Artist: Elisabeth "Liz" Kennedy
Artwork Title: Mother's Spirit
Artwork Medium: Multi-media
Height: 20"
Width: 16"
Depth: 1"
Artist Bio and Inspiration: Liz created this multi-media piece for a Mother's Day gift in 2015.
She was born and raised in the Grand Valley. She graduated from GJHS in 2016 and enjoys her life as a Pastry Chef.
She has always loved creating artwork and playing with her cats, right now she has a very special cat named Gunther!
Artist: Caleb Ferganchick
Artwork Title: The Dance Floor
Artwork Medium: spoken word
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Artist Bio and Inspiration: Caleb Ferganchick is a rural, queer, slam poet activist and the author of The Secret of Sunflowers (2021) and Poetry Heels (2018).
Caleb wrote "The Dance Floor" in response to the Club Q anti-LGBTQ+ motivated shooting in Colorado Springs on November 9, 2022.
Artist: Caleb Ferganchick
Artwork Title: On a Date at the Denver Museum of Natural Science
Artwork Medium: spoken word
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Artist Bio and Inspiration: Caleb Ferganchick is a rural, queer, slam poet activist and the author of The Secret of Sunflowers (2021) and Poetry Heels (2018).
Caleb wrote "On a Date at the Denver Museum of Natural Science" after a weekend romance during the 2023 Denver Pride Festival.
Artist: Reesa Lee
Artwork Title: Heart of Fire
Artwork Medium: Metal Print
Height: 20"
Width: 16'
Depth: 1"
Artist Bio and Inspiration:
Artist: Beverly Thompson
Artwork Title: The Heart of the Matter
Artwork Medium: Mixed media
Height: 12"
Width: 16"
Depth: 1/2"
Artist Bio and Inspiration: I am inspired to make art by my feelings, surroundings and sometimes news of the day. At the time of creating this piece, I was angry about the increased use of tactical weapons in mass shootings. Back in 2018, the NRA was instrumental in opposing any legislation banning the sale of such. I felt compelled to express my concern and anger on canvas.
Artist: Andrea Hensley
Artwork Title: Haunted
Artwork Medium: acrylic
Height: 20"
Width: 16"
Depth: 1/2"
Artist Bio and Inspiration: Andrea Hensley
Age: 60
Widow
Cancer survivor
Artist: Andrea Hensley
Artwork Title: Lost
Artwork Medium: acrylic
Height: 20"
Width: 16"
Depth: 1/2"
Artist Bio and Inspiration: Andrea Hensley
Age: 60
Widow
Cancer survivor
Artist: Dianna Fritzler
Artwork Title: Princess on the Edge
Artwork Medium: Acrylic and Collage
Height: 16"
Width: 12"
Depth: 1.5"
Artist Bio and Inspiration: Dianna is a grateful resident of the Grand Valley, where she is a full-time artist.
Dianna and her two daughters spent 10 weeks in Uganda in 2013 where they absorbed much wisdom from the women there.
This painting is of a young woman we met who was dancing through mud puddles in the pouring rain, finding joy in the disarray all around her. It was a gift to witness.
Artist: Michelle Boisvenue-Fox
Artwork Title: Gingko Leaf
Artwork Medium: Fiber
Height: 13.5"
Width: 14.5"
Depth:
Artist Bio and Inspiration: I have been quilting for over 25 years. My art has evolved from patterns to creating my own designs. This piece includes machine stitching, hand embroidery and sashiko (Japanese stitching).
This piece was inspired by a childhood memory and a lifelong love of Gingko leaves. The memory itself was not a happy one since I was a painfully shy child, but completing this gave me hope looking back that I was also brave. I find it's important to use our ability to rewrite our stories to find the hope in them even when there is pain or shame.
Artist: Wendy Videlock
Artwork Title: Genesis
Artwork Medium: Mixed Media/Water and Ink Media /
Height: 14
Width: 10
Depth: .5
Artist Bio and Inspiration: Wendy Videlock of Palisade is currently serving as Poet Laureate of the Western Slope. She is an award winning poet, artist and teacher whose poems, reviews, and essays appear in O Magazine, Hudson Review, Best American Poetry, Hopkins Review, Rattle, The New York Times, and other venues.
