This year’s exhibitions in the Grubbs Gallery will focus on mixed media and bold style.

That’s particularly true with a series of artists who specialize in multi-dimensional work. The first exhibit features a husband and wife team (Agnes de Bethune and Thomas O’Flynn) who together combine painting and found-object sculptures. December’s artist, Linda Batchelor, features the unification of painting and collage, while Jessica Tam, whose exhibit is in January, uses such materials as acrylic, oil, etching ink, and spray paint on paper. I am hoping that these artists will inspire our students to push beyond using one medium in isolation and will make them want to experiment with combinations of materials in both their two-, and three-, dimensional work.

Several artists in this year’s lineup share a bold style. Artist Eric Wolf (February 2) uses  india ink on paper primarily to depict abstracted and stylized Maine landscapes. Painter Dave Gloman (October 1) will return to the gallery after a recent spell on the road. He spoke in the gallery a few years ago as he was about to set off for a painting trip in the southwest in a modified studio-on-wheels truck (which he showed to our students). This year’s exhibit will feature paintings from that trip of southwestern landscapes and will be an excellent follow-up for some of our students who remember his first exhibit and gallery talk.

Both Mr. Wolf and Mr. Gloman share a striking, graphic, and non-traditional approach to landscape painting—with very differing results. I anticipate that this will influence our students, who respond well to large, straightforward, and high-contrast work (as we all do).

In April, the gallery will feature the work of our Visual Arts faculty. We generally hold a faculty exhibit every few years because of the incredible energy and excitement it causes in our Arts Department (for both students and faculty) and throughout our community in general.

After the faculty show, we will have our first ever student-curated exhibit. This will give a student, or several, a chance to conceive of, and produce, a student show based on a theme they choose. In this way, students can experience the flip side of gallery management. This is the beginning of increased student involvement in the running of the gallery, which we hope to grow into an exciting and comprehensive program in the future.

Grubbs Gallery Shows 2015-16

September 9-29: Thomas O’Flynn and Agnes de Bethune
Reception: Saturday, September 26 —cancelled

October 1-29: Dave Gloman
Reception: Saturday, October 10 from 1:00-3:30 p.m.

November 2-January 5: Linda Batchelor
Reception:  Saturday, November 7 from 1:00-3:30 p.m.

January 6-28: Jessica Tam
Reception: Saturday, January 9 from 1:00-3:30 p.m.

February 1-March 18: Eric Wolf
Reception: Saturday, Feburary 20 from 1:00-3:00 p.m.

March 21-April 29: Faculty Show
Reception: Saturday, April 23 from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.

May 2-12: Williston’s Student-Curated Show

May 16-June 1: Williston Scholars Exhibit

Summer: Recent Paintings by Dave Gloman will be on exhibit in the Grubbs Gallery from October 2 – 30th, with an opening reception for the artist to be held on Sunday, October 6th from 2-4 pm.

Gloman has converted a large box truck into a mobile studio from which he paints directly outdoors. The dirt paths, fields and small streams around Hatfield provide him with  inspiration as they are constantly changing.

The show will include both large paintings and smaller works. Gloman says he has been “inspired by the heroic six foot paintings by 19th century English landscape painter, John Constable, and the heroic pastoral paintings of Claude Lorrain and Nicolas Poussin.” In these new works, Gloman hopes to capture the essence of the locations in which he paints, and the feeling of being present in the moment by painting directly outdoors.

Dave Gloman is a Resident Artist at Amherst College where he teaches drawing and painting. The Grubbs Gallery is open on weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and on Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to noon.