Various selected works from VU art students are now on display. The media include video art, graphic design, painting, drawing, photography, and sculpture.

Kimberly Sienkiewicz and Brian Morfitt will exhibit their final works as Bachelor of Science in Fine Arts students.  You are invited to attend the opening reception for this  exhibition on Thursday, April 24, at 7 pm.

Both exhibitions will be on display through May 11, 2008.

Predominantly a landscape painter for more than twenty years, Ron Wennekes has gathered material for his work from every place that he has had the privilege to experience or imagine. The discipline of working from life for years has facilitated his working from within the realm of imagination and memory.

Searching for the abstract in nature, Ron works intuitively even when working on location. “I look at my work as abstractions sublimated by imagery, just as there is an abstract energetic or spiritual anatomy underlying everything we see in our world.”

Based in Beverly Shores, Wennekes has exhibited his art in the broader Chicago area since 1980. His work has been juried into national and international exhibitions and won numerous awards.

Ron studied painting at the American Academy of Art in Chicago and at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Oxbow school in Saugutuck, Michigan. He studied sculpture at the NaGuib School of Sculpture in Beverly Shores, Indiana, formerly an affiliate of Louis University. He has worked as a commercial sculptor in the Chicago area and is an accomplished illustrator as well.

Living and working in a community nestled in the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore some fifty miles outside of Chicago lends Valerie Taglieri the opportunity to observe cycles in nature interfaced with the presence of man. Valerie takes these observations and translates them into images that hover between the abstract and the representational. Whether it is in her paintings or installations, her imagery reveals this dual space of the real and non-real, the tangible and intangible.

“My work is of sacred moments where time stands still and the exterior becomes interior; a frozen moment in time where space for beauty exists.”

Valerie considers herself a colorist using painting techniques of broken color and glazing. Glazing is an old master’s technique where many layers of thin oil paint are applied to a surface creating an effect of color as light.

As an artist, Valerie has exhibited her work for more than twenty years. She has had solo exhibitions in Chicago, New York City and Minneapolis. Her work is in numerous corporate and private collections.

She received a BFA in painting and drawing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she also received an Art Teaching Certification for grades K-12. Valerie received her MFA from Columbia College, Chicago.

“We would like to congratulate every student that submitted work for the 2008 Secondary School Showcase. It was an honor and our privilege to view the many fine pieces of art. It was a difficult task editing down to a manageable and displayable number. We edited as much as we could and ended up with 82 works of art.

Our objective was to not be critics in our choices but to create an exhibition showing the diversity of ideas and craftsmanship from a very talented body of students. Without exception, we saw the merit in every entry.

When it came down to choosing the work, we had to look at the strengths of every piece and determine which ones spoke the loudest to us. Others were not selected because their images were not clear enough for us to ascertain the works’ finer details.

Because of the high quality of every entry, we emphatically encourage all entrants to continue making their art.

Our best,

Ron Wennekes and Valerie Taglieri”

Please join us for a Brauer Museum of Art Coffee Hour on Wednesday, February 6 at 7 pm as Sarah Jantzi talks about her solo exhibition entitled WEEDS, in the Brauer Museum’s Gallery 1212. Jantzi’s creative eye urges viewers to take a closer look at a simple object in nature, a common weed. While most of us struggle to eliminate weeds in our gardens and lawns, Jantzi through her work demonstrates that a close look at these plants can reveal real beauty. She uses various media such as ink on panel, charcoal on paper, and oil on canvas. Using a palette limited to black, white, and gray in this exhibition, the artist captures a wonderful sense of growth and renewal in these expressive works. You are invited to attend this free Coffee Hour program to hear Jantzi describe her inspirations and working methods.

To see an image of Sarah’s work or hear comments about her work by Gregg Hertzlieb, Director of the Brauer Museum of Art,  please view previous posts.

Behind the scenes at the museum, staff members are busy working with spring semester student interns Jon Eaton, Tom Heet, Olivia Hillmer, Isabel Hernandez Janicsek, Kathryn McEnery, David Taylor, and Shuying Zheng. These fine students are helping the museum enormously by assisting museum staff members with all aspects of its filing and record keeping. In addition, these students are learning about the various aspects of museum operations and practices. We are grateful for the dedicated efforts of our interns!

Weeds: Recent Work by Sarah Jantzi

Please join us for this free event at Valparaiso University, Saturday, December 8 at 2pm.

To listen to a podcast by Gregg Hertzlieb, director of the Brauer Museum of Art, on Sarah Jantzi’s WEEDS exhibition, click on the arrow.

The Brauer Museum of Art presents a selection of Japanese prints drawn entirely from its permanent collection, some reflecting the ukiyo-e style of traditional Japanese printmaking and some representing modern styles. Featured in this exhibition are dramatic works by the Japanese Christian artist Sadao Watanabe (1913-1996). Noted Japanese print expert Dr. Sandy Kita has selected very fine works that demonstrate the beauty and complexity of printed works of art by Japanese artists both past and present.

Dr. Sandy Kita received his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1981. He is a professor and senior scholar at Chatham College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and a widely published expert on Japanese prints.

Sadao Watanabe (1913-1996)

Adam and Eve, 1980

Kappazuri dyed stencil print on paper, 16/100

Gift of Josephine L. Ferguson (VU 1946) and Byron L. Ferguson (VU 1948)

Brauer Museum of Art, 86.07.002

Weeds: Recent Work by Sarah Jantzi

Curated by Gloria Ruff and Gregg Hertzlieb

Sarah Jantzi (Oldenburg), assistant professor of art at Valparaiso University, creates lyrical paintings and drawings based on natural subjects and the local landscape. The Brauer Museum of Art is pleased to offer an overview of her recent creations.

Sarah Jantzi (Oldenburg)

Weeds (Next In Line), 2007

Ink on Panel

Collection of the Artist