BY TERESA SMITH, Times-Union Staff Writer
WINONA LAKE – A pair of Burrowing Owls confront visitors with startling intensity from a Jeffrey Klinefelter canvas.
The work of the award-winning Etna Green artist is one of many works on display in the Mount Memorial Gallery on the Grace College campus.
The college is sponsoring a selection of work from the 22nd Annual Indiana Wildlife Artists Exhibit and several other local artists are included in the display through Nov. 5.
Joining Klinefelter, who also has a piece titled “Reds: Red Headed Woodpecker,” is Laura Hill of North Webster and Tom Willman of Leesburg.
Klinefelter works in gouache, a quick-drying, unforgiving medium that showcases the skills of a master artist. Klinefelter’s birds always seem about ready to leap off the surface of his work. This is especially true of “Red Desert: Burrowing Owls.”
Hill’s graphite, “Water Lilies/Green Frog,” is serene and quiet. She follows that up with a pastel – “Sitting Pretty: Goldfinch/Dogwood.”
Willman’s “Untitled: Bull Thistle” is in the photography section of the exhibit.
The Mount Memorial gallery is large and full of light, a great place for art shows. It is on the main floor of Mount Memorial Hall, up the front stairs and to the right. The building is at the east end of Terrace Drive, off College Avenue. It also is accessible off Kings Highway.
Indiana Wildlife Artists is a non-profit organization dedicated to education about the conservation of wildlife and habitats.
The artists dedicate their efforts to define these needs to viewers.
The subjects of the drawings, paintings, sculpture and photographs in the exhibit are not limited to Indiana native species like deer, birds and ducks. Many have depicted the exotics like a scratchboard zebra prepared to race across the page; a tiger leaning down to drink; and rhinos contemplating their existence.
Featured artists in this show include Lois Berg, Crown Point; Trudy Calvert, Bloomington; Carol Hemdal, Kouts; Mary Ann Matthews, Sellersburg; Janet McCarter, Bloomfield; Bob Meyers, Indianapolis; Robin Myers, Bloomfield; Catherine Hale Robins, Lawrence, Kan.; James Salmon, Port St. Lucie, Fla.; and Sara Wilson, Indianapolis. Most of the work is for sale.
The Honeywell Center in Wabash hosts the entire annual exhibit each September. In October the show is split. In addition to the works at Grace College, another group is on display at the Garrett Public Library. Judges for this year’s show were Indiana Department of Natural Resources conservation officer Lyle Enyeart and Timothy W. Young, associate professor of art at Grace College.
Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays with extended hours on Monday and Thursday evenings. There will be extra weekend hours from noon to 3 p.m. Nov. 5 in conjunction with Grace’s Homecoming festivities. Admission is free.
For more information about the exhibit or Grace art programs at Grace, call 574-372-5100, Ext. 6022.
On the Net: Indiana Wildlife Artists Inc., www.indianawildlifeartists.org; Grace College art programs, www.grace.edu
