Juried Show 2022
Juried Show 2022

This summer, the annual Juried Show will be on display at the Gallery from June 28 to August 19. 

The Gallery received more than 150 entries from more than 50 artists from across the region. Maria Jost, our 2022 juror, selected 47 pieces for exhibition. Thirty-seven of the selections are 2D works, with the remaining 10 being 3D.

Maria Jost is a Tacoma-based artist whose work is primarily influenced and inspired by the biological sciences. She creates small illustrative pieces using watercolor, ink and collage elements made from original illustrations, and larger installations using a variety of materials and digital editing techniques.

Jost received a Bachelor of Science in biology with a minor in studio art from the University of Puget Sound, and a Master of Education in science education from the University of Washington.

Learn more about Maria Jost by visiting her website at mariajost.com.

The Juried Show reception and awards ceremony will be held on Friday, July 8, from 6 to 8 pm. Some artists will receive monetary prizes, and more than $2,500 will be awarded altogether!

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Sandy Aronson and Mike Brown
Sandy Aronson and Mike Brown

This June, the Gallery at the Park presents a new 2D and 3D exhibition featuring the art of Sandy Aronson and Mike Brown.

Sandy Aronson has been painting, drawing and working with fiber, glass and gemstones most of her life. She attended Eastern Washington University and received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing with additional credits in studio art and computer graphics.

Over the past 35 years, Aronson’s work has been shown in more than a dozen juried shows across the Pacific Northwest, earning her various awards in oil, water and painting categories. Exhibition locations include Jundt Art Museum, Evergreen Association of Fine Arts, Roslyn Art Festival, Wallowa Valley Festival of Arts and more.

Mike Brown is a woodworker from the Pacific Northwest who likes to express himself by building works of art with glass and exotic hardwoods. He developed his passion for woodworking at 15 years old after starting a job at a glass shop, where his boss mentored him in all aspects of construction.

Brown retired from the glass business after 35 years and is now pursuing woodworking fulltime. He has won multiple Best of Show awards at the annual Artistry in Wood juried shows, as well as Best of Class and Best of Division awards at the Juried Woodworking show. He also enjoys turning bowls and vases on his lathe. 

Sandy Aronson and Mike Brown’s show will be on display at the Gallery from May 31 to June 25.

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Plein Air Washington Artists
Plein Air Washington Artists

This May, the Gallery at the Park is showcasing an exciting new exhibition from the Plein Air Washington Artists (PAWA). The PAWA Exhibition features a combined total of almost one hundred works from two different events: a Juried Event and a Plein Air Paint Out Event.

Literally meaning “open air,” plein air was developed in the 19th century among French impressionists, including Monet, Pissarro and Renoir. Plein air painting refers to the act of painting outdoors and represents an artist’s direct response to the scene in front of them. This form of painting is characterized by the luminous effect of natural light, which produces an airy, natural tone in contrast to the artificial light sometimes associated with paintings created in a studio.

For the Plein Air Juried Event, 33 artists submitted 159 works, from which Jurors Mary Dryburgh and Judith Loomis selected 39.

The Plein Air Paint Out Event, which takes place from May 3 through May 6, will have about 40 participants painting in the Tri-Cities and surrounding areas. This event is an opportunity for PAWA members from all over the state to paint the beautiful vistas of Eastern Washington.

Every artist participating in the Juried Event and Plein Air Paint Out Event is a member of the Plein Air Washington Artists. To join this group of painters, visit the PAWA website at pleinairwashingtonartist.com.

These events were made possible by the support and donations from the following sponsors: BLICK art materials; Fredrix Canvas; Chelsea Classical Studio Fine Art Materials; M. Graham & Co.; Rosemary & Co., The Finest Quality Handmade Artists’ Brushes; Vasari Classic Artists’ Oil Colors; and Blue Ridge Oil Colors.

The Plein Air Washington Artists Exhibition will be on display at the Gallery at the Park from May 6 through May 28.

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Scholarship Show 2022
Scholarship Show 2022

This April, the Gallery at the Park presents its 2022 Scholarship Show. The Scholarship Show is an exhibition of two artists: a visual arts MFA student who is enrolled in a university in Washington, Idaho, or Oregon and a student enrolled in the Columbia Basin College arts program.

Allied Arts Jurors Mary Dryburgh and Jan Nilsson selected Jordan Sabolick as this year’s MFA winner. They described Jordan’s work as being “an exemplary exploration of intimate home life.”

Jordan was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA and began a formal drawing and painting education in 2014. He obtained a BFA from California Sate University in Long Beach and is currently an MFA candidate at the University of Washington.

The CBC winner is Amber Bamber, an art therapy student who began her artistic journey after using art as a way to meditate. Amber was selected by the CBC Art Department.

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Rae Ella Long and Erin Markee
Rae Ella Long and Erin Markee

This March, the Gallery at the Park presents a new 2D and 3D art exhibition from mixed media artist Rae Ella Long and ceramics artist Erin Markee.

Rae Ella Long began painting at 12 years old “out of a necessity for a form of expression and comfort.” She has always found it easier to express herself through painting than to do so with words. As she grew older, she became interested in pushing the boundaries of how far she could go with her art while using the materials she had been given.

When she was in high school, Long spent time as a teacher’s assistant for elementary school art classes, where she saw the teacher and students continually asking, “Why not?” about their artistic endeavors. Witnessing their incredible imagination furthered Long’s notion that art should have no limitations.

Long often adds 3D objects to do 2D surfaces, creating art pieces that have a mix of textures, mediums and repurposed objects. She draws inspiration from all things creepy and unusual, and she enjoys combining dark themes with bright colors and hidden meanings. She also has a softer side to her art, inspired by friends and family.

See more of Rae Ella Long’s work on Instagram at ‘creepy.in.color_rl’ and ‘queen_of_copper23.’

As a ceramicist, Erin Markee is attracted to working with clay because she finds the entire creative process of throwing, carving, glazing and firing to be meditative and uplifting. She particularly focuses on how she has to use earth, water, fire and air, referring to the union of the four elements as “extremely magical.”

Some of Markee’s most popular works have been her realistic mushroom sculptures. She believes fungi are an integral part of the natural world, spreading information between trees in forests and creating links between plants, trees, animals and humans. Fungi give nutrients to plants, but they can also kill them. Folklore even tells us of mushrooms formed in circles to create portals to the spirit realms.

For this exhibit, Markee explores the motif of a ring, which can symbolize life cycles, the flow of nature, harmony and unity, infinity, symmetry and balance in nature. She keeps this shape in mind as she finds inspiration in flora and fauna, drawing connections between the natural world and their cycles. 

Markee also aims to create a sense of duality within her work. You should be able to see something different from each side of a piece or by turning a piece upside down, hopefully encouraging people to view their own reality from a different perspective.  

This magical, imaginative exhibition from Rae Ella Long and Erin Markee will be on display at the Gallery at the Park March 1 through 26. The open house will be on Sunday, March 6, 1 to 3 p.m., and will feature live music from Joe Winters.

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