Mezzanine Gallery

The Delaware Division of the Arts’ Mezzanine Gallery is pleased to present Passing through…, a solo exhibition of paintings by Alan B. Tuttle, on view September 11-25, 2026. An opening reception will be held Friday, September 11, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the Mezzanine Gallery, located in the Carvel State Office Building at 820 N. French Street, Wilmington. Admission is free and open to the public.

The paintings in Passing through… grow out of Tuttle’s daily experience and his attention to the world around him, from the natural landscape to the social and political currents of the moment. He is drawn to both fleeting and lasting moments, and he wants the work to stir contemplation, wonder, awe, and sometimes discomfort while holding onto its beauty. His subjects rarely repeat. He does not try to recreate yesterday’s inspiration, but follows whatever catches his eye or his mind at a given moment.

A self-taught realist, Tuttle moves between figurative painting and landscape without committing to a single style. “I don’t like to do pretty pictures,” he says. Instead, he wants viewers to “experience a particular moment in time just as I experienced it.”

Tuttle’s early influences were the old masters, whose work he first studied as a high school exchange student in Spain, spending days in the Prado and other museums in Madrid. He later came to admire the Impressionists, but he has never settled into one genre. He prefers, in his words, to “have many tools in my toolbox and apply the right one to the piece before me.” Every work has to earn its place on the easel. “Every piece must have its challenge,” he says, which is “how I learn as a self-taught artist.”

Tuttle grew up in rural northern New York, between the Adirondack Mountains and the Thousand Islands. That landscape continues to shape his work. He has lived in Delaware for 18 years. An avid traveler who has visited 56 countries and counting, he prefers to go without an agenda, walking down back alleys and living alongside the people he meets.

Passing through… comes as Tuttle marks his recognition as a 2026 Delaware Division of the Arts Individual Artist Fellow. He called himself “humbled” by the honor, which he hopes will let him hire more studio models for his figurative work and paint at more plein air locations across Delaware.

Alan B. Tuttle is a self-taught realist painter who has made art his full-time focus since 1990, working in both figurative painting and landscape. He grew up in rural northern New York and, after serving in the U.S. Air Force as a cryptologic linguist and living in California, settled in Delaware, where he has lived for 18 years. His work has been shown in several solo exhibitions and more than 60 group exhibitions. Beyond the studio, he has raised money for charity through more than 100 Empty Bowl events since his early twenties and has led school programs encouraging writing and art through The Domiciles Project. He holds a degree in art education.

Couldn’t attend the gallery or just want to relive the experience? Check out our photo albums of each event on our Flickr account.