Two local artists will be featured in the Black Frame Art Sale, a benefit show in Portland this weekend.

Elizabeth Saltonstall, Scarborough, and Claudia Hughes, South Portland, were selected by a curatorial committee to be in the show, along with more than 50 Maine artists. Their paintings will be on display in three galleries in the Bayside neighborhood, 3fish gallery and Back Bay Tower, both on Cumberland Avenue, and Grapheteria on Preble Street.

Opening receptions will be held on Friday from 5-9 p.m. and the show and art sale will continue on Saturday, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Avery Kamila, spokesperson for the Black Frame Art Sale, said last year people were lining up at the door well before the reception started because of the low prices on the quality artwork.

“We anticipate that’s going to happen again this year,” Kamila said.

All of the pieces are in square black frames and sold for $200.

“We’re giving people the opportunity to buy a piece they might not be able to afford at the gallery,” said Kamila.

The artists have the option of giving all or half of the money to charity. Last year, the sale raised some $9,000 for children’s art programs in the Bayside neighborhood. This will be the fourth year of the fundraiser.

Saltonstall has been involved since its inception, and she said nearly all of her pieces have been sold. Saltonstall, 76, who lives at Piper Shores and has a cottage at Higgins Beach, said she has been painting watercolors and drawing in pen and ink for 20 years.

Saltonstall said she enjoys participating in the Black Frame Art Sale because it “brings together a lot of different people.”

“It’s a very wonderful thing to do,” she said.

Hughes has also been in the show all four years. She said she started painting in 2000, after retiring from teaching theater at Waynflete School.

Hughes has submitted five works of oil on canvas – two of the Portland Observatory, two of the Porthole restaurant and one of the Fourth of July fireworks on the Eastern Prom.

“There are a lot of really good artists,” Hughes said is a reason she enjoys being in the show. “It’s really fun.”

c.hug3_88 “Porthole #2 – The Dog”e sal 2-88 “Harborside II,” by Elizabeth Saltonstall

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