Galleria Art Walk

New exhibits and refreshments at the Emerson Galleria Art Walk this Friday, 5-8 pm:

Artists’ Gallery: Gerri Carlson showing “Tom Morgan’s Favorite Flies Favorite Waters” handbound book and Joan Pribanic showing new oil paintings based on favorite sites along nearby rivers
Beaucoup Framing and Gallery: Panoramic Photography by Craig Hergert
ECCE: Peter Moore Visions of the North Fork and scarves by Sarah Pilgrim
Glasscrafters and Infusion Jewelry: Mixed Media Work by Debb Rogers and Jewelry by Vickie Raisler
Mia Anima Studio and Gallery: work by local and Tibetan artists
Montana Panoramic Gallery: Panoramic Photography by Craig Hergert
tart: “Birds and Beasts”: Mixed Media Constructions by Vicki Fish

Landscapes: Prints by Gesine Janzen @ Exit Gallery

ASMSU Campus Entertainment presents Landscapes, a collection of new prints by Gesine Janzen. Janzen, Associate Professor of Art and Head of Printmaking at MSU, received a Scholarship and Creativity Grant from the University to help support the work. The exhibit will be showing in the Exit Gallery November 2 – 13. There will be a free public artist reception Wednesday, November 4 from 5-7pm.

The Exit Gallery is located in Strand Union Building room 212, Montana State University, Bozeman. Hours are Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm.

Tibetan Sand Mandala Project at the Helen E. Copeland Gallery

The MSU School of Art is proud to present a Tibetan Sand Mandala Project at the Helen E. Copeland Gallery. The Venerable Ngawang Chojor, who is a senior monk from Namgyal Monastery, will construct the mandala, a sacred Buddhist practice, in the Helen E. Copeland Gallery at the School of Art. The presentation begins Thursday, October 29 at 11 a.m. with a blessing ceremony. Chojor will work on the mandala, an intricate design “painted” with various colors of fine sand, continuously on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday from 12-noon to 3:00 p.m., for public viewing. Chojor’s visit to Bozeman concludes with the traditional destruction of the mandala and the burial of the sand in the ground outside Haynes Hall. Chojor will be on hand to answer visitors’ questions about the mandala. A lecture will be held, Thursday, October 29 from 5:10-6:00pm in Cheever 215 that will discuss the project.  There will also be a special presentation by the Tibetan Children’s Education Foundation at the Bozeman High School Cafeteria, Thursday, from 7-9pm. Admission to all events is free and open to the public.

Created meticulously by hand, sand mandalas follow traditional patterns and are objects of meditation that represent the universal qualities of harmony, balance, community, and pure wisdom. The construction of the sand mandala begins with an opening ceremony in which the Tibetan monks bless the area. After drawing an outline of the mandala on a wood backing, the monks carefully lay colored sands over the design using traditional metal funnels called chak-pur. There are many types of mandala images, each with it’s own cosmology, symbols, and meanings. Traditionally, most sand mandalas are destroyed shortly after completion, as a metaphor for the impermanence of life. The intricate geometric design is swept up and the sands placed in an urn and dispersed, a process, which Tibetans believe carries the mandala’s blessing throughout the world. Chojor will bury the sand from the gallery’s mandala at the conclusion of the demonstration on Sunday at 3:00 p.m.

The Venerable Ngawang Chojor is the most accomplished sand mandala constructor alive today and is the primary teacher of the monks who construct sand mandalas. His visit is made possible by the Tibetan Children’s Education Foundation in Helena, serving Tibetan refugees.

The Helen E. Copeland Gallery is located on the second floor of Haynes Hall on the MSU-Bozeman campus.  Haynes Hall is on 11th Avenue near the duck pond.  For more information, please call Erin W. Anderson at 994-2562.

Forty Years! Student Print Sale @ MSU

The MSU School of Art is proud to present a Forty Years! Student Print Sale: 1970 – 2009.  Forty years of student prints will be on sale at the Helen E. Copeland Gallery on Thursday, November 5, from 10:00am – 7:00pm. Prints will be priced from $5 – $20, and the proceeds will go towards visiting artists in printmaking. There will be a reception with music from 5 – 7pm in the gallery.