Artist: Barbara Ball
Artwork Title: HOPE Lights The Way
Artwork Medium: paper + objects
Height: 20"
Width: 16"
Depth: 1/2"
Artist Bio and Inspiration: WORDS are who I am, how I try to touch anyone..for joy, reassurance, encouragement, motivation, healing. Words touch the heart. For all the words listed--hope, the smallest one of the group---felt the most powerful to me. We need hope to accomplish anything, and so especially the social issue topics, if progress is to take place.
Artist: Lenna Watson
Artwork Title: Fly Fishing
Artwork Medium: watercolor
Height: 11
Width: 14
Depth: 1
Artist Bio and Inspiration: Inspiration is "Love Love Fly Fishing"
Artist: Sandra Eisenberg
Artwork Title: In The Psych Unit
Artwork Medium: Written word
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Artist Bio and Inspiration: Sandra Eisenberg is a teacher, writer and mental health advocate originally from New York. Sandra has experience with mental health care as both a patient and as a peer provider. She currently serves on a CDPHE committee that is working on improving postvention in Colorado.
Artist: Sandra Eisenberg
Artwork Title: PTSD
Artwork Medium: Written word
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Artist: Patrick G. Metoyer
Artwork Title: Mending Fences - One Plank at a Time
Artwork Medium: paper mosaic
Height: 12"
Width: 18"
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Artist Bio and Inspiration: Patrick G. Metoyer resides between the Book Cliff Range and the Colorado Plateau.
"As a fiber artist, I find the tactile sensations of torn and cut paper mosaics and collages a way to explore the intricacies of a topic."
"Mending Fences -- One Plank at a Time" is a conduit for the artist and the viewer to discuss societal travails and to ponder how to overcome them.
Artist: Patrick G. Metoyer
Artwork Title: American Dream
Artwork Medium: Creative Writing -- Poetry
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Artist Bio and Inspiration: After attending four community conversations, the writing prompts were a way to extend the in-person sessions in a creative manner. "American Dream" provided a means to juxtapose local vignettes with King David's vision of a glad and contented citizenry. Focusing on the positive and optimistic characteristics of our society appeals to me.
Artist: John Anglim
Artwork Title: Still Standing
Artwork Medium: Photograph
Height: 36
Width: 24
Depth: 1
Artist Bio and Inspiration: John Anglim www.johnanglim.com
John Anglim is an award-winning artist, photographer and designer who works in a variety of media. His work has appeared nationally in such publications as PhotoMethods, Creativity, American Institute of Graphic Arts, Arts & Crafts, and Art Directions.
Artist: John Anglim
Artwork Title: Murder in the Backyard
Artwork Medium: poem
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Width: na
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Artist Bio and Inspiration: John Anglim www.johnanglim.com
John Anglim is an award-winning artist, photographer and designer who works in a variety of media. His work has appeared nationally in such publications as PhotoMethods, Creativity, American Institute of Graphic Arts, Arts & Crafts, and Art Directions.
Artist: Teri Kinkade
Artwork Title: A Little Too Much
Artwork Medium: Prose
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Artist Bio and Inspiration: Teri is employed at HopeWest in Montrose, she wrote a poem to help with her grieving process over her daughter’s fiancé, Krista, who died Monday, July 10th, in a rollover accident with my daughter and another friend. Her daughter is intellectually disabled and Krista dealt with mental illness - this is Teri's inspiration
Artist: Ron Ferguson
Artwork Title: Fasten Your Belts!
Artwork Medium: Woven leather belts
Height: 39"
Width: 17"
Depth: 17"
Artist Bio and Inspiration: Ron is a Volunteer with HopeWest, where he repurposes furniture items for sale in their Heirlooms stores. A number of years ago, the store in Montrose was experiencing a plethora of donated leather belts, some of which were too worn around the buckle to sell. Being the ever industrious person he is, and not wanting to waste good leather in a landfill, Ron came up with this ingenious idea to weave the belts together to create new seats for broken, missing, or worn-out vintage chairs. The idea was a hit!
