Arapahoe Libraries is proud to host art exhibits each month at Eloise May, Koelbel and Smoky Hill libraries. Library galleries offer the community a place to view a variety of art at no cost while also providing visibility to local artists. A volunteer art selection committee selects exhibits based on artistic quality, variety of exhibits and the suitability of format for each exhibit space.
Have a question about the galleries or interested in showcasing your art? Visit the Art Galleries page for more information.
Julia Rymer
Website: juliarymer.com, opens a new window
In this solo exhibition, I present my recent painting series as well as selected abstract works from the past several years.
My work embraces the flux and flow of life and nature, the cycles of birth and growth, death and decomposition, rebirth and movement through time. They are a record and the result of my struggle and reconciliation between the material and spiritual realms, moving from friction and resistance into fluidity, like Jacob wrestling with the angel, only to emerge the next morning into a transcendent moment. Each piece I create evolves like geological strata, layers building up over time, cultivating structure in the overall composition. I think of my work as research; much as Josef Albers spoke of his work, saying “All my painting is actually study. The longer I do it, the more and more it is endless.”
In recent works, a series titled “Hidden and Revealed,” I broaden my explorations to investigate my connection to history, culture, language, and loss of meaning. The visual language created for this work, the Bildsprache, integrates found book and newspaper pages in various languages into layers of gestural brushstrokes, colorful forms, and expressive lines of oil and watercolor crayons, and charcoal. A repeated landscape motif, seen in broad horizontal lines stretching across the picture planes, represents both my connection to the Colorado landscape, as well as that sense of time as perceived through geological and archaeological perspectives.
My use of materials includes acrylic, watercolor, gouache, and oil paint, as well as printmaking, drawing, collage and mixed media techniques.
I hold a BFA in Studio Art with an emphasis in Painting from the University of Denver’s School of Art and Art History, and an MFA in Painting from Pratt Institute in New York. I am a faculty member at the Curtis Center for the Arts in Greenwood Village, with an extensive background teaching in college-level settings at educational institutions across Colorado’s Front Range. My work is included in numerous museum, corporate and private collections across the United States and United Kingdom and is widely exhibited nationally and internationally.
Mary Holm
All my life I have been drawn to abstract work and the many different possibilities to express and see and feel through abstraction. My marks, colors, and shapes are at times freely expressive and at other times more controlled and deliberate. Most pieces have many iterations and layers.
These pieces all incorporate circles, which is a universal symbol, well used by the whole world, but may signify different things. The circle is also inclusive, as our world should be, and can be big, small or imperfect, but known as a circle to all.
Thad McCauley
“Art Decks’ By Thad J. McCauley
Instagram: instagram.com/mcscoobyt, opens a new window
This series started when my kids wanted to learn to skateboard. Building and adding art to the skateboards they learned to skate on, unlocked all kinds of cool art opportunities for me. The grandest was a commission with the Arapahoe Parks District to add murals all over Trails Skate Park next to Trails Recreation Center. The creativity and Do it Yourself attitude that both Skaters and Artists share is phenomenal. If you would like me to paint a custom deck for you or someone you love, hit me up!
What is your favorite piece in the show, and why?
I really like the Smokey the Bear skate deck, mainly because it's so weird! I was gifted the paw, foot and hoof molds. They used to he used by local park rangers to educate park visitors about Colorado wildlife. This gift also came with some Smokey the Bear posters. I had no idea what to do with these objects, but since I was in the middle of my Art Deck, series they ended up on a deck!
What motivates you to create?
With this skate deck series, I had a whole bunch of different ideas that turned into miniseries within the larger group. While most of the decks are pretty new, the whole series was created over the last 7 or 8 years. So, I think the skate deck as a canvass itself kept me motivated to continue painting, collaging and screen-printing on them.
What message do you want your art to convey to viewers?
This series is all about how humans end up decorating the items that bring them joy! If it's a guitar, custom jean jacket of your beloved skate deck... make sure it has awesome art, to reflect your personality.