This month closes out the 100th anniversary year of the City of Beachwood. In order to commemorate the centennial, the city held a series of celebratory events.

The final event, from Oct. 16-25, the Beachwood Community Center hosted a new collection of art by the artist Peter Max.

The exhibit showcased paintings full of vibrant colors expressing important political ideas and appreciation for other famed artists.

In honor of his arrival, the Community Center put on an exhibit of its own. Outside the building and along Fairmount, trees were wrapped in brightly colored yarn, colors reminiscent of Max’s works.

In addition to the yarn-covered trees, Beachwood Community Services Director Karen Carmen says, “Every [Hilltop Elementary] student designed a Max-inspired pennant that we displayed on the exterior.  Another favorite of mine was yarn-wrapping the trees on Fairmount Blvd.  Peter gave us a bright painting and we in turned wrapped our trees for his return.”

“I remember seeing his art in the Plain Dealer when I was younger, so I’m very excited for his new exhibit,” Cleveland resident and art enthusiast Debbie Kahn said.

The exhibit featured pieces such as “America 2000,” a painting that embodies Max’s view on freedom in America, and pieces from his new  “Sinatra Series”, a tribute to Frank Sinatra.

“I got to know Sinatra many years ago and became friends with him,” Max said in a phone interview. “I started painting him. And before I knew it, there was a whole series on Frank Sinatra.”

The exhibit also included “Beech Trees,” a series of paintings created and donated by Max specifically for the city of Beachwood. The beech tree paintings show Max’s gratitude for the city’s generosity in putting up one of his exhibits again.

But how did this master of his craft start out? One should delve into how Max’s art has evolved into the style that is psychedelic pop in order to fully appreciate these masterpieces.

For starters, Peter Max has been interested in astronomy ever since he was young.

This interest inspired his “Cosmic 60s” period. In this period, Max created works such as “Dove”, a painting that emphasizes the potential beauty that can be found in peace.

Max describes this period of his work as featuring psychedelic, counter-cultural imagery. In fact, Max said he has incorporated imagery from this period into his artwork throughout his career.

In the late 1970s, Max created the “Statue of Liberty Series”, which included pieces depicting  Lady Liberty as a source of hope during the time of the Vietnam War.

It’s not just the Statue of Liberty. Max has made it a habit to use patriotic American icons and symbols in his art. He has painted various American presidents including Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Obama.

But he hasn’t dedicated his work solely to the politicians, celebrities and athletes.

A sense of religion is included, too.

In his new exhibit at The Beachwood Community Center, Max demonstrates his Jewish pride in a painting of orthodox men worshiping at the Western Wall. Max uses bright, lively colors, representative of the positive impact his religion has had on him.

Paintings in the exhibit show Max’s love for America as well. In one of the largest pieces, Lady Liberty is staring straight at the viewer with bright blue and pink bursting from behind her. In another, the American Flag is painted with hearts and stars with every color of the rainbow surrounding it.

Max puts an equal amount of passion and effort into every painting he does.

“Every day I make a favorite piece,” Max said. “Everything that I paint is my favorite piece.”

To artists everywhere, Max says, “Paint what you love and love what you paint. To love what you do and paint what you love? That’s the most important thing.”