Dede Christman, Barbara Allen Dillon, and Bonni Glock @ Artists’ Gallery

Artists Dede Christman, Barbara Allen Dillon, and Bonni Glock will be featured during the month of July at the Artists’ Gallery in the Emerson, 111 S. Grand Ave, Bozeman.

The Gallery invites the public to a wine and cheese reception on Friday, July 11th, from 5:00 – 8:00 PM.

Dede Christman is presently exploring and creating variations of surfaces using textures to create animal forms in relief. In addition she will present her Yellowstone bowls which evoke landscape forms of the paint pots. Dede is also exploring combinations of shapes and surfaces in maquette form to ultimately become outdoor sculptures.

Barbara Allen Dillon’s show inspired by “Climate Exchange” will consist of new paintings, flameworked glass sculptures and mixed media, visualizing the ‘upside’ of global warming.

Bonni Glock, an abstract painter, will be showing a series of ideoforms, influenced by Paul Klee and Joan Miro.

Contact number: 406-587-2127

Kathryn Yelsa: ELEMENTS @ Aunt Dofe’s Hall of Recent Memory (updated)

Kathryn Yelsa is a Saint Ignatius sculptor who works with what she calls “opulent local materials” She showed work at the first Butte Phantom Galleries in 2004. Her older work proved her to be an accomplished sculptor, but she was also showing some of her newer work that took her insights a ways farther. In that work, Ms. Yelsa was treating “simple river stones” as if they were precious gems, and so, in her hands and eyes, they became precious gems. And simple river stones will never be simple again.

And neither will red dogwood bark, wire, and found doll parts after you see her Garden Goddess standing in the gallery. She has the rare sophistication to never allow her technique to overpower the materials so the bluebird on a chipped piece of found crockery is allowed to sing its clear, pure notes without the artist’s interference. Kathryn Yelsa will be showing some of her older work as well as her latest sculpture and wearable art at Aunt Dofe’s Hall of Recent Memory, 102 Main Street in Willow Creek from July 18 until August 10. She will be attending a reception during The Willow Creek Art Walk from 5 until 9 PM on Friday July 18. Please call Aunt Dofe’s at 285-6996 to arrange other viewing times while her show is up.

Bozeman High School Art Teachers Exhibition

The Helen E. Copeland Gallery announces its second summer exhibition in a series showcasing 3 different high schools. This exhibition, from Bozeman High School, features Pat Hoffman, Mark Sullivan, Kerry Corcoran, Stacie Smith, and Beth Plaff. Their work will be on display June 23rd through July 18th. An opening reception will be held Monday, June 23rd from 5:00 – 7:00pm.

A variety of different mediums make up the exhibition. We have two potters, Hoffman and Plaff who demonstrate two very different points of view in their work. Hoffman’s wall forms are inspired by the shape of seeds that developed from his recent investigations of organisms as “containers of life”.

Pfaff’s pottery demonstrates her mental energy and critical analysis of the external world. Mental alertness and self exploration define her process as an artist.

Smith’s metalwork and paintings are described as being funky, fun, elegant, and confident. She uses them to demonstrate her plethora of life experiences that have helped to develop her as a person and artist.

Sullivan’s paintings and drawings take on the construction of “guardian angels” that serve to teach, comment, protect, and keep him honest. He encourages you to not be told what the works mean, rather create your own sense as the viewer.

Corcoran’s drawings and prints reflect her studies of nature. Working with a combination of print mediums, Corcoran creates monotypes with woodcuts and collaging with multi-layering techniques.

The Helen E. Copeland Gallery is located in Haynes Hall on the MSU-Bozeman campus. All exhibitions and receptions are free and open to the public. For more information call Erin W. Anderson at 994-2562.

Montana leads New York in fine artists

Well, not in total number of fine artists, but we do lead in fine artists per capita, a statistic that I, personally, much prefer. We beat out California, as well, trailing only three states known for their artist colonies: New Mexico, Vermont, and Hawaii. We also rank high in photographers (slightly below New York), the other category encompassing visual artists, and in writers and announcers. The data is in the just-released “Artists in the Workforce” report from the National Endowment for the Arts (PDF document here).

For those concerned with economics, the New York Times noted the following:

“It’s easy to talk about artists in lofty and spiritual terms,” said Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. “Without denying the higher purposes of the artistic vocation, it’s also important to remember that artists play an important role in America’s cultural vitality and economic prosperity. Artists have immense financial and social impact as well as cultural impact.”

Following are all the job categories in which Montana appears in the top 10. The numbers represent artists per 10,000 population.

Anne Menge, Bozeman artist

Anne Menge just graduated from MSU with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in painting (and a minor in Psychology). Originally from Billings, she plans to pursue a MA in Art Therapy and a Master of Fine Arts with an interest in glass blowing and metalsmithing in the future at an out-of-state university.

