February 14 – May 13, 2023

 

The Carnegie Arts Center’s annual Valley Focus exhibition is an opportunity to highlight the very best work being created in and about our region. For the past 10 years we have honored artists through solo retrospectives and through small group exhibitions, and many of them have celebrated artists who are educators shaping the future of the arts in the Central Valley.  It is an honor to continue this tradition with another exciting and instructive show.
 

This year’s exhibition features four painters who are making an impact in the region with their work as artists and through their positions in the faculty at our local colleges.  As role models for young and aspiring artists these creative women offer valley students the opportunity to explore a variety of viewpoints – literally in their own paintings and intellectually through the discussion of ideas in their classes and critiques.
 

Louisa Benhissen (Merced College), Chelsea Gilmore (Modesto Junior College), Susan Stephenson (CSU Stanislaus), and Mirabel Wigon (CSU Stanislaus) offer us new perspectives. In very individual ways, they each take representation – specifically the depiction of space and spatial relationships – in a unique or challenging direction. Our connections to people and places are presented from surprising and distinctive angles. These four perspectives will inspire us to look closely and have creative conversations.
 

Gallery Conversations with the artists will take place in March & April. Check the calendar of events for complete details.