Western Art Forum, a tantalizing gallery located in Big Sky, Montana, recently announced that it will open a new location in Billings. The gallery specializes in challenging the distinction between Western and contemporary art.
 
Kira Fercho never imagined that she would be the owner of a popular art gallery — let alone two. That’s the title she now holds after Western Art Forum opened a new location in Billings, Montana, adding to an already successful location in Big Sky. Fercho says, “My commission sales have taken me into many homes. From that evolved my turning into an art dealer of sorts, representing works that I enjoy by people that I love. It is evident to me that my clients not only enjoy my impasto-style oil paintings, but also enjoy light and airy abstracts as well as dreamy tonal paintings. Nothing gives me greater joy than placing my friends’ works in the homes of people that I have gotten to know.”
 
Western Art Forum has established itself by representing a diverse range of artists — each exhibiting a unique style that blends Western art traditions with contemporary visions. To learn more, visit Western Art Forum.
 
This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e-newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. To start receiving Fine Art Today for free, click here.
 

For the ninth consecutive year, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City is hosting a major juried exhibition of student artworks from public schools throughout the city.
 
Although the students included in this year’s “P.S. Art 2016: Celebrating the Creative Spirit of NYC Kids” are only just beginning their lives, many are sure to become tomorrow’s most sought-after artists. For the past nine years, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has hosted a juried exhibition in which students from across the NYC districts submit their original works. This year’s exhibition will open on June 14 and run through October 23.
 
The students will undoubtedly have long journeys toward developing their skills and techniques, but intangible talent is sure to be on vibrant display. The Met reports, “The Museum will celebrate the artists with an opening ceremony for students, parents, and teachers at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14, the evening of the City’s annual Museum Mile Festival, after which the exhibition will open for a special public viewing. In addition to being displayed at The Met, a select group of works of art from the exhibition will also be featured for five days on outdoor digital screens in Times Square, June 22-26, courtesy of the Times Square Advertising Coalition.”
 
This year’s exhibition features nearly 100 artworks from 100 young artists illustrating both the contemporary child’s perspective on our modern world and their broad spectrum of life experiences in one of the world’s largest cities. The MET reports, “Images of the selected works will be shown for three minutes every hour from Wednesday, June 22, through Sunday, June 26, on signs owned and operated by ABC, Bank of America, and Clear Channel Spectacolor. A press conference will mark the kickoff of this collaborative project at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, June 22, on Military Island (located in Times Square on Broadway, between 43th and 44th Streets).”
 
To learn more, visit the MET.
 
This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e-newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. To start receiving Fine Art Today for free, click here.
 

An upcoming exhibition in New York will challenge your imagination as it “introduces and explores the reality of a constant parallel universe,” the gallery writes. Who are the artists and works included?
 
It was over 100 years ago that the famed Albert Einstein introduced the world to his mathematical theorem E=MC², an equation that would forever fundamentally alter our perception of our universe and the laws that govern it. Through the creative eyes of several accomplished artists, including two Russian-born painters — Igor and Marina — this equation and its potential ramifications for our universe are reimagined.
 
“Parallel Universe” will open at New York’s RJD Gallery on June 18 and will remain on view through July 17. The two major artists of the show, Igor and Marina, are deeply inspired by the Dutch and Italian Renaissance and “combine these elements of realism with bold contemporary colors and then add notes of surrealism, abstraction, and hints of the Russian avant-garde,” the gallery reports. Along with Igor and Marina, additional artists included in the exhibition are Salvatore Alessi, Margaret Bowland, Jennifer Gennari, Margo Selski, Philip Thomas, Armando Valero, and Andrei Zadorine.
 
To learn more, visit RJD Gallery.
 
This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e-newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. To start receiving Fine Art Today for free, click here.
 

The National Arts Club — based in New York City — recently announced the election of its newest president. Find out who’s taking over duties here!
 
After three active years as president of the illustrious National Arts Club, Chris Poe informed the organization that he would not entertain another nomination to retain his position. On May 19, the Board of Governors elected Linda Zagaria — an active member for more than 25 years — as the new president, effective immediately.
 
The Club writes, “Linda has served as a member and chair of the Roundtable, is a founder of the very popular Le Cocktail Français program, and served on the Music Committee as Secretary. Most recently, Linda has served as a co-chair of the Arts Program Committee and currently chairs the recently reconstituted and reactivated Kesselring Committee, all while serving our club as a Governor since 2012. Needless to say, we think Linda’s qualifications to lead The National Arts Club speak for themselves!

