New exhibit opens Friday at museum
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 9 years, 6 months AGO
‘Mid-Winter Ballet,’ by artist Susan Steinhaus Kimmel, will be among the works on display in the exhibit opening Friday at the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center.
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | July 7, 2016 6:00 AM
MOSES LAKE — The opening reception for a new exhibit featuring four artists – and friends – from Wenatchee is scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday at the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center, 401 South Balsam St.
Admission to “Four Northwest Visions” is free.
Artists James Huber, Russell Hepler, Robert Wilson and Susan Steinhaus Kimmel will display paintings, mixed media collages and handmade books. This is the first group show for the quartet, Kimmel said.
The opening reception also includes a project for adults, part of the museum’s “Adult Swim” series. Crafters will have the chance to decorate mugs using permanent markers.
Kimmel said the four artists met while they were members of the board of the Robert Graves Gallery, on the campus of Wenatchee Valley College. While working on gallery business they became friends. “We just really get along well.”
As they became friends they realized they had something in common as artists too. “There is a common core that is present in all our work,” Kimmel said. All are abstract artists, and all use art to express their beliefs and what they see as common human values.
They also discovered their ways of working had something in common too. “We really do have this intuitive way of working,” Kimmel said. They are interested in texture and shape along with color, and that led some of them to collage, she said. “We allow the material to dictate where the piece might go.”
Huber and Hepler are displaying paintings, while Kimmel will display mixed media collages and six handmade books. Wilson uses oil sticks, “like an oily crayon, is how I would describe them,” on paper and mixes in found objects, Kimmell said.
All have other careers in addition to art. Kimmel was an art professor at Columbia Basin Community College, and Huber is an elementary school art teacher. Hepler is an architectural designer, who designs interiors for new buildings constructed by his firm.
Camas Cove Cellars will be selling beverages during the artists’ reception.
The “Adult Swim” program was inspired by the tradition at public swimming pools of setting aside a time for the adults, according to a press release from the museum. It’s been a feature at all opening receptions this year, with a different activity each time.
ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER
Aaron Garza selected as Othello Police Chief
OTHELLO — New Othello Police Chief Aaron Garza said he likes serving his community.
Othello School District to offer four-year EP&O levy
OTHELLO — Othello School District voters will decide the fate of a four-year educational programs and operations levy in a special election Feb. 10. Ballots are being mailed this week. Typically, Othello has submitted a three-year levy to voters, but Othello Superintendent Pete Perez said there are no guarantees when it comes to state funding. “I think it's certainly the unease around finances in the state of Washington for schools,” Perez said. “We were trying to look for a little more predictability and stability, and so the community group felt like four years was the appropriate amount of time for us to consider.”
New location, new look for Othello Library
OTHELLO — The Othello Library is attracting a lot of attention in its new space. “Everybody comments on how beautiful it is, and how fresh it is, and that it looks great, and that they’re really happy,” Othello Head Librarian Georgia Reitmire said. “One of our customers came in this morning, and she said, ‘Everybody in town is talking about the new library.’ And I thought, ‘That is amazing.’” The library moved to its new location, 125 E. Hemlock St., in December. While the new and old libraries are about the same size, the new library adds meeting rooms and updated spaces students can reserve to study. “We’re way busier than we used to be. Way busier,” said Jenny Nayala, library customer service specialist.