Wilderness Comes to the Quick Center

The public is invited to view the new exhibitions for fall at The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at St. Bonaventure University. Among the highlights are exhibitions celebrating the wilderness of the United States, Asian art and a Day of the Dead celebration.

The exhibition “On Nature’s Terms: Paintings by Thomas Paquette Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act” opens Aug. 28 in the Beltz Gallery and runs through Nov. 22.

Fifty years have passed since the Wilderness Act of 1964 was signed into law, protecting the wildest remaining lands in the United States. This exhibition celebrates the places preserved by that law — places that thrive not by dint of industry and scientific progress but by the forces of nature alone, protected from significant human intrusion.

Paquette’s paintings in “On Nature’s Terms” were inspired by his journeys to federal wilderness areas all across the country. The great diversity and vitality of environments that comprise the National Wilderness Preservation System — from southwest canyons and high peaks, east and west seashores, to lowland swamps and deserts — are reflected in these gouache and oil paintings. Subjects include Okefenokee Swamp in the South to Boundary Waters Canoe Area in the North, and other wilderness areas from New Hampshire to California, including places in Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Wyoming.

“On Nature’s Terms” is a tribute to the importance of protecting some lands forever as wild.

The artist will present a gallery talk at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept, 4, at the Quick Center. An opening reception will be held from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public.

Seven other exhibitions open Aug. 22.

The Marianne Letro Laine Gallery will feature “Asian Art Collection.” The Asian Art collection given by the Col. Michael Friedsam Foundation in 1942 was the start of the University Art Collection. Portions of this vast collection are on exhibition alongside a loan of ancient Asian artifacts from the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation. As a special feature to the exhibition, Dr. Chisato O. Dubreuil, assistant professor of art history at St. Bonaventure, has curated the exhibition featuring traditional Japanese woodblock prints.

The exhibition “La Ofrenda” will be on display in the Front Gallery at the Quick Center.

The Day of the Dead is an ancient Aztec celebration of death, the bittersweet companion to life. Over hundreds of years, the Day of the Dead has become a part of the Catholic tradition in many Latin American countries as a time to remember family and friends who have died. Everyone is invited to participate by making and placing offerings, or “ofrendas,” at the altar in the Front Gallery of the Quick Center. Support and programming for this exhibition comes from the SBU Damietta Diversity Center and LASO, the Latin American Student Organization.

The Paul and Toni Branch Gallery will feature “Contemporary Woodblock Prints” by Catherine Shuman Miller, a Buffalo artist. Shuman Miller has created a series of woodblock prints that interpret the Hamsah, (symbol of the hand, and a good luck charm) with playfulness and humor. Hamsah literally means five (as in the five digits of the hand) and is derived from both the Hebrew and Arabic languages. The artist will visit campus during fall semester for a gallery talk and demonstration.

European and American paintings from the University Art Collection will be on exhibition in Dresser Foundation Gallery. This paintings gallery holds a chronological representation of painted works from the Italian Renaissance through American works from the early part of the 20th century.

The Winifred Shortell Kenney Gallery will be host to 20th and 21st century works from the University Art Collection. Recent gifts to the collection from the Andy Warhol Foundation were the impetus to redesign the Quick Center’s Contemporary Gallery for fall. The exhibition will feature silk screens and photographs by Warhol, as well as works by Frankenthaler, Jenkins, Dali and Picasso.

The University Art collection of statues by John Rogers will be exhibited outside the Kenney Gallery. The exhibition will feature the art center’s newest addition to the collection, a gift from Joseph and Linda LoSchiavo titled “Ha! I Like Not That!” imagery taken from Shakespeare’s play of Othello.”

The Quick Center will also host an exhibition to complement the 2014-15 All Bonaventure Reads selection “The Promise of a Pencil” by Adam Braun. This interactive exhibition in the Mezzanine Gallery will explore the All Bonaventure Reads book and address cross-cultural connections and how a freshman at St. Bonaventure can get involved. The exhibition runs through late October.

Opening Dec. 4 is the annual K-5 juried art show with entries from elementary schools in the six-county area surrounding St. Bonaventure’s campus.

Regular gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Museum admission is free and open to the public year round. Visit The Quick Center online at www.sbu.edu/quickcenter.

Pidtured, “Beyond Mile High,” Raggeds Wilderness, Colo., oil on linen by Thomas Paquette; Blue Eyes woodblock print by Catherine Shuman Miller

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