SFCC exhibit showcases intricate drawings
‘Drawn to Scale,” hanging in the Spokane Falls Community College Gallery of Art, offers a rare opportunity to view a contemporary show completely devoted to intricate drawings.
SFCC gallery director Tom O’Day invited noted California State University Northridge gallery director Louise Lewis to co-curate the exhibit.
“I first worked with Louise back when I was a graduate student at Northridge in 1982,” says O’Day. “Her track record as an educator, art historian, writer and curator is most impressive.”
Together Lewis and O’Day fashioned a show with recent work by artists Joanne Julian of Los Angeles, William Amundson of Salt Lake City and Robin Dare of Spokane.
While the phrase “drawn to scale” normally refers to “an image representing precise proportionate ratios of the original object,” writes Lewis in the show brochure, ” ‘drawn to scale’ in this exhibition refers to each artist’s attraction to a scale that is purposely at odds with the object depicted.”
Each artist approaches scale in a different way. Amundson and Dare work in small formats, Julian in large.
“The highly detailed but spatially comprehensible landscapes of Amundson and the equally detailed but wryly altered, common objects of Dare have powerful appeal specifically because they are done in small scale,” writes Lewis.
“Julian’s large drawings mesmerize and beckon the viewer from afar; the sensual, abstracted imagery beguiles and encourages one to decipher its ephemeral message, but offers no answer.”
Julian and Dare will be on the SFCC campus today to give a free lecture about their work at 11:30 a.m. in the Student Union Building, Rooms A/B.
Following the talk will be a reception in the Fine Arts Gallery in Building 6, 3410 W. Fort George Wright Drive. The show can be seen through March 11, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
WSU turns on ‘Trimpin’
“Trimpin-Soundworks,” a unique sound installation, opens Friday in the Washington State University Museum of Art.
Trimpin, a Seattle artist who legally shortened his name, is a sculptor and composer who independently researches and conducts experiments in musical, acoustical and sound sculpture design.
“Sheng High,” a recently finished installation, will transform the entire WSU gallery into a work of art and sound, says WSU media coordinator Boone Helm in a news release.
“The sheng, which was the first free reed musical instrument made of bamboo, was introduced centuries ago in China,” says Helm. “The sound it produces comes from a small reed which begins to vibrate when activated by blown air.
“With ‘Sheng High,’ water is used to push the air in and out of the bamboo pipe. Up to 40 large-scale bamboo pipes comprise over a three-octave range of sounds.”
Trimpin received a MacArthur Genius Grant in 1997 for his innovative work in music composition, computer technology and design.
The artist is giving an open exhibit walk-through at noon on Friday, followed at 7 p.m. by a reception and a free lecture in the Fine Arts Center Auditorium on the Pullman campus. The show is up through April 9. For more information, see www.wsu.edu/artmuse.
Art a la Carte serves up ‘Sugar, Tools, Toys’
If you are in Pullman today, grab a brown-bag lunch and head on over to hear Spokane artist Nancy Hathaway talk at noon about “Sugar, Tools and Toys” during WSU’s Art a la Carte lunchtime lecture series.
Hathaway, assistant professor of art and gallery director at Eastern Washington University, says her works are driven by a deep and long-held interest in the female condition.
“This series of mixed media and sculptural pieces goes back at least 10 years,” says Hathaway. “My work deals with issues that are both personal and public while examining feminism and power in contemporary society.”
The free lecture takes place in Compton Union Building Cascade Room 123 on the Washington State University campus.
Prichard art auction
The University of Idaho’s Prichard Art Gallery is hosting an invitational exhibition that culminates in a live auction Friday evening.
The fund-raising event features artwork donated by artists who have previously exhibited at the Moscow gallery. Items include paintings, drawings, sculpture, mixed media, pottery, photography and jewelry.
The exhibit features the work of more than 50 leading Northwest artists including Boise Art Museum Triennial participants Charles Gill, Lou Ray, Reba Robinson, Heather Anderson and Elaine Green.
The show features items by Bill Bowler, Ross Coates, Louise Colson, Marilyn Lysohir, Kay Montgomery, Frank Werner, Audrey Barr, Malcolm Renfrew and Marie Whitesel. There are also pieces from artists Kathryn Glowen, Bev Beck-Gluekert, Geoffrey Pagen and Stephen Tse.
View the exhibit for free prior to the auction events that begin at 6 p.m. on Friday. Tickets for the auction are $15 and can be purchased at the gallery, 416 S. Main St. in downtown Moscow.
Two shows in the Valley
Spokane Valley Arts Council is coordinating two shows, one at Mirabeau Center Place and another at the Spokane Valley Library:
“The Mirabeau Center Place is exhibiting photography from members of the Spokane Valley Camera Club and paintings by Henry Halseth, Anne Sherrodd, Jim Weisen, Sue Rohrbach, Karen Harwood, Betty Jo Cook, Erin Griffin and Sheila Pil-Peters.
The show is up at 2426 N. Discovery Place, weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Feb. 28.
“The Spokane Valley Library is showcasing watercolors, oils, acrylics and pastel paintings through March 31. The two-dimensional works include landscapes, still lifes and florals.
Artists exhibiting include Sharon Vogt, Janet Ivie, Joanne Sandifur Sanchez, Henry Halseth, Betty Jo Cook, Fabian Napoloski, Diane Conkright, Amarylis Bolster, Patty Luce, Dottie Bender, Trish Elser, Joanna Perry, Annette Carter, Karen Harwood and Anne Sherrodd.
The library, 12004 E. Main Ave., is open Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Thursday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Friday from 1 to 6 p.m.
Othello gallery
The Old Hotel Art Gallery in Othello, Wash., is showing the woodcarvings of Milton Eidahl and paintings by the Desert Artists of Moses Lake this month.
Among the 20 water-based painters in the show are Blythe Whitely, Judy Kalin, Louise Peeples, Phyllis Peterson, Patricia Munson, Diana Penny, Connie Farris, Susan Walpole and Shari Morley. Their art is not limited to the canvas; some paint on silks, wood, ceramics and even feathers.
The gallery, 33 E. Larch St. in Othello, is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information call (509) 448-5936.
Other galleries
“Spokane artist Tobe Harvey’s show of installation and paintings, “Space Command 2,” is on view through March 3 in the Washington State University’s Gallery II, Room 5072 in the Fine Arts Center on the Pullman campus. Visit the free gallery weekdays from 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m.
“Pastel artist Teresa Fisher will demonstrate wildlife drawing on Feb. 25 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Art Works Gallery, 214 N. First Ave. in downtown Sandpoint. For more information, call (208) 263-2642 or see www.sandpointartworks.com.
“The wildlife paintings of Heather Bracken-Romig are hanging in the Picabu Bistro, 901 W. 14th Ave., through April 1.