Artist: Kelly Thompson
Artwork Title: Sunflower: What's the Point
Artwork Medium: Pointillism
Height: 16 1/2"
Width: 13 1/2"
Depth: 1"
Artist Bio and Inspiration: Kelly created this piece while attending CMU as part of an art class that he took while in pursuit of a degree in Elementary Education. His professor had brought some examples of pointillism in to class one day. Being an avid gardener, Kelly chose a sunflower as his first subject matter and attempt at doing pointillism.
Artist: Jim Courson
Artwork Title: Deciduous Dream
Artwork Medium: Multi-Media
Height: 15"
Width: 27"
Depth: 1 1/2"
Artist Bio and Inspiration: Jim is a Registered Nurse with HopeWest. He created this work following a dream he had shortly after his mother's death. The accompanying narrative describes his dream in full detail, and images of that dream are captured in his piece.
Artist: Holly Seeberger
Artwork Title: America is for everyone.
Artwork Medium: mixed
Height: 12.5"
Width: 10.5"
Depth:
Artist Bio and Inspiration: I am a fifth generation Coloradan, wife of an immigrant and mother of two dual citizens. I was inspired by this statement, and feel that we as a nation sometimes lose sight of it's truth.
Artist: Laurie Ann Cox
Artwork Title: Pilgrimage to Sacred Stone Mountain
Artwork Medium: Oil
Height: 16
Width: 20
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Artist Bio and Inspiration: Since her teens, Laurie Ann has been inspired to communicate the beauty and spirit of the world around us, in order that others may feel that beauty and spirit within themselves. She has done pilgrimage to this sacred mountain for 16 years, doing prayers for blessings for her people and abundant rains and good weather
Artist: Laurie Ann Cox
Artwork Title: Repose, Listening from the Feminine
Artwork Medium: Oil
Height: 10
Width: 8
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Artist Bio and Inspiration: The feminine, or yin energy, which is in all of us, has qualities of listening and reflection, to hear deeply, to not rush to action, to wait until things come to fruition and come clear. Laurie Ann is inspired by images which can awaken our subconscious knowing, and help us remember something that was previously lost in ourselves.
Artist: Bethany Nehring
Artwork Title: Positioned
Artwork Medium: Metal Collage on Wood
Height: 4inch
Width: 4inch
Depth: 2inch-4inch variation
Artist Bio and Inspiration: Bethany is a licensed professional counselor and Art Therapist in the Montrose area. She believes in the power of communicating and healing through the arts.
She is experienced in many mediums and prefers working with 3D pieces. Bethany hopes to inspire communication about human connection, attachment and belonging.
Artist: Diane Anglim
Artwork Title: Do You Know My Name?
Artwork Medium: Collage
Height: 5”
Width: 7”
Depth: 7/8”
Artist Bio and Inspiration: Diane Anglim is a local Grand Junction artist working in collage and found object sculpture.
This piece was inspired by how people who have immigrated to the United States get lost in our cities and towns due to the circumstances of language barriers, the jobs they hold, and the fear of being deported.
Artist: Disappearer
Artwork Title: Last Dance In The Dark
Artwork Medium: song
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Artist Bio and Inspiration: The lyrics to this song are adapted (with permission) from the poem The Dance Floor by Caleb Ferganchick. Caleb wrote the original poem as a response to the shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs in November of 2022.
Artist: Linda Nadel
Artwork Title: Bubbles
Artwork Medium: Watercolor on Yupo
Height: 16"
Width: 20"
Depth: 1"
Artist Bio and Inspiration: I started painting in earnest in the 90s. Soon after taking my first art classes I found my true passion: watercolor. Although my focus is in watercolors I also enjoy working in oils and have received recognition in several shows.
Artist: Zoanne Wilcox
Artwork Title: All Are Precious
Artwork Medium: Beads/Jewelry
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Artist Bio and Inspiration: I have made angels for many years. I pray when I make them. Psalms 91:11 God will send down his angels to take charge over you and protect you from all harm. I also pray for peace, health, safety for friends, family and ourselves. To show kindness to all and in all things give thanks to God. I LOVE people!
