companies.

Her work has been exhibited internationally and is in private collections around the world.

Ms. Gersch's travels with one and three-ring circuses and theater festivals in the U.S., Canada, and abroad, are well chronicled in the sketchbooks she keeps. Ink, watercolors, and pastels are her constant companions when on the road. Her on-site drawings and photographs are then transformed into oil paintings back in her New York studio or the converted barn she shares with her husband in Connecticut.

"Sequins to Sawdust: Art from Circus Life" is inspired, in part, by old-fashioned tent shows and their unusual denizens - among them, contortionists, aerialists, and legendary clowns.

In addition, the exhibit will feature portraits of performers from previous "CIRCUSundays" shows and rapid-fire sketches from the International "Circus of Tomorrow" Festival in Paris that Ms. Gersch attended earlier this year. Many of the works are enhanced by brief narratives or descriptions, explaining their origin, inspiration, or identifying the subjects.

A story beneath a portrait of the great clown Otto Griebling, for instance, tells of the artist's first encounter with him at the age of 11.

A reception for the artist will be held on board the Waterfront Museum on Saturday, June 11th, from 4:00 - 7:00 pm. Refreshments will be served, and Specialty Artists will perform.

Slip under the Big Top into Karen E. Gersch's tented world. You'll want to run away and join this poignant collection of circus life.