Hera Gallery

Thank you to all of you who have come out to support the WATER exhibition these past few weeks!  Please join us and the regional artists of Water in a closing reception and informal artist panel discussion that includes Michelle Benoit, David Mangels, & Kelsey Miller! Hope to see you there!

With Dave Prescott of Save the Bay's South Coast Center in Westerly. Dave will be providing a 45 minute presentation with opportunities to discuss local water issues in South County. Fresh and salt water bodies will be discussed. David Prescott is the South County Coastkeeper, a role that provides a visible on-the-water presence and works in the community to protect, restore, and promote stewardship of the unique and magnificent waterways of Little Narragansett Bay, the Pawcatuck River, and the South Coast.  Dave conducts water quality monitoring, mobilizes community action on stormwater and wastewater pollution, investigates and responds to pollution incidents, and advocates for public access to the shore. He is a proponent for new strategies for communities that are dealing with climate change impacts. Join us in meeting with our South County Coastkeeper! Light refreshments provided!

Joe Cory: "Enlightened Witness" (15"x20") - Joe Cory Joseph Cory is an artist and associate professor in the department of Visual Art at Samford University in Birmingham, AL. He received a BA from Central College (IA), a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and an MFA from the University of Chicago. He exhibits his work nationally, and is the recipient of a number of grants, awards, and workshops including: "The Whale and Star Summer Workshop in affiliation with the Anderson Ranch" in Miami with the artist Enrique Martinez Celaya (2011), and the "Project R5: A Visual Arts Workshop and Studio in South Africa" (2013).  Check out his work at Hera! WATER ends May 9th.

Sabrina McLaughlin: "Of The Despair" (16"x28") - Sabrina McLaughlin Sabrina McLaughlin is a Painting Major at Kendall College of Art and Design. Most recently her work has been displayed at th e West Michigan Regional Art Competition at Lowell Art Center and Art.Downtown 2014. Sabrina was born in Canton Ohio and currently lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her awards include: Krylon's Clear Choice Scholarship, Beyond Mythologies Scholarship, Akron Society of Artists Scholarship, Canton Artists League Scholarship, Kendall College of Art and Design's Portfolio Scholarship, and Kendall College of Art and Design's Academic Scholarship. Check out her work at Hera! WATER ends May 9th . 

Kerry Kolenut: "Swimming Pool 3" (24"x16") - Kerry Kolenut Her Statement: " Most individuals participate in the collection of images, sometimes represented as an album, a scrapbook, a frame, or a filled shoebox.  Images of families and friends become a personal history; it gives both a family and an individual an identity.   We get a sense of who we are and where we come from, whether or not there is someone there to tell us who or what is in the image.  We get a sense of what has come before us.  Snapshot photographs are often connected to ideas of identity, memory, and relationships. Often how we remember and what we think we remember is fragmented.  Without a reference to a specific person or place what happens to the photograph? Does it still tell us something about our family history or ourselves? I have gathered images from family albums, enlarged them, and covered a portion of the image information with graphite. All that is left are parts of...

Barbara Simcoe: "Montserrat" (15"x20") - Barbara Simcoe Her Statement:  " The world is largely pre-occupied with itself on a level that excludes spirituality. In the culture's violence, its unrelenting dedication to the exterior to the exclusion of the interior and its fascination with spectacle, is there a place for contemplation.  The figurative imagery I use in my work is exclusively of women and it is in the area of feminine archetypes that I am most interested in woman as vessel of creativity, as intercessor, as of the earth, as mother, as primal aspect of the feminine/masculine dichotomy, as the complement of masculine divinity. These are the subtexts of my work. In designing my pieces I direct my actions to subconsciously access archetypes to create works that function as metaphor. They are not meant to be overtly narrative, though there is an undercurrent of a non-linear kind. In this regard the works are associative and referential. My...

David Mangels: "Frozen Mosaic no.1" (12"x12") - David Mangels Mangels lives in Massachusetts, and can be found hiking about New England or the Four Corners Region with his wife, Wendy. He is a member of the  Cambridge Art Association ,  Concord Art Association , and  One Percent for the Planet .  In 2013, Mangels was awarded the Frances N. Roddy Prize by the Concord Art Association for my work 'Clearing Storm, Whitman County #1 and #2'. His Statement: " The edges of the nature are filled with beauty. A storm clearing at sunrise creates a glowing landscape that makes your heart fill with joy. The overlap between two climates can create unique ecosystems that give spark to the imagination within all of us. Extremes of desert or arctic wilderness offer moments of stark wonder that might remain unknown simply because so few people have the opportunity to see them. In the rhythm of spring, summer, fall, winter and spring again, each season has it...

