A literary arts magazine on walls

5/29/2024

A unique art show featuring several area artists and writers opens this weekend in Foxburg.

“EKPHRASIS: Writers Responding to Artists” showcases 15 visual artists creations that were shown to writers from the Bridge Literary Arts Center who then created poetry to accompany the works.

The writers are expected to give readings from 4 to 6 p.m. this Sunday at the Red Brick Gallery at 17 Main Street in Foxburg, Pennsylvania.

“When I began discussing this collaboration with poet Phil Terman, of the Bridge Literary Arts Center, I saw it as an opportunity to connect our audience, and our cooperative members at the Red Brick Gallery, with a broader range of artists and writers than ever before,” said Jason Lewis, curator of the Red brick Gallery.

“I requested assistance from co-curator Barbara Pierce of Arts Oil City. Bringing her experience with collaboration and arts promotion, she was able to put me in contact with several established regional artists with whom I was not familiar. For example, some members of the Roycroft collective, the Northwest Pennsylvania Artists' Association, and participants in the artist relocation program in Oil City, have been included in this exhibit. Thanks to Barbara, we together have collected a distinctive group of artists from all over Northwest Pennsylvania.”

The pairings include:

Brady Buchanan responding to artist Karl Jacobson’s Coal Tipple
Raymond Gerrard Bugay to James Stewart’s Young Poet
Cory Childs to Richard Sayer’s Weary Christ
Cindy Eckert to Andrew Hazelton’s Gliding
Austin Gray to Kathe Umlauf’s Screech Owl
Aster Grim to Marcy Hall’s World Bearing Turtle
Byron Hoot to Keith Hileman’s Autumn
Tracy Lander-Garrett to Jamie Hunt’s October Sunrise with Fog Rolling Downstream
Garth Porter to Mary Hamilton’s Journey
John Miller to Greg Clary’s Bashful Cow
Barbara Rumore to CJ Hurley’s River Alpha
Deborah Sarbin to Rafi Perez’s Source of Happines
Juanita Smart to Anne Cutri’s Sun Drenched Vineyard
Phil Terman to Mike Hoover’s One of the Apples
Patricia Thrushart to Julia McCray’s Peekaboo Moon.

Lewis said adding the poetry aspect to a traditional gallery experience creates a new dimension in which to view and understand the work. The hope is that through the interpretation of work, by a viewer who is also a creative, discusses layers of meaning that may not have been readily available to the casual observer.

“I hope this exhibit will foster connectedness and build bonds between the creators, and with our audience,” Lewis added. “I know it will serve as a celebration of the diverse creative talent that is flourishing in our region.”

The Red Brick Gallery hours are Fridays from 1 to 6 p.m., Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sundays noon to 5.p.m.

The opening reception from 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday is followed by a concert next door by acclaimed award winning bluegrass artist Becky Buller and her band.