PSAC’s 6th Annual Juried Exhibition Attracts Artists
from the Four Corners States


By Linda Echterhoff

Pagosa Springs Arts Council’s 6th Annual Juried Exhibition, to open Thursday, June 25, 2009, will feature 28 masterful artworks created by 24 accomplished artists from Pagosa Springs and neighboring Four Corners communities. Entrants for this year’s exhibit were the most widely ranging and perhaps the most in number since the inception of this organization’s annual juried exhibit. This year 49 artists submitted 93 works. Exhibit submissions were received from as far away as the Colorado Front Range, across New Mexico and Salt Lake City, Utah. Over 25 Archuleta County artists entered the competition as well.

Some have asked me why I invite jurors for this annual exhibit from outside the Pagosa Springs area, and emote that a local juror would better ‘understand our community’s art’. There are valid points to both sides of this issue; perhaps sides will never agree. However, my vision for this annual exhibit is as a vehicle for bringing together local and regional artists and their art to create a cohesive dialogue about the issues and viewpoints that are important to our broader public.

The Pagosa Springs Arts Council’s mission is to help ensure a flourishing and diverse community by enriching lives through all the arts. It is imperative for our organization to serve and promote the arts for the benefit and enjoyment of our membership, artists and community. However, equally important is for our organization to bring perspectives on art from outside our community. This approach allows for educational transference, promotes transparency and serves to validate our own community’s art. Humans do not thrive in isolation, but flourish and grow through interaction and common dialogue. It is for these very reasons that I fully support our organization’s choice to invite outside jurors and open this important annual exhibit to artists from the Four Corners states.

I approached Laura Murphy, Adjunct Instructor at Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado about jurying this year’s exhibit after being introduced to her by one of my Rice University colleagues. My dear friend and colleague had met Laura at a national performing arts conference in Denver last year. Since that time several people well established in the region’s art world shared with me that Laura is a real mover and shaker in the arts and her community, and her credibility intrigued me immensely. I was pleased when Laura accepted my invitation to jury our organization’s 6th Annual Juried Exhibition.

Murphy says, “…this is a lovely exhibit and one I am proud to have been a small part. I was asked to choose work that best represented those submitted and I think these works do that — and so much more.” In this exhibit’s six-year history, I venture to say that we’ve never featured such a wide variety of artistic media; oils, acrylic, acrylic collage, watercolor, watercolor collage, linocut, pen + ink, pencil, steel, bronze, stone, wood, and a variety of mixed media including beaded works and textile art. There is something to satisfy everyone’s sensibilities and provoke thought.

It is not surprising to me that Laura Murphy selected several fiber artworks for this exhibit, considering she is an artist who works in fiber as well as ceramics and other media. One textile work, Recidivist, was created by artist Miriam Basart of Longmont, Colorado using the technique of Shibori, a Japanese term for several methods of dyeing cloth with a pattern by binding, stitching, folding, twisting, or compressing the fabric; a method also known as shaped resist dyeing. I ponder Basart’s title and wonder the story behind this compelling work. Perhaps she conveys the deep emotional scars of her past; of growing up just outside of war-torn London during World War II. Basart laments, “At school, children came to class in striped sweaters…made from remnants of wool left over from other hand knitted garments.” One can see in Basart’s textile art that she leans toward the re-use of old clothes. “What role will the jackets and trousers play next?” She picks them apart, washes and presses them, cuts them; then reassembles them. They are then intricately hand stitched by Basart to achieve her final desired effect.

The textile pieces presented by Linda Bennett of Pagosa Springs are on a lighter note than Basart’s work, but equally elegant and exquisitely rendered. Bennett’s Koi, a fabric on canvas work, employs piecing, stitching and painting to capture the serene beauty of koi moving effortlessly through rippled water. In Loyalty, Bennett uses stitching, painting and copper leaf on fabric to dialogue and reflect on William Shakespeare’s quote, “In thy face I see the map of honor, truth and loyalty”. This piece combines elements of traditional quilt making with appliqué and other fine stitchery.