The Helen E. Copeland Gallery is located on the second floor of Haynes Hall on the MSU-Bozeman campus.  Haynes Hall is on 11th Avenue near the duck pond.  For more information, please call Erin W. Anderson at 994-2562.

Exit Gallery Call for Entries!!!

ASMSU Arts and Exhibits is now accepting applications for exhibits in the Exit Gallery during the Spring 2010 semester. We’re looking for anyone and everyone, whether you are a student or an established artist. If accepted you will show your artwork in a two week solo exhibit with paid advertising and reception. This is a chance to promote yourself as an artist, promote the arts on campus, and sell your work! Seven spots are available. For an application or for more information please contact Stacey Ray, ASMSU Arts and Exhibits Director at  exhibits@montana.edu. Applications are due December 15, 2009.

jROD and Pyper Hugos: “The Creative Life”

Living an inspired life isn’t always easy, making a living off inspiration can be even harder. So, is the creative life worth it? Jarrod Eastman (aka jROD) and Pyper Hugos think so. They are the husband and wife behind jRODaRT and You Got Mojo. They met 11 years ago in Granada, Spain. Magnetized by their mutual love of life and creativity, they have been pursuing careers in the arts ever since they met. Jarrod has always been drawn to painting while Pyper’s love for anything old and rusty, especially metal, has led her to jewelry. jROD’s work leans towards an urban aesthetic while holding true to a painterly style. His paintings appear kinetic and surreal with the essence of a story just beginning or of one in progress. Pyper’s jewelry is beautiful in its simplicity of design and color. Using reclaimed automotive steel, found objects, and sterling silver, she reinvents pieces that transcend time and genres, creating art that is at once retro yet modern.

These two artists have teamed up with Amy Kirkland of Altitude Gallery to bring you a one night art extravaganza…“The Creative Life”. They will be showing new artwork from the last few months in the studio. jROD will also be releasing a new 16 x 20 limited edition print series, and Pyper will be unveiling new bracelets and rings in her line of jewelry. This event is sponsored by Altitude Gallery and Montana Ale Works and will take place at the gallery located at 134 E. Main St. from 5 to 9pm on November 6th, 2009. Stop by for some great art and libations.

For more information contact Amy @ 406.582.4472 or visit www.altitudegallerybozeman.com, www.yougotmojo.com, or www.jrodart.com.

In Memoriam: An Installation by Willem Volkersz

ASMSU Arts and Exhibits presents In Memoriam, an installation by Willem Volkersz. The exhibit will be showing for the first time in the Exit Gallery October 19-30. There will be a free public artist reception Wednesday, October 21 from 5-7pm in the gallery. The Exit Gallery is the MSU campus gallery and is located in Strand Union Building room 212, Montana State University, Bozeman. Hours are Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm. For more information please contact Stacey Ray, ASMSU Arts and Exhibits Director at 406.994.1828 or exhibits@montana.edu.

Artist Statement:
Several years ago, I learned that 165 students and former students from my elementary school in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, had died during the Holocaust. Although I did not start school until 1944, I feel a special kinship with these young people–we probably had some of the same teachers and their parents had the same passion for Montessori education as my family.

Much of my work as an artist has been autobiographical; my most recent solo exhibition (in 2008) was called Stories of War and Peace and dealt with my World War II memories and my family’s emigration to the US in the early 1950’s. Since life was difficult and because my parents were active in the underground (a number of Jews lived secretly under our roof), I grew up with a lot stories about the war. And, as kids, our lives were filled with the daily adventure of trying to take a shortcut to school by sneaking through a barbed wire barricade and with collecting Nazi helmets, broken rifles and spent cartridge belts we found in bombed structures.

In Memoriam consists of 165 wooden suitcases, one for each of the young people from my school who died in concentration camps. There are three sizes–the smallest for children 6 through 12 at the time of death, a medium size for teenagers, and a larger size for the two dozen who were in their late teens or early twenties. Many of the suitcase panels are made from plywood scrounged from the dumpster furniture factory where our son works. On each suitcase, I have painted the name of one of the children and the place, age and date of their death.

