DCCA News: Timeless

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Noticing a gap in the schedule for exhibits at the Anna Bier Gallery, Gallery Director Tamera McNulty decided to fill the space during the holiday season with work by the local artists who make up the Greenville Art Guild. After talking with Art Guild members, Tam expanded her original idea to include a tribute to the iconic art teacher for whom the Gallery is named, linking the past to the present. The resulting exhibit,“An Original Collection by Anna Bier and the Greenville Art Guild,” opens on Saturday, December 16 with a reception from 6 till 8 p.m.

Anna Bier’s legacy includes bequeathing her home and its contents to the local community so that all people “could work for the development of artistic skills and higher cultural standards,” leading to the establishment of the Art Guild. Two Anna Bier paintings are on display, one a striking picture of red geraniums in a burnished tawny bowl, the other a rustic antique-tin-framed still life featuring enchanting folk art objects. Additionally, a work by Martin Wogoman in which a dappled sycamore tree stands beside a stream winding through a lush green glade is also included in this show. Mr. Wogoman, a graduate of the Dayton Art Institute, taught generations of young students at the Greenville Art Guild, leaving his own unique legacy to our community; among his students were members of the Cable family, including Sandra Cable-Barringer, who now teaches art in the Guild’s Martin Wogoman room located on the ground floor of Henry St. Clair Memorial Hall, and who has two pieces displayed in this show.

Sandy’s work has a timeless quality that perfectly fits the theme of this exhibit; “The Pink Negligee” depicts the artist wearing the delicate garment of the title, while her other painting is a close-up of the patron saint of the holiday season, “Santa.” This warm and charming bigger-than-life look at the jolly old soul is masterfully done, the snowy fur that trims his cuffs and cap as well as the glistening whiskers of his beard created from the skillful use of many colors to emulate pure white.

Several artists who participate in the classes led by Sandy Cable-Barringer are also represented in this show, including former Anna Bier Gallery Director Marcia Weidner who has submitted her own classic take on Santa Claus, his jolly face wearing a thoughtful expression as smoke wafts from the bowl of his pipe. “Fancy Giraffe” and “Mr. Fox,” two jaunty acrylic paintings that will bring smiles to viewers’ faces, were created by Isabel Culbertson, another regular attendee of the classes in the Martin Wogoman room.

Nationally known painter and teacher Nancy Foureman’s “Redbud Tree, a lovely oil delicately depicting a blooming tree, magically transports the viewer to a universally appealing Spring day. Kathleen Gibboney’s “Chinese Lanterns and Money Plant,” a spare rendering of the title subjects, delights the senses with its pleasing form. In “Fall Light In the Window” by Selena Burk, windows on a stately home elegantly trimmed with wrought iron glow with the colors of a blazing sunset. Carolyn Armstrong’s “Back in the 50’s” depicts an old coupe rusting away in a verdant landscape, evoking feelings of joyous nostalgia, a mood also created by Carol Peden’s “Checking It Twice,” which shows Santa standing in front of a flaming hearth and by his bagful of toys as he—well—checks his list.

Many, many more delights are on display in the Anna Bier Gallery, located on the Main Floor of Henry St. Clair Memorial Hall; the exhibit of this “Original Collection” by local artists will continue through January 30. The Gallery is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and by appointment, as well as during special events at Memorial Hall including DCCA’s Artists Series show on Saturday, January 20 featuring bluegrass queen Rhonda Vincent. For more information, or to arrange a tour at other times, contact Anna Bier Gallery Director Tamera McNulty at 937-564-5863.

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By Marilyn Delk

DCCA News

Marilyn Delk is a director of the Darke County Center for the Arts and can be reached at [email protected]. Viewpoints expressed in the article are the work of the author. The Daily Advocate does not endorse these viewpoints or the independent activities of the author.

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