A retrospective on the work of watercolor artist Karen Leigh opens at FVCC
Daily Inter-Lake | UPDATED 5 days, 7 hours AGO
A watercolor painting by artist Karen Leigh.
The Wachholz College Center’s Wanda Hollensteiner Art Gallery on the campus of Flathead Valley Community College is hosting an exhibition, “Karen Leigh: A Retrospective,” on display Jan. 15 through March 27. A public opening reception is on Wednesday, Jan. 21 from 5-7 p.m.
A fourth-generation Montanan, artist Karen Leigh is an award-winning master of watercolor painting. She has taught at Flathead Valley Community College for over 53 years, and she offers workshops both locally and abroad. Her primary interest is transparent watercolor, and she has studied under some of the finest masters of the medium, including Irving Shapiro, Skip Lawrence, Joseph Zbukvic and Carla O’Connor.
Always on the lookout for ‘accidental magnificence,’ she is particularly interested in finding beauty in unexpected places. Junk yards and rusty machinery offer many exciting possibilities, but figures and urban landscapes have recently become important subjects in her work as well.
Leigh’s work can be found in many private and public collections, including the George W. Bush Presidential Library and the Smithsonian Institution. In 2007, she was selected to design an ornament for the White House Christmas Tree, honored alongside other contributing artists at a White House reception hosted by First Lady Laura Bush. Most recently, Leigh was accepted into the Northwest Watercolor Society’s 85th Annual International Competition, one of only 80 selected artists around the world, where she won an award and gained the society’s “signature status.”
Leigh is currently a full-time painter and maintains a sunny studio in the historic Eastside Brick apartments in Kalispell across from Cornelius Hedges Elementary School, which was named after her great-grandfather, the territory’s first Superintendent of Public Instruction. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, skiing, and hiking.
Following the opening event, the exhibition will be available for public viewing through March 27. The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. as well as during showtimes for patrons with tickets to performances.
To stay up to date on the current art featured in the Wanda Hollensteiner Art Gallery and to find information about the Wachholz College Center, visit wccmt.org and follow the Wachholz College Center on Facebook and Instagram.