News Review
Two Nature-Related Art Exhibits Open
Art exhibits complement historical "Mapmaker's Eye" exhibit
Two Northwest landscape artists are featured in new exhibits at the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center that complement the traveling exhibit, “The Mapmaker’s Eye: David Thompson on the Columbia Plateau.” Sharing space in the Main Gallery with the historical exhibit on 19th-century explorer Thompson is “The Naturalist’s Eye: Heather A. Wallis Murphy,” while works by landscape painter Sam Collett appear in the Gold Gallery.
Inspired by early explorers and naturalists, Murphy creates artistic studies of plants, animals and landscapes of the Cascades. She developed strong observational skills while working for 30 years as a wildlife biologist for the Wenatchee National Forest. An assortment of her field journals and wildlife equipment is on display, along with paintings, posters, prints, nature journals and press sheets of her popular Walleye Cards. “The Naturalist’s Eye” continues through September 25.
Collett is a portrait, figurative and landscape artist living in Joseph, Oregon. He says the forested mountains and rural ranch settings of northeast Oregon are a constant source of inspiration to him. Painting in the “plein air” tradition, outdoors on the site, Collett uses quick, loose, and descriptive brush strokes to capture the lighting and ambience of the scene. His show at the Museum will end August 28.
Community members are welcome to meet Murphy and Collett at a reception at the Museum on Friday, August 6, from 5:00-7:00pm. Admission is free and hours are extended on the first Friday of every month. The Museum is located at 127 South Mission Street in Wenatchee. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00am-4:00pm. For more information, call (509) 888-6240.