Spring at The Artists Hand!

        

With the new season comes new events and new artwork at The Artists Hand Gallery! Here’s what’s going on in April! Stop in to catch the latest exhibit, come to an opening reception, or just to see the latest artwork (with coffee in hand, of course!)

***Also this month, the Artists Hand will take part in the Pajama Program, a fundraiser drive for new pajamas and books for those in need. The cast and crew of IUP’s upcoming musical, “The Pajama Game”, bring this to you! Please help us support their worthy cause!***

Children’s Make & Take Workshops—Saturdays at 10am and Noon

April 12—Corey Lim is back to lead students in a creative drawing lesson! Bring your imagination.

April 19—Megan Sowers will work with students to create a sculpture of their name using yarn.

For children ages 6-12. Classes are $20 per child. Stop in or call to register!

The University Goes Downtown; Civil Rights Act of 1964—Opening Reception

April 4, 6-8pm—the opening reception of a celebration exhibit brought to us by IUP’s University Museum. Free to all!

Downtown Jam

April 10, 6-8pm—The Westsylvania’s monthly Downtown Jazz and Blues Festival is back! Bring your axe or stop by to listen. All ages and skill levels welcome! BYOB.

Lit. Night!

April 25, 6-8pm—Our Espresso Bar will host its monthly Lit Night, an open mic night for writers to share their poetry, prose, and performance! Come and share or listen! All are welcome. BYOB!

PATRICK MCKELVEY

            “I grew up in Indiana, lived in southern Virginia for about 20 years and then returned to Indiana where I have been doing artwork on and off for the last couple decades. I like to draw and paint from life and from memory or imagination. The mountains, streams, farms and fields, the people and the houses, the skies, seasons, even the weeds I find very appealing. Some paintings are done on location, some are based on photographs, while others are complete inventions done in the studio.

            “I’ve been doodling and sketching as long as I can remember. In the mid 70’s I attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia for two semesters. Prior to that time I worked primarily in pencil, pen and ink and water color. After the Academy I worked almost exclusively in oil, with an occasional pencil drawing now and then.”     

                                                                                         -Patrick McKelvey

            Painting from memory was a practice often used by landscape artists like Georgia O’Keeffe and Vincent Van Gogh, and it serves Mr. McKelvey as well. Patrick’s paintings exhibit mastery brush strokes with subtle texturizing through thicker use of oil in some and smoother consistencies in others. He captures the lushness and variety of the Pennsylvanian landscape, and his works are extraordinary additions to our gallery. Pictured above is “Early Morning Mist.” $560.00.

The University Museum Goes Downtown

Civil Rights Act of 1964 - A Celebration Exhibit

The 14^th Amendment to the Constitution, passed in 1868, extended “equal protection of the laws” to all United States citizens. However, hidebound prejudices and social customs kept people of color and women “in their places,” denying them full legal rights well into the second half of the 20^th century. Segregation of schools and other public facilities was especially common in the South but not unknown in the North. Poll taxes, literacy tests, and outright intimidation discouraged African Americans from registering to vote. Women as well as people of color commonly experienced discrimination in employment and wages.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 brought American society closer to realizing the promise of its Constitution, ensuring rights and opening new opportunities for people of color and for women.

"Thou Shall Not Stand Idly By"

by Ben Shahn

With Civil Rights Act of 1964 – A Celebration Exhibit, the University Museum at IUP celebrates this progress with a selection of American art from its permanent collection, including eight works created by African American women and a suite of nine prints by Ben Shahn commemorating the history of the Civil Rights Movement.

"Vintage Red" by Tina Brewer

The exhibition is supported, in part, by the Student Cooperative Association at IUP, private donations, and a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts through the Pennsylvania Rural Arts Alliance.

The show runs from April 1, 2014 to May 3, 2014, with an Opening Reception, Friday, April 4, 2014 from 6 to 8. The Opening Reception is open to the public.

DARIA VARNER

         Daria T. Varner graduated from IUP in 1957 with a Bachelor of Science in Art Education. She then became an Elementary Art teacher in the Quaker Valley School District. After the first of her four children was born, she retired from her teaching profession. Daria has successfully displayed her oils, acrylics, and watercolors in many of the shows presented by the Indiana Art Association. Her travels to Europe, the Middle East, and the Caribbean have influenced her original pieces of art. She is also a gifted calligrapher, having been the window designer for Luxenberg’s Jewelry store for more than 30 years, and taught calligraphy to several classes of adult students.

           Daria’s control over her chosen mediums makes her pieces truly beautiful. In her watercolors, like the two above, she creates a stunning sense of space through shadow, reflection, and overlapping. Employing these techniques make for a perfect nautical scene, as well as a foliage collage. Daria has three pieces in our gallery, all watercolors, and all extremely unique in style and subject.