Linda was born in Chicago in the 1950s. After studying art, music and theatre in high school, Bennett graduated from the Calligraphy Center in San Francisco and began a career in graphic design. She has worked for the marketing department at the San Francisco Opera House, and while there participated in the planning, design, and art direction of collateral materials. Linda Bennett’s artwork is all about a composite of elements: texture, layering and ‘touchy feely’ materials. The fabrics she uses are from all over the world. Bennett says, “If it makes me want to sit on the floor and play, I want to use it.” She adds, “It is never easy to put your art ‘out there’ and be judged. Part of my soul is on the canvas. When the canvas rings true for me, it is ready to go into the world.” Linda Bennett should feel proud of her artistic accomplishments on display in this exhibit.

Diane Davis, another fabric artist of Pagosa Springs, presents her Sunset Snow Dusting on the Dunes, a felting of churro wool, merino wool and alpaca roving, a new medium for this artist. Davis, who recently re-emerged into art comments, “Felting has a wonderful tactile component and has a great potential for expressing images in a watercolor-like manner.” Davis used both wet and dry needle felting techniques in creating Sunset Snow Dusting on the Dunes, and achieved its color shifts by blending various colors of roving together and layering them in the application process.

Davis’ art career has been on hold for many years while she taught at Purdue and Valparaiso Universities. Her BFA and MFA degrees from Purdue University were in metalsmithing; at the time Diane worked in sculpture and jewelry. Similar to local bronze sculptor Roberto Garcia, Diane spent a year as an apprentice at the Johnson Atelier, a bronze foundry for casting artists’ work.

Another artwork that particularly resonates with me with its simplicity and focus is Heather Haupt Enos’ Whistle Stop Park, a linocut paying homage to the historic Niwot railroad of a by-gone era. The railroad was established by the Colorado Central Railroad in the late 1800s and paved the way for Niwot's settlement in Boulder County. This rail line was used by local farmers to transport their cattle directly to the Denver stockyards and their produce to nearby Boulder and Longmont.

Enos grew up on a small horse farm in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. >From a young age she explored her surroundings with hands and feet --- running through orchards, sloshing through streams, and working in the garden. Later she would commit these feelings and memories to paper through sketches or writing. Enos to this day continues to document her life experiences through creative writing, block print making and watercolor.

Linda Hogan, a recent transfer to the Pagosa Springs area, presents her Crevasses, a compelling three-dimensional acrylic painting on wood. Hogan began her art studies in Kansas where her father was an entrepreneur and inventor in the farm implement industry. She was always asking him questions as she watched him sketch countless new ideas. Thus began her ‘outside the box’ thinking and yearning to become an artist. Torn between her love of painting and sculpting, Hogan combines elements of both in her works. Her creations are known as assemblage to galleries and collectors internationally. Throughout her formal schooling Hogan amazed instructors with her ability to replicate an image but more so with her imagination and ingenuity. What artistic prowess Linda exhibits with her multi-dimensional representations!

Although best known for her serene mountain landscapes in watercolor and fabric painting, Pagosa Springs artist Jeanine Malaney presents a new energy and etherealness in her latest abstracted watercolor series. As highlighted by her work, Spirit Ascending Malaney’s fresh contemporary watercolors reinterpret the photography of colossal stars and nebulae captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. Spirit Ascending powerfully presents a dying star within the Bug Nebula (Photographic Credit: NASA/ESA/Jesus Maiz Apellaniz). Malaney expressed to me, “I love creating this new watercolor series. The works are so freeing and very fun to create.” I see masterful artistic growth in Jeanine within her latest series. I think we’ll see more of this incredible body of her work!

