As fall begins to appear on the calendar but feels months away while summer's heat lingers, the Eastern Shore Art Center is ushering in the season with a new exhibit of quilts.

The handmade and detailed works wrap the studio space in warmth and offer a sense of security for visitors in more ways than one.

Juror Zak Foster, a quilt artist from New York City, selected 29 works from 74 entries by 52 artists. The collection includes pieces by quilt artists from across the Gulf Coast. Each piece was selected for the way it answered a substantial question about life.

"The pieces selected for this exhibit are honest and heartfelt questions artists are exploring in order to make sense of this life: how do we deal with the world changing so quickly around us? From California wildfires to the loss of a loved one, our life can change in a moment, often leaving more questions than answers," Foster said.

The works were chosen based on criteria such as how well they reflected the nature of the question being investigated and the manner in which artists explored fabric, color, line, form and pattern in search of an answer.

The quilts vary in method, and include works that have been machine stitched, hand stitched, appliqued and digitally printed. The exhibit is presented by Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc., a non-profit that works to have the art quilt universally respected as a fine art medium.

Also, this week the Eastern Shore Camera Club's 11th Annual Photography Exhibit will grace the walls of the ESAC. Here you can find works by your favorite local photographers, many who you may have seen out and about capturing the truly fantastic images.

The collection is all local from the photographers who shot the images, to the scenery you may recognize and the featured faces you may know.

Anyone with an interest in photography is welcome to join the club. Learn more at http://www.escamera.org.

Both the quilts and the photography will be on display until Oct. 29.

Friday, Sept. 2, is the last day to bid on an ArtSquared piece. This is your chance to own an original piece by some of the most sought-after local artists. Twenty-four, 12"x12", works by the likes of Jo Patton, Jack Daily and others are on display and available for sale, but only until 7 p.m.

If you missed its opening last month, don't fret. "A Naturalist's Sojourn in Alabama," a collection of stunning images from the field journal of Philip Henry Gosse remains on display until Oct. 29.