Artist: Suzie Hammond
Artwork Title: WE THE PEOPLE...
Artwork Medium: Acrylic paint on Canvas/collage
Height: 20.5"
Width: 24.5"
Depth: 2"
Artist Bio and Inspiration: Originaly from California, I've lived in Colorado most of my life, raised 3 sons, found 'peace' in painting and work in the Hospice/Elderly care sector.
My inspiration for this piece was my oldest son. He "came out" after high school, struggled with truly knowing, from his heart "WHO" he was and what that would look like as he became an adult.
Artist: Suzie Hammond
Artwork Title: TRANSFORMATION
Artwork Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Height: 15"
Width: 15'
Depth: 1.75"
Artist Bio and Inspiration: The inspiration for this piece is the symbolism of the Dragonfly...HOPE, Change and Love. Hope comes in many forms. With change and new beginnings we have a renewed vision of Hope for a better, more peaceful, more meaningful world.
My painting represents the Dragonfly (Hope) emerging from the dark and bringing light, transformation and Love...
Artist: Noelle Goslee Smith
Artwork Title: Dewey Bridge I
Artwork Medium: Gelatin Silver Photography
Height: 20"
Width: 16"
Depth: NA
Artist Bio and Inspiration: I first learned traditional Black and White photography from my father, then taking some courses at the Highland (Illinois) Park Art Center.
I am inspired by nature, old buildings (especially those suffering the ravages of time), and bridges. I shot this frame of the Dewey Bridge in 2004, some four years before it was destroyed by fire.
Artist: Ron Cloyd
Artwork Title: Spirit Walker
Artwork Medium: Ceramic
Height: 14
Width: 6
Depth: 6
Artist Bio and Inspiration:
Artist: Robin Owen
Artwork Title: Mama Cool & Baby Jac
Artwork Medium: Pastel
Height: 20"
Width: 16"
Depth:
Artist Bio and Inspiration: I am a Colorado native, living on the Western Slope since 1974. I have always been creative in some form or another and loved to pain with acrylics, oils and have ventured occasionally into pastels. Professionally, I have worked as a graphic designer for over 20 years and my creative efforts have been more focused on work than on enjoying my hobby of painting.
Artist: Lea Spiralski
Artwork Title: Poetry and Art
Artwork Medium: Prose and drawing
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Artist Bio and Inspiration: Artist is from Germany and spending the summer with relatives in Grand Junction. Has immersed herself in community by actively participating in cultural events and connecting on a ground level through interesting/educational Community Connection Conversations and events. 9 files
Artist: Lea Spiralski
Artwork Title: Poem and Art
Artwork Medium: Prose and Art #2 of 9
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Artist Bio and Inspiration: Artist is from Germany and spending the summer with relatives in Grand Junction. Has immersed herself in community by actively participating in cultural events and connecting on a ground level through interesting/educational Community Connection Conversations and events. 9 files
Artist: Porcia Chen Silverberg
Artwork Title: Women Belonging
Artwork Medium: collage
Height: 12"
Width: 12"
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Artist Bio and Inspiration: Porcia Chen Silverberg is one of the newcomers who has enthusiastically adopted the Grand Valley as her home. Having lived on both coasts, spent young adulthood in the Denver area after immigrating from Taiwan, Porcia has lived in many communities. Yet, it is in Grand Junction where she has found an amazing community of like-hearted women who had embraced her warmly and immediately. She finally feels a sense of belonging.
Artist: Porcia Chen Silverberg
Artwork Title: Women in Community
Artwork Medium: collage
Height: 15"
Width: 15"
Depth:
Artist Bio and Inspiration: Porcia Chen Silverberg is one of the newcomers who has enthusiastically adopted the Grand Valley as her home. Having lived on both coasts, spent young adulthood in the Denver area after immigrating from Taiwan, Porcia has lived in many communities. Yet, it is in Grand Junction where she has found an amazing community of like-hearted women who had embraced her warmly and immediately. She finally feels a sense of belonging.