I am primarily an oil painter and in recent years, I have switched to painting on much larger canvases. I enjoy painting the figure and also have a lot of fun with abstract imagery. My technique is always using thick and juicy impasto strokes and I have recently moved beyond the limitations of the brush and palette knife to literally squeezing my mixed paint onto the canvas in various ways. I work with huge mounds of paint on my palette (often 5 and 6 cups of paint at a time) and this is one of the most delightful things I think an oil painter can experience. Oils have a saturation that is unparalleled by any other medium and their creamy consistency only adds to the wonderful sensation.

Also, I have developed my own abstract process of using various types of thick textures, then overlaying them with very thin paint. As the thin paint drips down my paintings it tends to follow the contours of my textures. Finally, I always bring my hand back into the equation by adding finishing touches, often finding interesting shapes in the drip and accentuating them.

See the Bozeman artists page for Anne’s contact information.

“Green Light” call for entries

VSA arts and Volkswagen of America, Inc., announce “Green Light” call for entries

Deadline: July 11, 2008 (midnight, MST)

VSA arts, under generous sponsorship from Volkswagen of American, Inc., launched the seventh call for entries to identify emerging artists with disabilities, ages 16-25, who demonstrate promise in the visual arts. The call, entitled “Green Light”, encourages artists to consider the motivations behind their work and the infinite possibilities that creativity provides. Art must be an original work that has been completed in the last three (3) years. Eligible media include: paintings and drawings (oil, watercolor, acrylic, pencil or charcoal), fine art prints (lithographs, etching, intaglio, or woodcuts), photography, computer generated prints and two-dimensional mixed media. Virtually any media that may be represented in two-dimensions. Artwork should not exceed 60 inches in either direction. NEW THIS YEAR: Sculpture and time-based media (video, film etc.) will also be considered. Sculpture should not exceed 24 inches in any direction.

Fifteen (15) finalists will be awarded a total of $60,000 in awards during an awards ceremony on Capitol Hill during the Fall 2008, and artwork will be displayed in a nation-wide touring exhibition that debuts at the Smithsonian.

For additional information, please visit: http://www.vsarts.org/VWcall Phone 800.933.8721 x3885; Email: jcwexler@vsarts.org Alternative formats of the call are available upon request.

Ed.: Please pass this on if you know a young artist with a disability.

Calling Northwest artists

Tacoma Art Museum Announces Call to Artists for 9th Northwest Biennial

Online Submission Deadline is Midnight Saturday, July 26
www.TacomaArtMuseum.org/biennial and www.callforentry.org

(Tacoma, WA) – Tacoma Art Museum is accepting entries for the 9th Northwest Biennial from Saturday, June 14 through Saturday, July 26, 2008, via the CaFÉ (Call for Entry) online application process. The Biennial is open to current residents of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. (Tacoma Art Museum employees, trustees, and their families are not eligible.) Only work created since January 2007 will be considered. Artists working in a wide variety of media, including traditional forms, craft-based work, conceptual, performance, installation, and digital projects, are encouraged to apply. There is a nonrefundable $25 entry fee. Applications will be juried by Alison de Lima Greene, Curator of Contemporary Art and Special Projects at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and Rock Hushka, Director of Curatorial Administration and Curator of Contemporary and Northwest Art at Tacoma Art Museum. Deadline for entries is midnight on Saturday, July 26, 2008.

The 9th Northwest Biennial will focus on the current aesthetic and conceptual concerns addressed by regional artists. “Northwest artists adapt and shed ideas, media, and imagery to define themselves as artists while reinventing or restating the core notion of a Northwest artist,” said Hushka. “Because the concept of ‘regional art’ continually collapses and rebuilds, the subtle shifts in the imagery, stylistic impulses, and conceptual foundations reveal how the region’s artist community participates in the broad dialogue of contemporary art.”

Online Submission Process

Tight wires between us, pegs too deep to uproot: Courtney Blazon @ Tart

Pen and Marker drawings by Courtney Blazon
Opening Reception – Artwalk
Friday, June 13th 5-8 p.m.

Inspired by fragments of Sylvia Plath poems, these intricate and surreal pieces will be on display through the month of June. Courtney has been a tartist for months selling her cards, stickers and checkbook covers. I am so excited to show her original work, which must be seen to be appreciated.

There’s lots more going on at Tart. To subscribe to an email newsletter, click here.

Montana Institute of the Arts show @ the Library

The public is invited to the opening reception and award presentation for the 7th annual Montana Institute of the Arts show and sale in the Atrium Gallery Friday, June 6, 5-8 p.m. The show, juried by Ray Campeau, will be on display through July 28, and a portion of sales will benefit the Library.