“In addition to her work in the governance and operations of our club, Linda brings us a wealth of knowledge and experience from other educational and not-for-profit organizations she has been associated with. In addition to teaching English and French for many years, she has served as Vice President & Secretary of the Art Deco Society of New York, and was a member of the Board of Directors for both the Omega Ensemble and the Beaux Arts Alliance, where she now holds the position of Executive Director. Linda is an active patron of the arts, supporting a number of organizations including a variety of museums and performance companies in our community, not the least of which has been the NAC.”
 
To learn more, visit the National Arts Club.
 
This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e-newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. To start receiving Fine Art Today for free, click here.
 

On Tuesday, June 7, the Seattle Art Fair made waves throughout the art world by giving the public its first sneak peek at the stellar lineup of events, sponsors, lectures, galleries, and more. What can you expect this August? Find out!
 
Held over three days — August 4-7 — the Seattle Art Fair is one of the nation’s top events for collectors, galleries, art enthusiasts, and so much more. The public just received its first glimpse of what is to come during the 2016 edition of the festival — and we think you’ll be excited.
 
Hosted at CenturyLink’s Field Event Center, the Seattle Art Fair will feature over 80 exhibitors. Among the opening events is a Beneficiary Preview, with proceeds benefiting the Seattle Art Museum. “The Seattle Art Fair Projects will debut a new series of special activities, performances, and installations to engage the fair’s public spaces, organized by Artistic Director Laura Fried,” the organization writes. “Spanning sculpture, performance, and installation, the projects will take place both at the fair and in adjacent neighborhoods, reaching a wide and diverse audience, and spotlighting Seattle’s position as a vital cultural capital.”
 
Among the compelling talks included in the fair is series of diverse dialogues by an array of artists, collectors, and other leaders in creative fields. The talks will take place throughout the run of the fair, in the Seattle Art Fair Theater within CenturyLink Field Event Center and will be “focusing on curiosity and the ways a distinct sense of place can create a powerful cultural context,” the fair reports.
 
There are countless other projects, talks, and events, that are sure to pique one’s interest; learn more by visiting the Seattle Art Fair.
 
This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e-newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. To start receiving Fine Art Today for free, click here.
 

In this ongoing series for Fine Art Today, we take a longer look at the history and features of a soon-to-be-available artwork of note. This week: Felix Hidalgo, “Chateau d’If.”
 
Félix Resurrección Hidalgo y Padilla (1855-1913) is often acknowledged as one of the great Filipino painters of the late 19th century. Largely considered an Impressionist, Hidalgo received numerous awards throughout his career, including a Silver Medal at the 1884 Exposicion General de Bellas Artes in Madrid.
 
Hidalgo’s fascination with a variety of subjects, including the violence and unpredictability of the sea, is well documented. Heading to auction via León Gallery on June 10 in the Philippines is one of the more outstanding examples of the artist’s seascapes. Hidalgo’s command of oil in the picture is tangible, as the painterly quality of the brushstrokes enhances the volatile subject. Although he is considered an Impressionist, some have noted possible hints of the monumental Romantic painter J.M.W. Turner in Hidalgo’s work, especially noteworthy in the sky of “Chateau d’If.”
 
Via León Gallery, “Hidalgo’s seascape combines the strengths of both luminism and impressionism, even if he adheres to neither. His dramatic, even impressionistic skies amid waves in some instances diverge from the becalmed seas of late 19th century painting, manifested best in the luminist style in the United States — which he never visited. Luminism is characterized by attention to detail and the hiding of brushstrokes, while impressionism is characterized by lack of detail and an emphasis on brushstrokes. Having taken up painting at the Academia de Dibujo y Pintura in Intramuros early in his career, he remained a classicist, preferring to work in the style recognized by the art establishment, despite the furor over the Impressionists in the Europe of 1884. Thus, Hidalgo’s depictions of the stormy sea mark one significant extreme of the vast range of Philippine art’s landscape traditions.” Auction estimates are between $87,000 and $115,000.
 
To learn more, visit León Gallery.
 
This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e-newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. To start receiving Fine Art Today for free, click here.
 

“31st and Lexington”
Oil
18 x 24 in.
$2,600
 
http://www.heatherarenas.com/
 
About the Artist:
Although Arenas is a resident of Aurora, Colorado, much of her subject matter comes from her travels. In recent years she has traveled to Spain, Belize and several places in the US including New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The unique people encountered on these trips provide the stories illustrated in her paintings.
 
