Janine Wesselmann of Redding will demonstrate painting with oil at a meeting of Society of Creative Arts of Newtown (SCAN) on Wednesday, May 10, at 7:30 pm. Her subject will be figures in a social function, with the people interacting with each other.

The demonstration is open to the public. It will be held at Newtown Meeting House, 31 Main Street in Newtown (at the flagpole).

Janine Wesselman’s art credentials lead a circuitous trail from Nainobi, Kenya, through Morocco, to France, the Caribbean, and now Connecticut. She has been painting since the age of six, and in very unusual circumstances — through revolutions in third world countries, ambassadorial parties in the cities of Europe, on remote islands, and in African jungles.

She is known across four continents for her parodies of European and American social life. Ms Wesselmann has been listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World since 1989.

She was the first American artist to show at the Grand Culturale d’Italia in Rome (1995) and the first American woman artist to be accepted into the Collection d’Art Modern de la Ville de Paris. In 1997 she was named cultural emissary to France for Connecticut.

The public is invited to attend the May 10 SCAN program by Ms Wesselmann, free of charge. For additional information, call 426-6654.

The Society of Creative Arts of Newtown was organized more than three decades ago to promote the arts in Newtown and the surrounding area

The group meets in the evening on the second Wedneday of each month, and also in the afternoon on the fourth Tuesday of each month, with different guest artists and programs for every meeting. SCAN_meets regularly at Newtown Meeting House, in the building’s lower level meeting room. There are no meetings in December, and no evening meetings in February.

In addition to the monthly meetings and demonstrations, SCAN’s regular activities also include seasonal art shows and sales, which are presented at Newtown Meeting House, C.H._Booth Library and Lexington Gardens, among its locations. The society also hosts ongoing three-week painting courses, and workshops in other media during the year.

For additional information concerning the club in general, contact its current president, Melody Asbury, at 203/263-4970.