NEWPORT — When Kate Luppold put out the call for submissions for the Library Arts Center’s exhibition, she expected artists would take its theme of “home” literally.

“I expected a lot of houses with white picket fences,” Luppold, the Newport-based nonprofit organization’s executive director, said during a tour of the new exhibition.

There are a fair number of homes, to be sure, but there are also landscapes, flowers, chickens and even a sculpted lamp with cats. “I like the variety,” she said.

The exhibition, which is officially titled “HOME: Real, or imagined; the places we call home” features more than 60 pieces in all different mediums and a range of ability levels, from professional artists to participants in the center’s Art for Differently-Abled Adults program. 

“It was just really fun to see,” Luppold said. 

The exhibition will be on display at the Library Arts Center, 58 N. Main St., through May 29. Its hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

Most of the participating artists viewed work they already created to see what would be a good fit for the show, including Jennifer Stark, of Newport, who contributed two pieces made using acrylic paint and painted papers with acrylic paint. “Open Invitation” features a chair at a table and “Welcome Home” features flowers. 

Originally, Stark thought that the flowers were the focal point of “Open Invitation,” not the chair.

“The more I paid attention to the chair and the more I was loving the chair, I realized it was all about the chair,” Stark said in a phone interview. “I didn't realize what an important symbol that was for me.”

As a child, Stark and her mother lived with Stark’s grandparents. Her late grandfather had a favorite chair. 

“He sat in the same chair for ... his entire life,” Stark recalled. When he died, she inherited his chair. Seeing it in her household, “just brought back so many fond memories.”

Stark’s late mother-in-law was the oldest of 16 children and when she died, Stark and her husband inherited the chair she used to sit on as a child.

“Sometimes, when you see the empty chair it can be kind of sad and lonely, but it can also be like it’s waiting for you to come sit at the table and be part of the family or a communal event of some sort,” Stark said. “It’s about the chair but it's really all about who sat in the chair which makes it so special even if  it’s not some amazing piece of furniture.”

Usually, descriptions accompanying pieces put up in the gallery contain the artist’s name and the title of their piece. In “HOME,” artists included more personal descriptions about how their piece encapsulated the theme.

For example, Gloria McDonough, of Croydon, contributed a photograph titled “Our Cabin in Fall,” with the following text: “Our dream when we were first married in 1957 was to build a log cabin home and so we did in 1985. This upcoming August it will be 67 years for our marriage, 39 for our cabin. Both are still standing strong.”

Newport artist Kim Astles contributed a piece titled “Four Seasons,” which shows four panels depicting the four seasons in the Granite State. “New Hampshire is my home,” Astles wrote in the description. “Every season brings a unique landscape to be celebrated and cherished as I sit and gaze out the window in my house.”

Lucy Mueller, of New London, contributed a piece titled “Cats at Home,” a sculpture created around a lamp that features cats on various platforms. Mueller thought about the way cats create homes within the spaces they share with humans.

“Each one has their own realm and jurisdiction,” Mueller said. “That’s the way cats are.”

Mueller, frequently contributes work to the Library Arts Center’s community shows.

“I love the way they include the community in different shows and everything is presented professionally,” she said. “They include so many people and they’re not elitist in any way.”

For more information, visit libraryartscenter.org or call 603-863-3040. Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.