Arenas has been painting for many years in Colorado and has expanded her reach through plein air events and national competitions as well as showing her work in galleries in Colorado, New Mexico, and South Carolina.
 
Current events include:
Colorado Artisan Celebration, 6/15/16, 5:30-9pm
PAAC 20th Annual Juried Exhibition, 9/1/16-9/30/16
See www.heatherarenas.com for more details and workshop information
 
Heather Arenas
[email protected]
http://www.heatherarenas.com/

“Memento Flore”
oil on canvas
70 x 70 in.
 
Embodying Myth Through Imagination: New Portraits and Figures By Brad Overton
Exhibition Preview through June 18, 2016
Blue Rain Gallery
Railyard location, 544 Guadalupe Street, Santa Fe, NM 87501
 
In my search for meaning and joy in life I have become a painter.  I have found both there.  But really, it is where I have found all of life.  In the creative act I have continuously cycled through the struggles and rewards that are the common experience, everyday. There are moments of quiet, peaceful meditation and freedom from anxiety as I paint in the deep flow, for hours at at time.  I go under the spell and forget to even drink water.  And there are other days when doubt grips me and the brush and I can’t get it back.  And I can’t get back.
 
Mostly though the days are on my side.  Either way I don’t resist the experience.  It’s the way it is
 
My paintings are all realistic.  The ideas I think of show up that way so that’s how I paint.  All of my dreams are in realism. The whole world, in fact looks pretty realistic to me.  So I’m interested in that.  I’m interested in the choices I can make, the inventory or “visual vocabulary”  I can build which is unique to me, but accessible to those I come into contact with through my paintings.  At times I choose subjects or arrangements because they are funny, which is essential and miraculous.  Other paintings are meant to host the sublime, which is the undercurrent of our world; it’s origin and mystery. Other paintings are meant to remind the viewer of an aspect or attribute to lay claim to.  But the common thread is that they are meant to serve the viewer.  I paint paintings that I want to see, that I can’t wait to paint.  I simply trust my own interest and fast expecting others to come along. 
 
Brad Overton, 2013
 
 

“Gypsy Pony”
2009
Charcoal on Paper
22 x 30 in.
$7,500
 
About the Artist:
Nicola Hicks is one of nearly 80 artists whose work will be available for sale at the 29th Annual Western Visions Show and Sale at the National Museum of Wildlife Art. Western Visions takes place September 9 – October 9, 2016. Born in 1960, Hicks studied at Chelsea School of Art, and took her MA at the Royal College of Art. She has had major solo shows in leading international museums and galleries, and has already been honored with a MBE for her contribution to the visual arts. Hick’s primary media are plaster and straw, as well as huge sheets of brown paper on which she works up her dynamic charcoal drawings. Her work often combines charm and menace in equal and sometimes devastating measures. Gypsy Pony, 2009, is a charcoal work. Her study of anatomy and unique ability to capture the physicality and psychology of animal figures is apparent in this work.
 

“They Faith Hath Made Thee”
16 X 20 in.
Limited Edition Prints on Water Color Paper Available
$295.00
 
www.paulgrass.com
 
Upcoming Show: – Blessed Are Those That Mourn. – A Benefit for Cancer Research in Memory of Gideon Grass.
 
About the Artist:
Paul Grass Fine Art is participating in LivvnArt Biblical and The Religious Academy’s “The Bible Art Tour.” –  Blessed Are Those That Mourn, at LivvnArt Colorado’s Gallery in Denver. Paul Grass, www.paulgrass.com, will be joining other Religious Academy Faculty and invited Artists on a show to help Benefit Cancer Research in Memory of Paul’s late nephew who passed away from a six-month battle with Leukemia earlier this month. 
 
LivvnArt Biblical, http://www.livvnart.org/, is a travelling Gallery focused on creating stunning new Classical Biblical Art and this show is a must see.  Artists include Paul Grass, John Stadler, Howard Lyon, J. Kirk Richards, Shari Cannon, Heidi Rierra, William Rierra, Marge Zylla, Randy Marsh, and many more.  Each Artist has works exhibited on the theme “Blessed Are Those That Mourn.”
 
Paul Grass is the Director for The Religious Academy, http://www.thereligiousacademy.com/, an Inter-Denominational Classical Biblical Art School located in Denver Colorado.  The Religious Academy specializes in teaching people how to illustrate the Bible in a Classically Realistic Style. 
 
For more information visit: http://www.thereligiousacademy.com/