John Francis: "Refl ections of Bruneau Dunes" (36"x36") - John Francis John Francis graduated Magna Cum Laude with BS in Graphic design from University of Cincinnati (1974) and an MS in Communications with an interactive technology emphasis from Florida State University (1995). John has worked professionally in the public and private sectors on a diverse range of projects including corporate identity programs, multimedia, signage, publications and books. His clients have included a wide spectrum from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to a performance artist. John has won several awards for his design work and was one of four national nominees for the Graphic Arts Guild’s Walter Hortens Distinguished Service Award in 2001. Check out his work at Hera! WATER ends May 9th. 

Holly Lay: "Spend All Day" - Holly Lay Holly Lay is a photographer who focus in film and polaroid forms, while shooting with the subjects of landscapes and portraiture. Through these subjects, she finds aesthetic beauty.   Her Statement: "At a certain age one realizes that life is short and age is inevitable. The sense of immortality begins to fade and this realization really hit me at one specific moment. I had a dream to go to my childhood home and search in a closet for something. In this closet I found a box labeled “Wendy”. Wendy, my mother, passed away when I was at the age of seven from breast cancer. I only knew her from what memories I had and old Polaroids I found of her. In this box under old get well cards I found documents from the hospital she was visiting. These documents stated that her cancer had gone undetected for years and in her early twenties it had started to form. This of course scared me; she was my age when she had developed it. I s...

David Roon: "Liquid Interface" - David Roon David Roon learned the basics of ceramics through coursework at the University of Minnesota and the University of Idaho. He was heavily influenced by a series of courses taken with Minnesota artist Steven Hemmingway, who works with a similar mosaic-style approach to Raku. He has been refining his own unique vision and technique part time since 1994, opening his own private studio in 2010.    David works with a technique called ‘Raku mosaic’. All of his work is wheel-thrown, but most of his wares (such as water features and lanterns) are assembled from multiple elements. He etches stylized natural and mythological designs into his wheel-thrown greenware- the carved lines are sealed with wax, and the interstitial spaces are hand-painted with various Raku glazes. Each piece is kiln fired and plunged into a closed chamber filled with combustible materials, where the carved lines are smoked black, and the glazed sections take on m...

William Nieberding "Le Reve" 11"x15" - William Nieberding  William Nieberding is an assistant professor of Art Education at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. His photographs include traditional silver-based black and white portraits, landscapes, and figure studies as well as digital work. The image presented here is from a series exploring physical and intangible relationships to water. William also writes about art, photography, and the discourse of vision. This work takes a focus on phenomenology, and how different ways of seeing offer insight into contemporary understandings of photography. William holds a Ph.D. in Art Education from The Ohio State University, and masters in photography from Purdue University. His statement: "As beings of mostly water, we are continually drawn to contemplate our relationships with it. Le Rêve is part of a larger series of photographs that indulges in this contemplation through the pictu...

Haley Nannig "Lunar Sisters" (54"x54") - Haley Nannig Haley Nannig is primarily a painter producing work with pattern, collage, and both thick gestural paint marks completely dependent on immediacy and speed. Fascinated in the idea of spending a large or little amount of time on a layer and then completely wiping it out, leaving only windows of time and the feeling of cycles. Her work is influenced by the environment she resides in: the sea which she was raised by, the mountains she climbs, and the flat farmland she now continues her practice. Haley attends Alfred University, receiving a Bachelor's degree in Fine Art with a specialization in Painting and Printmaking and a Minor in both Art History and Education. Check out more of her work at  haleynannig.com . WATER opens April 11th at the Hera Gallery.

