Artist Norma Weingast Hirsch has named her upcoming art exhibit at the Tamaqua Community Arts Center “This is It.”

She did so, she said, because art is her fourth career, and one she hopes to continue.

“I always wanted to be an artist,” said Hirsch, of Orwigsburg.

An opening reception for the show will be Thursday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the 125 Pine St. art center. Attendees can meet Hirsch, view her work, and enjoy free refreshments and snacks.

“All my artwork is basically a story,” she said.

Hirsch has placed 80 pieces of her multimedia creations in the center. She works with collage, color, paint and imagination and specializes in impressionistic landscape and modern contemporary art.

As for the “This is It” title, Hirsch noted that her grandmother offered to put her through school as long as she chose a career that would earn her money.

She studied textile design at the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts and landed a job in New York City.

“That was my first career,” Hirsch said.

Hirsch then opened an arts and crafts school for children, after which she landed a job as an activities director for retired nuns.

She is now the resident artist at the Walk in Art Center in Schuylkill Haven.

Hirsch recently won first place in multimedia and honorable mention in oil painting with the Allied Artists of Schuylkill County.

Some of her exhibit pieces will be for sale while others are part of private collections.

For more information, visit www.TamaquaArts.org.