Barbara Gehringer, the Executive Director of the FAAA and Gallery 92 West, is the featured artist in Gallery A. Barbara graduated from the University of Nebraska-Omaha with degrees in both Studio Art and Art History. Her areas of concentration were papermaking and printmaking, (and Chemistry, if you count the BA “Before Art” years!)

She has carried around a camera pretty much non-stop since her brother taught her how to use one when she was nine.  Since college, she has been a Certified Picture Framer and co-owner of Clarkson Street Gallery in Fremont for over 20 years.

This show is a combination of all of those passions, with works in a variety of media including photography, papermaking, papermarbling, and collage. “I enjoy working with all kinds of papers, especially those I have made myself.  Those can have such a rich textural quality and yet a soft hand. I have found the art of making hand-pulled marble papers the most captivating and intriguing. The opportunity for this show has allowed me to explore that whole process at a more intense level, and push beyond just producing decorative sheets to seeing and creating considerably more!”

“The auspicious timing of this exhibit coinciding with my 50th birthday has been genuinely special! It provided a wonderful challenge to create new work, allowed time for reflection, and exploration, and instigated an awesome excuse to celebrate a big birthday besides! I can think of no more extraordinary way to celebrate the Art of Living than to Make Art!”

 The reception for Barbara Gehringer, Julie Schram, and loft artist of the month, Pat Lontor, will be Saturday, November 16th, from 5 to 8 p.m.

A year and a half ago the Art Department accepted our invitation to show their work. They have been working in their selected media to produce artwork for this show, and we are excited to see the the results of their efforts!

Soon, in addition to an often 70+ hour work week, Bartels was interviewing and writing in the evenings, and traveling during vacations and on weekends. This rugged schedule led to regular publication in several newspapers, three national magazines, and in other publications with increasing regularity. Simultaneously Bartels was volunteering at Audubon’s Rowe Sanctuary near Gibbon, and rescuing injured hawks, eagles, falcons and owls as a volunter for Raptor Recovery Nebraska. He received the Conservation Educator of the Year award in 2002, from the Nebraska Wildlife Federation for his work in educating people about sandhill cranes and Nebraska’s turtles; and among many affiliations today, he is a member of the executive board of the Nebraska Master Naturalist program.

In 2010 Bartels accepted a position asField Assistant Editor of Nebraska Life Magazine. When he isn’t editing other writers’ work, selling advertising, answering the phones, changing light bulbs, or doing dishes in the kitchen of the magazine’s downtown Norfolk office, he climbs into the company car, canvasses the entire state interacting with the genuine, caring and colorful characters he meets. His passion for the state of Nebraska is a true form of Patriotism.

Lincoln artist Valery Wachter recelved her Bachelor of Fine Art degree with an emphasis on painting, from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Valery is a UNL Friends Group MEDICI Board Member,  a member of Hixson-LIED College of Fine & Performing Arts Alumni Board and was the 2011 Chair of Westminster Art Show. Her exhibit credits include Lauritzen Gardens in Omaha. 

As a child, I knew I wanted to be an artist, perhaps influenced by my father, a graduate of The Chicago Art Institute. He always made sure that scratch paper and drawing supplies were available even though money for toys was not so abundant. I also knew that I wanted to become an art teacher, so I geared my college studies toward that goal, and upon graduation from the University of Nebraska, I taught art at Lincoln High School, in Lincoln, NE and Yorktown High School, in Arlington, VA.

While I attended the Boston School of the Museum of Fine Arts, I worked at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, during which time I had occasion to meet Edward Hopper who was being interviewed for the WGBH television program aired at the Museum. I loved the simple, stoic buildings that he painted, later realizing that I had an interest in and a style similar to his when painting buildings. In my case, the buildings included classic wooden grain elevators, gas stations and barns, all local color in Nebraska. Willa Cather once advised writers to “write what you know”, and the same is true of painters, to paint what you know near where you live. On that same note, I did a series of “chicken” paintings which came about when my husband Doug and I raised fancy poultry upon our return to Nebraska after his service in the Army. Doug raised chickens as a hobby while growing up in his home town of Utica. When we bought his childhood home from his parents after they built a new house, Doug got the urge to raise chickens again, resulting in my interest to paint them.

I’ve also painted scenes around wherever I have lived, thus a few paintings of the Platte River near our home north of Cedar Bluffs, and views of the surrounding countryside.

July Gallery B:  Snapshot Fremont