One additional component consists of a neon sculpture depicting a young, stooped boy carrying a suitcase (I have named him “Leo”). I am asking the staff at each venue that installs In Memoriam to interact with the work and to decide on how to display the 166 components. Whenever possible, I look forward to speaking about my family’s war experiences and the circumstances that led to the untimely death of these young people.

Speaking Volumes: Transforming Hate

Speaking Volumes: Transforming Hate is a visual arts exhibition encouraging a re-examination of international social justice. The exhibit features works by forty artists from across the United States reflecting upon and transforming volumes of white supremacist propaganda into thought-provoking, relevant works of art.

The impetus for the Speaking Volumes: Transforming Hate exhibit came from the Montana Human Rights Network that acquired a large quantity of white supremacist books from a defector. The books were used as a catalyst for change through collaboration with curators at the Holter Museum of Art in Helena, Montana. The Holter Museum issued a national call to artists to participate in the exhibition to create art from the hate books and turn them to constructive, positive use. The impressive result—sculpture, painting, photography, collage, printmaking, book art, beadwork, and mixed media is insightful and inspiring.These artworks will be on display at the Emerson’s Jessie Wilber Gallery from October 15 – December 15 and the Helen Copeland Gallery at Montana State University from November 23 – December 18.

In addition, artworks by the curator, activist-artist Katie Knight, will be on display in the Emerson Lobby from October 15 – December 15. This exhibit, Travels to Namibia is a collection of Knight’s photographs, woodblock prints and quilts interpreting her human rights advocacy experiences in Africa. Katie Knight is also the curator of the Speaking Volumes exhibit that is traveling throughout Montana.

Meet Katie Knight at the opening reception for the Emerson exhibits, on Tuesday October 20th at the Emerson. She will give a gallery talk about her mixed media works at 5:30 pm followed by a 6 pm talk in the Wilber Gallery on curating the Speaking Volumes: Transforming Hate exhibit.  Refreshments and a question/answer session will follow. The event is free and open to the public.

For further information please consult our website:; www.theemerson.org or contact  Ellen Ornitz, (406) 587.9797, ext. 104 or email: ellen@theemerson.org.

Transcontinental Fusion : A Collection of Oil Paintings by Christiane Buell

ASMSU Arts and Exhibits presents Transcontinental Fusion, a collection of oil paintings by Christiane Buell. The exhibit will be showing in the Exit Gallery October 5-16. There will be a free public artist reception Wednesday, October 14 from 5-7pm in the gallery.

Christiane Buell is an artist currently living in Helena, MT. She has been a Swiss citizen and resident of  California since 1994. She has attended Swiss College for Dance and Ballet, Alvin Ailey Dance School in New York, Swiss College of Fine Arts in Zurich, Switzerland, Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, CA, and the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, CA. Christiane has also been an artist in residence at the Montana Artists Refuge in Basin, MT.

The Exit Gallery is the MSU campus gallery and is located in Strand Union Building room 212, Montana State University, Bozeman. Hours are Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm. For more information please contact Stacey Ray, ASMSU Arts and Exhibits Director at 406.994.1828 or exhibits@montana.edu.

Mia Anima Gallery and Art Studio

The newest art gallery in The Emerson is the Mia Anima Gallery and Art Studio, located in the main gallery hall in Suite 110. A great time to check it out would be at this Friday’s Galleria art walk, October 9, 5-8 pm. The owner, artist Hallie Zolynski, tells about the gallery in Art Bozeman’s brief gallery interview format:

1. Please introduce yourself and your exhibit space.
Mia Anima Gallery and Art Studio is located in the Emerson Galleria Hall, Suite 110. We feature local artwork, apparel, and handmade crafts from Nepal and Tibet.

2. Do you have a defined mission or niche?
Our goal is to provide artwork that is affordable, local, and out of the ordinary.

3. What local/regional/national mix of artists have you had?
We have about 50% local, 25% regional, and 25% international work.

4. How do artists usually connect with you?
Artist come into the gallery usually, although I’m always on the look out when I’m out and about.

5. How should an artist looking for a show or advice best approach you?
By email (hzolynski@yahoo.com) (406-580-3597), then make an appointment.

6. Anything else you’d like to tell artists and art aficionados?
I love making art and showing art. Never give up on your goals and dreams!

Hallie is currently seeking another artist to show in Mia Anima. Please contact her if you’re interested!