I say with certainty; art is a powerful means of human expression. Art is a language in and of itself, an unspoken language which is used to communicate and emote when the written or spoken word isn’t sufficient to express. Art is transformative. Art takes us places that we cannot see, hear, smell, touch or taste. Art moves us; inspires us, excites us, angers us, motivates us to action. Art can make us happy or sad, reflective on our past or pensive about our future. I cannot imagine a life without art. It is beauty; it is ugliness; it is hatred; it is love; it is frivolity; it is respect. Art is a universal language that we all can understand in our own interpretations. Art is subjective, with messages often deep and hidden; and its interpretations are to be left to the viewer. Juror Laura Murphy adds, “(The works in this exhibit) are delight for the spirit, a treat for the eye. These works invite one to revel in the pure pleasure of creating and creation, of living…of breathing. If, as Joseph Campbell insisted, artists are the storytellers of humanity, these works tell of a life worth living. Enjoy!”

As Adjunct Instructor at Adams State College, Laura Murphy teaches courses in Art Appreciation and Women Artists in Art. In 2000 Ms. Murphy earned her B.A. in Art, Summa cum Laude from Adams State College. In 2006 she achieved her M.F.A. Magna cum Laude in Open Media: Fibers and Ceramics from the same college. Laura has been showing her artwork since 1984; some of her most recent exhibits include the Midwinterfest Juried Exhibit, a Monte Arts Council exhibit in which she received First Place for her ceramic and fiber artwork, and the juried San Luis Valley Folk Arts and Fiber Festival Exhibit in Monte Vista, Colorado. Ms. Murphy is currently serving as President of the Monte Arts Council in Monte Vista, Colorado and is Co-Director of the San Luis Valley Folk Arts and Fiber Festival. In 2007, Murphy served as Interim Manager of the Monte Vista Chamber of Commerce. Primarily a painter for the past 20 years, Ms. Murphy now considers herself a mixed media artist.

The Pagosa Springs Arts Council’s 6th Annual Juried Exhibition, to be held at Town Park Gallery, 315 Hermosa Street, will run from June 25 – July 21, 2009. The First, Second and Third Place award honorees will be announced during the Artists’ Reception to be held at Town Park Gallery on Thursday, June 25, 2009 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. I will personally present these awards and make a statement about the exhibit on behalf of Ms. Murphy. Other Pagosa Springs area artists juried into this exhibit are; Sandy Applegate, Ellis Eaklor, Pierre Mion, and me. Our public, the Pagosa Springs community, will select the exhibit’s People’s Choice award winner by vote during the exhibit run.

In parallel with our 6th Annual Juried Exhibition, the Pagosa Springs Arts Council is sponsoring the adjunct exhibit, Salon Supplémentaire at the Ruby M. Sisson Memorial Library. Salon Supplémentaire will open with its Artists’ Reception to be held at the Library on Thursday, June 25, 2009 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Featured will be the artworks of Pagosa Springs artists Randy Albers, Virginia Bartlett, Denise Chaney, Sindey Greher, Sandra Kuhne, Mary Cruz Magdaleno, Jana Parkes, Marcia Pastuszek, Betty Slade and Jean Smith.

I decided to conduct Salon Supplémentaire to provide additional opportunity for us to feature more artworks than our little cramped Town Park Gallery can accommodate. Salon Supplémentaire was juried by local artists Sabine Baeckmann-Elge, Pierre Mion and me from the entry submissions we received for our 6th Annual Juried Exhibition. A People’s Choice award winner will be selected from Salon Supplémentaire via community vote during the exhibit run. Both the Ruby M. Sisson Memorial Library and the Pagosa Springs Arts Council are pleased to jointly present Salon Supplémentaire in parallel with the Arts Council’s 6th Annual Juried Exhibition. The Salon Supplémentaire sales commission proceeds will benefit the Ruby M. Sisson Memorial Library, the Pagosa Springs Arts Council, or both organizations, as directed by the artist. Salon Supplémentaire will run from June 25 – July 21, 2009 at the Ruby M. Sisson Memorial Library.

PSAC invites art connoisseurs and enthusiasts alike to come and explore the unique and evocative works on display in both of these exciting exhibits.