JULY 31 - SEPTEMBER 1 IN GALLERY II

Tobacco Gardens at Dusk -Morgan Wagner

morgan wagner

in Gallery II

celebrating the essence

My still life and plein air oil and watercolor paintings are born from a need to develop as an artist. I choose to paint, rather than photograph, because while a photograph can do a good job of preserving a specific image and time, it can’t select for the most important details in a subject. In addition, it doesn’t allow for the time, careful scrutiny, and intention it takes to make a painting. I’ve heard love described as: “paying careful attention to.” If this is the case, when I practice painting, I am practicing love.

My work focuses on the essence of what makes my everyday subjects beautiful. I try to create an impression of light and form, simplifying shapes and distilling the subject down to its most important parts. I have a long way to go at perfecting this technique and that’s part of the fun. My practice is something I plan to pursue throughout my entire life because I believe there will always be room to grow.

Each painting was created in a single session, usually between 2 or 3 hours long. I painted the still lifes in my apartment while listening to music or podcasts, typically in my kitchen. The landscapes were painted on-site, plein air. It’s important to me that I paint what my eyes see, so they were all painted directly from life, not from a picture.

When I see them, these paintings make me hopeful that it’s worth the effort to try again and again, that daily, sustainable, practice yields the most powerful results, and that practicing for a lifetime is the only way to know just how good I can get.

JULY 3 - JULY 28 IN GALLERY I

Photo by Johnathan Campbell

NDCA/ND STATE PARKS

in Gallery I

ART IN THE PARKS

Each Year the North Dakota Parks & Recreation Department and North Dakota Council on the Arts put out a call for Artists to participate in the Artist in Residency program within the North Dakota State Parks. The Artist in Residency program offers artists the opportunity to stay and work in unique environments where they’ll draw inspiration from a North Dakota State Park, demonstrate their skills, and assist park visitors of all ages in discovering their artistic side.

The program's goal is to continue creating works of art that showcase, document, and celebrate our North Dakota state parks while providing opportunities for visitors to become stewards, with a deeper appreciation of artistic works inspired by the state parks. Artworks generated from this program have characterized the state's beauty for present and future generations, allowing park visitors to see North Dakota through the eyes and ears of contributing artists.

JULY 3 - JULY 28 IN GALLERY II

LEAH OLSON

in Gallery II

CAPTURING THE FUTURE’S PAST

Shiny, new things are nice, but I prefer antiques that are imbued with life.

North Dakota has always been my home, and I have always been fond of the old buildings that rested on the prairie. Each building with its slivering wood has a hidden story, and each time one collapses or is set aflame, history dies. The landscape and animals upon it keep changing, and though I can't save an old church from crumbling to the ground or a tranquil valley from being urbanized, I can capture it.

 One day everything we know will be different. Our present is a gift, and in the future, it will only be memories. A picture can capture a thousand words, but it takes a painting to capture emotion. I want to capture what I see for both the people of today and the people who may never get to experience it. Perhaps we can hold onto the past for so long, but eventually everything changes. When I paint my present, my world, I am painting the future’s past.

MAY 30 - JUNE 30 IN GALLERY I

LEITH howard DEWEESE

in Gallery I

KICK YOUR BOOTS OFF AND SET A SPELL

As life passes our roles change – Wife, Mother, Designer, Teacher and Retiree.  Time, materials, and priorities have dictated our choice of media.  Our skill set expands.  Favorites are lost and new loves are born.  Fighting mortality, we keep producing, marketing, and selling. 

The one constant is interaction, sharing our hard-won skills.  So, the Mission is to find new connections, keeping art and the creative spirit alive in this technological age.  

Leith was born in Logan, Utah.  She graduated from the University of Arizona with a B.F.A. in Art Ed. and a minor in Math.  Upon graduation, she continued her schooling, completing the Graphic Design Program.  Her efforts resulted in employment as the staff designer at Pima Community College. She created all manner of printed material and several award-winning college catalog covers. It was also where she met her husband, Jerry.  A craftsman in his own right, they pursued silversmithing and lapidary. Their designs were exhibited at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. Leith and Jerry artistically collaborated their entire marriage.  After years of experimentation, they settled on wildlife relief carvings.

Leaving Tucson, they moved to southern Utah and then to Montana.  Leith maintained a teaching position in both her areas of study.  Her broad background was a real benefit to the school and students. Over her thirty+ teaching career, she enriched the curriculum by displaying student art, supporting drama productions, and designing proms, winning Anderson’s Annual National Prom Decorating Contest. During the Annual MCTM Math Competitions her students earned many awards.

Her students have had their work in the Big Sky Literary & Arts Magazine, the Junior Federal Duck Stamp Competition and Communication Arts Magazine.  Under her administration, Opheim School received grants for the Big Read Under the Big Sky, a project coordinated with the National Endowment of the Arts and the Montana Historical Society. 

As she approached retirement, Leith became interested in watercolor.  With her graphic design background, she has a good eye for composition and color.  With strong attention to detail, her paintings cover a wide range of western subjects - open vistas, failed homesteads, and past nostalgia. Her work was selected for the juried North Dakota Art Gallery Association 2017 tour.  She began doing exhibitions and selling at art shows. A prolific painter, Leith has exhibited with the Wild Bunch of Artists, the James Memorial, Western Art Week, Art in the Park Glasgow, Wolf Point, and Williston, the Rough Rider Fine Art Show, MonDak Art, the Phoenix Art Directors’ Graphic Design Show and Signature Tuscon Sci-fi Theme Posters. 

Leith has three children and six grandchildren.  Her husband is deceased.  She has a dynamic art studio in her home at Saint Marie where she gives private lessons and paints.