Yay! WATER's Opening Reception is THIS Saturday! Please come and enjoy this exciting event Saturday, April 11th between 6pm - 8pm "Of Their Despair" 16"x28" - Sabrina McLaughlin "Lunar Sisters" 54"x54" - Haley Nannig List of Artist: Jonathan Beckerman New Milford, CT Michelle Benoit West Warwick, RI Joe Cory Helena, AL John Deamond Burtonsville, MD Patricia DeCamp Loudonville, NY Geoff Delanoy Baltimore, MD Adam Farcus Maitland, FL John Francis Boise, ID Julie Gautier-Downes Santa Barbara, CA Linda Adele Goodine Indianapolis, IN Patty Harris Brooklyn, NY Mary Jameson Middletown, RI Kerry Kolenut Franklin Lakes, NJ Holly Lay Muncie, IN David Mangels Acton, MA Sabrina McLaughlin San Luis, AZ Kelsey Miller Portsmouth, RI Haley Nannig North Kingstown, RI William Nieberding Nacogdoches, TX Elizabeth Parker Cohoes, NY Sarah Pfohl Mount Pleasant, MI Ellen Pratte Portsmouth, RI CW...

Dannon Schroeder "Induce" (10"x6"x3") - Dannon Shroeder Dannon Schroeder is a sculptor with a BA in Art Education, MA in sculpture, and a MFA in wooden sculpture. Schroeder focuses on ecology, biology, and sociobiology through his wooden pieces.  Schroeder describes his work with the following: " From the very first existence of humankind, an ongoing fragility between man and nature has been stretched and strained like a rubber band. Not completely snapping in two, the balance has been sustainable thus far. The human need to rely on nature for its abundance of resources exposes the weaknesses and strengths of our existence. The examination of human perspective towards the natural world has been a progressive tool for cognitive development since the origin of our species." See more of his work and exhibitions at  dannonschroeder.com WATER Opens April 11th at the Hera Gallery.

Jonathan Beckerman "H20 Pink & Blue" (20"x40"x1") - Jonathan Beckerman Jonathan Beckerman is a Los Angeles photographer and artist that studied at Ithaca College and is now located in Connecticut. Beckerman focuses his photography and art on the beauty and effect of a better environment around the world. From all the areas where he has lived around this country, he makes it his goal to improve his carbon footprint.  Beckerman best describes his exhibiting pieces with: "Element h2o, a transparent fluid responsible for supporting the medium of life is commonly known as water. The result of heating and cooling, water in its essence is a true artist of shaping physical realms by carving landscapes, painting skies, and building bodies. Delicate and ferocious, h2o has the power to support and take life all while becoming the object of reflection. This photographic image series of moments illustrates the transformation of water over space ...

Kelsey Miller "Sunset Playgrounds" - Kelsey Miller (72"x36") Kelsey Miller is a print-maker with a BA in Studio Art from Wellesey College and is going to UCONN for her Masters in Fine Arts. She's exhibited in multiple shows around the northeast as well as exhibited in Tennessee, Missouri, California, and other states around the country.  Here's how she describes her work: " For me, the ocean is at once a reminder of home and a symbol of voyage and adventure. The first ten years of my life were spent living on the Caribbean Island of Antigua where I grew to recognize the sea as an orientation point, like a city’s grand monument or a familiar mountain range. Many years later, I returned to a life surrounded by water when, for four years, I worked as chef on a sailboat traveling between the Caribbean, the United States, and Europe. Although my creative focus during that time was predominantly the culinary arts, I kept a regular journal of my...

WATER Opening - April 11th  Opening Reception: 6pm - 8pm "Boys Swimming" 14"x9.1" - Elizabeth Parker List of Artists: Jonathan Beckerman New Milford, CT Michelle Benoit West Warwick, RI Joe Cory Helena, AL John Deamond Burtonsville, MD Patricia DeCamp Loudonville, NY Geoff Delanoy Baltimore, MD Adam Farcus Maitland, FL John Francis Boise, ID Julie Gautier-Downes Santa Barbara, CA Linda Adele Goodine Indianapolis, IN Patty Harris Brooklyn, NY Mary Jameson Middletown, RI Kerry Kolenut Franklin Lakes, NJ Holly Lay Muncie, IN David Mangels Acton, MA Sabrina McLaughlin San Luis, AZ Kelsey Miller Portsmouth, RI Haley Nannig North Kingstown, RI William Nieberding Nacogdoches, TX Elizabeth Parker Cohoes, NY Sarah Pfohl Mount Pleasant, MI Ellen Pratte Portsmouth, RI CW Roelle Foster, RI David Roon Moscow, ID Steven Rubin State College, PA Dannon Schroeder Tempe, AZ Barbara Simcoe Omaha, NE