The August exhibit at Justus Fine Art Gallery (Hot Springs, Arkansas) will mark the gallery’s fourteenth year of business. The exhibit will feature work by Dustyn Bork, Taimur Cleary, Matthew Hasty, Robyn Horn, Dolores Justus, Jill Kyong, Charles Peer, Sandra Sell, Gene Sparling, Dan Thornhill, and others. The anniversary show will open with a reception on Friday, August 3, in conjunction with the monthly Gallery Walk in downtown Hot Springs.

Acclaimed pastel artist Charles Peer is the newest addition to the gallery roster. A selection of Peer’s landscapes will be included in the exhibit, along with Matthew Hasty’s luminous painting “Delta Moon,” and the abstracted landscapes of Dolores Justus. A selection of colorful shaped paintings by Dustyn Bork will also be featured, along with Dan Thornhill’s vibrant abstract paintings. Jill Kyong will add a new piece to the display of her inventive wood tables, and work by wood sculptors Robyn Horn and Sandra Sell, along with woodturnings by Gene Sparling will also be included.

In reflecting on the gallery’s anniversary, owner Dolores Justus says, “Though the fourteenth year isn’t one of the traditional milestone anniversaries, I couldn’t resist drawing the comparison of gallery ownership (along with the path as an artist) with hiking a Fourteener — those mountains that are 14,000 feet or higher in elevation. You begin to climb, not knowing exactly where you’ll end up or what you will meet in the process. As you take each next step, new beauties and views are revealed. There are also steep inclines, icy patches, and boulder-strewn paths, coupled with the thinning air. Those challenges in terrain are necessary to produce the dramatic waterfalls or expansive vistas you may find further along. The arts don’t always provide the safe footing that other disciplines offer. It is often a solitary road as an artist, and galleries have challenges of their own, evidenced by the rash of closings in recent years.

“In drawing the analogy wider, we all have our own mountains to climb. We all experience setbacks and hardships, but for those who are able to find the treasures along the way, the result is a life filled with joy and gratitude. This is where I stand — in appreciation of all the artists, friends, collectors, and supporters who have walked with me over the past fourteen years.”

“Fourteener” will be on display at Justus Fine Art Gallery August 3–31, 2018.

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A new exhibition at the Haggin Museum titled “Full Sun: American Women Artists Illuminate the Haggin Museum” opens August 2, 2018, and continues through September 16. This juried show features paintings and sculptures by members of American Women Artists (AWA) influenced by 13 paintings from the Haggin Museum’s core art collection.

As the Haggin began the redesign of its core art galleries, Robin Knowlton, AWA’s executive director, and Kathy Lemke Waste, immediate past president of the AWA Board, approached the museum with an idea to host an exhibition as a part of their “25 in 25” initiative. Started in 2017 by AWA, “25 in 25” was inspired by the dismal statistics showing that work by women artists makes up only 3 to 5 percent of the permanent holdings of art museums in America. AWA’s plan is to secure 25 museum exhibitions in as many years. The Haggin Museum is hosting the third scheduled show of the “25 in 25” initiative.

“Full Sun: American Women Artists Illuminate the Haggin Museum” celebrates a re-examination of the Haggin Collection. For this exhibition, members of AWA were asked to create artwork that was inspired by a selection of 13 paintings from the Haggin Museum’s 19th- and 20th-century art, including works by William Merritt Chase, Albert Bierstadt, Rosa Bonheur, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and other notable artists. AWA artists could take their inspiration from the artwork, the artist’s greater body of work, or the theme of the painting.

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“Relish,” a fine art exhibition featuring gouache paintings by Cher Odum and the words of poet Dan Stone
J. Pepin Art Gallery, Portland, Oregon
August 1 through September 1, 2018

From the gallery:

“Relish” is defined both as a noun and a verb to describe the experience of enjoyment or delight. In these images and accompanying verse, it refers to the savoring and celebrating of the sensual joy of living, of choosing to see, hear, smell, taste, and touch the real, visceral beauty of living, despite hardships or challenges, internal or external obstacles. These are pictures and poems expressing the moment-by-moment decision to turn toward and relish the juicy, pumping joy and connection that our hearts always hold — despite anything our minds might be telling us.

Artist Cher Odum and poet Dan Stone have been collaborating since 2006. After Odum completes her painting, Stone composes his poem, adding further life to the story of the artwork.

About the artists:

Self taught, Odum has been painting professionally since 2010. She worked as a counselor with at-risk youth, facilitating groups by using artwork as a means of self-expression and self-discovery. She noticed that young girls often had negative self-images and destructive self-talk. So she began painting women with huge feet and hands and tiny heads to express this warped view, which women often carry from adolescence into adulthood. But she turned that negative perspective on its ear by portraying these women as beautiful, powerful, and self-actualized.

Stone has spent the better part of his life telling stories and making poems — creating images with words. His work in photography and digital art as well as his prose and poetry has largely focused on the intersection of dream and reality or fantasy, where elements of fantasy or the fantastical combine with the real or mundane, where magic is real and the real world is magical. His words and images extend an invitation to suspend disbelief and step into a world where magic is real and where dreams do come true.

For more information, please visit www.jpepinartgallery.com.

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