Tribune-Star ‘BASH entertainment guide Sept. 1, 2016
River City Art Association’s “Indiana Heritage Art Exhibition” will be showcased throughout September in The Gallery at Clabber Girl Museum in Hulman & Co. at Terre Haute.
At least 21 RCAA members will exhibit artwork celebrating Terre Haute and Indiana’s bicentennial year, as well as Indiana State Parks centennial year.
An opening reception with the artists is set for 5:30 to 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 2, in Clabber Girl at 900 Wabash Ave. as part of the Downtown Terre Haute Inc. Bicentennial-themed First Friday event.
The exhibition is RCAA’s Bicentennial Legacy Project, endorsed by the Indiana Bicentennial Commission. It is informative and educational with a focus on the official state river, song, tree, bird, flag, and notable people, places and events in Terre Haute and Indiana’s history. It also highlights Indiana’s four seasons, and reflects the importance of preserving Indiana’s past and its natural resources for the future.
Several of the works were created specifically for the project, including ceramic wall art by Richard Acton of the eagle that nests along the Wabash, Indiana’s state river; and “Dresser’s Legacy,” photographs on aluminum by Sheila K. Ter Meer of the sculpture “A Song For Indiana” in Terre Haute’s Fairbanks Park framing the Paul Dresser Memorial Birthplace and the river, made famous by Dresser in the state song, “On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away.”
Other highlights of Terre Haute’s history have been re-created by RCAA founding member Monty “Indiana” Jones in an acrylic painting titled “Wabash Erie Canal Towpath,” by Don Turner in a pastel drawing titled “Baptism in the Wabash,” by Judith Lynn Smith in an oil painting titled “Sunset on the Wabash”; and by photographer Spencer Young and pen and ink artist Mike Bender in works featuring the Vigo County Courthouse.
Artwork honoring Indiana’s heritage includes “My Stardust State,” a watercolor paying homage to Indiana composer Hoagy Carmichael by Dian Der Ohanian Phillips; a metal sculpture of a ruby-throated hummingbird, the only one found in Indiana, by Bruce Fiscus titled “Fleur Tremmie”; a 3-D etched glass and photography piece by Todd Stokes titled “Tulip Poplar in Bloom,” Indiana’s state tree; “Bear’s Paw Quilt Block,” a fused glass wall hanging by Edith Acton; and “Winter Feeding,” a photograph of a male cardinal, Indiana’s state bird, by Deanna Swearingen.
Pieces in the exhibition celebrating Indiana State Parks centennial year include “Falls of Spring” at McCormick’s Creek, Indiana’s first state park, photographed by Debbie Goodin.
Other participating artists and their works include Della Bender, an oil painting of a native Miami Indian site in Clay County; Michael Elmore, a painting of Abraham Lincoln’s Indiana boyhood home; Jo Anne Perigo Fiscus, a watercolor of an Indiana “lobster” (crawdad); Valerie Funk, a fabric and threads wall hanging; Steve Harrold, an oil painting of an Indian, Indiana’s namesake; Janae Holland, a photograph of a boat ride on the Wabash; Jan Skipo, a photograph of a rustic Indiana barn; and Eugene Thomas, a painting of the original Bridgeton Bridge in Parke County, the “Covered Bridge Capital of the World.”
RCAA’s “Indiana Heritage Art Exhibition” debuted in May at the centennial celebration of the Terre Haute Masonic Temple, and the Vigo County Public Library was host venue for a July exhibition. The Clabber Girl exhibition is the last opportunity to view the Bicentennial Legacy Project.
For more information visit RiverCityArt.org or call RCAA vice president Todd Stokes at 812-232-0048.
RIVER CITY ART ASSOCIATION 