Artist: Kimmer High-Jepson
Artwork Title: Sacred Law
Artwork Medium: Zentangle: Micron Pen and Colored Pencil on Cardstock
Height: 12"
Width: 14"
Depth: 1-1/2"
Artist Bio and Inspiration: A nomadic childhood spent in the American Southwest and South America along with a recent retirement in Mexico has given me a unique perspective of culture and mindfulness about my creative self.
Recent sightings of crows on a trip to our home in Mexico made me wonder what exactly was their message.
Artist: Gary Hauschulz
Artwork Title: Disposable
Artwork Medium: Coffee, Espresso, Cream & Sugar on paper towel
Height: 18.5"
Width: 15.5"
Depth: 2.5"
Artist Bio and Inspiration: Crossing conversations. My morning coffee routine sometimes includes the homeless. I buy and we talk. Sometimes the conversation leads to, "may I take your photo for a reference for a future portrait?" I show them previous paintings on napkins and paper towels with coffee, and they always say, "Yes" and I pay them a modeling fee to help them on their day. We may meet several times, dozens of times. I always show up, it's my routine, but without fail they quit showing up. No goodbyes. who's disposable?
Artist: Beth Brown
Artwork Title: Bee the one...
Artwork Medium: Paper cutting
Height: 12.5"
Width: 15.5"
Depth: 0.5
Artist Bio and Inspiration: What can we learn from bees:
Be noble, industrious, and part of a community. Bees are colorful, work in harmony, have purpose, and selfless. Bees are intelligent, resilient, loyal, and essential part of nature. We are all connected in this world and need to be seen, heard, valued, and loved. Mother Theresa said,"be the one to show love".
Bee the one to...
Make a difference!
Artist: Elisa McKee
Artwork Title: Scars
Artwork Medium: Essay
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Artist Bio and Inspiration: I live in Montrose and am a retired probation officer. This piece, Scars, is particularly open to interpretation as it can refer to physical or emotional scars. I love Western Slope living! We have some of the biggest talent, so educated, so creative, right here in our own backyard…
Artist: Barbara Kennedy
Artwork Title: His gift
Artwork Medium: Collage
Height: 8.5"
Width: 8.5"
Depth: 0.5"
Artist Bio and Inspiration: Barb took inspiration from LGBTQ+ voices and PRIDE month celebrations.
Artist: Andi Tilmann
Artwork Title: This Is Not Personal
Artwork Medium: Spoken Word
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Artist: Linda Stott Skinner
Artwork Title: Going to the Water
Artwork Medium: Poetry
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Artist Bio and Inspiration: I strive daily to find words to express what stirs me and hope I can inspire others to engage with the world.
My inspiration for “Going to the Water” was the result of cross-fertilization of ideas generated while I was trying to meet a challenge for the Library Poetry group, ideas from the Community Conversations on the American Dream and Hope, and a trip to Lake Powell.
Artist: Linda Stott Skinner
Artwork Title: Little Book of Hope
Artwork Medium: Poetry book
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Artist Bio and Inspiration: I strive daily to find words to express what stirs me and hope I can inspire others to engage with the world. I believe it is through our stories, memories, music, and other art that we can realize our commonalities and humanity. I feel the arts can be a vehicle of change we want to see and means to communicate and build the communities we wish to embrace.
Artist: Beth Brown
Artwork Title: Connectivity I
Artwork Medium: Paper cutting
Height: 13
Width: 13
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Artist Bio and Inspiration: Mandalas symbolize a circle of the universe in its ideal form. Transformation of suffering into one of joy, wholeness, integrity, unity, and balance of the body and mind. Human connection is a deep bond that's formed between people when they feel seen and valued. Connection makes you feel heard and understood giving you a sense of belonging.
Artist: Beth Brown
Artwork Title: Connectivity II
Artwork Medium: Paper cutting
Height: 13
Width: 13
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Artist Bio and Inspiration: Mandalas symbolize a circle of the universe in its ideal form. Transformation of suffering into one of joy, wholeness, integrity, unity, and balance of the body and mind. Human connection is a deep bond that's formed between people when they feel seen and valued. Connection makes you feel heard and understood giving you a sense of belonging.