Galleries/Exhibitions

Debra Joyce Dawson: Fresh Paint
May 16 – July 5
Reception with Gallery Talk and Demonstration, June 6, 1:30-3 p.m.

'Soirée sur la Cruese,’ oil on canvas, Debra Joyce Dawson

Debra Joyce Dawson, Pataskala, paints colorful, evocative outdoor landscapes. She travels extensively, and her paintings can serve as a painterly travelogue to India, Bhutan, England, Ireland, as well as to her more local surroundings. Her medium of choice is oil, with preparatory sketches in graphite, charcoal, pen or watercolor. Some works are small and completed en plein air; other works are larger and more complex renderings done in her studio. Her energy and delight in color, light, and shape are dazzling. But she never surrenders her subject, and each building, boat, hillside, or human figure is carefully pinned to the picture plane in the context of its surroundings. This places her in the best context of American Impressionism, whether one considers John Singer Sargent or Ohio’s own Alice Schille or Edward Henry Potthast.

Her work has been exhibited widely, over the past year in several national shows including, “Contemporary American Realism: 2008” at the Ft. Wayne Museum of Art, “Viewpoint 2008” at the Wessel Gallery in Cincinnati, and in May 2009 at the “18th Oil Painters of America National Juried Exhibition,” Sage Creek Gallery, Santa Fé. Debra Dawson is a founder and officer for the Ohio Plein Air Society, whose member exhibition was recently shown at the Art Center.

The Ohio Show
June 6 – July 22

Photo from 2008 Ohio Show

This juried exhibition is open to all Ohio artists and artisans.  Approximately 70 paintings, drawings, ceramics, photography, and metalwork are featured each year.   This year’s juror is Charlotte Gordon, Museum Curator, Springfield Museum of Art.

Juror’s Award Selections

Best of Show:
Doug McLarty, Xenia, OH, for two photographs, Cone of Tranquility, and Red Leaf Study I
First Place, Painting: 
Kelley Booze, Springfield, OH, for Don’t Walk, oil on panel
First Place, Drawing or Print: 
Nicholas Hill, Granville, OH, for Kyoto Calligraphy Lesson IX, cyanotype and drawing
First Place, Sculpture:
David M. Morgan, Columbus, OH, for two glass and wire mobiles, Fire Dragon, and Purple Platypus Tropical Dinosaur Fish
First Place, Ceramics:
Kaname Takada, Columbus, OH, for two earthenware objects, Masu-Series, 19037 and Masu-Series, 19051
First Place, Jewelry/Functional Metal:
Michael B. Hays, Columbus, OH, for two sterling silver objects, Tea Infuser with Stand, and Salt and Pepper Shakers
First Place, Fiber or Textile:
Paula Nees, Columbus, OH, for indigo-dyed linen, entitled, Mokume I
First Place, Photography:
Mina Hosfield, Columbus, OH, for her photograph, Spinning Cloud Gate

American Art Pottery from a Private Collection
July 2 – August 16

Rare examples of historic Ohio pottery as well as recent works by important ceramists from around the nation, including Tim Eberhardt, Paul Katrich, Ken McCollum, Kurt Wild, Door Pottery, and Common Ground.

The Zanesville Art Center is located at 620 Military Road. The hours of operation are Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday 10:00 - 5:00 PM, Thursday 10:00 - 8:30 PM, Sunday 1:00 - 5:00 PM. Closed Mondays._ _ For more information call (740) 452-0741.