Lanesboro Arts presents “Heartbeats” an exhibition featuring the work of Viroqua, WI based artist Kathie Wheeler. The show opens on June 19th – August 15th. Always free and open to the public, gallery hours are Wednesday – Sunday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
While Kathie is known for her landscape plein air work, this unique exhibition focuses exclusively on figurative paintings. This expressive series celebrate people from different backgrounds. Kathie hopes the paintings prompt heartfelt reactions from viewers as they uncover universal themes of humanity. As Kathie explains, “I try to put the feeling or emotion I see in a place or person on the canvas. My hope is that the viewer can take some of that away with them.”
Kathie describes her process as such: “I count myself fortunate to be an artist. My paintings reflect the scenes and people in my daily life and many are begun or painted entirely on location or from life. Painting “en plein air” is filled with both challenges and great pleasure. No day is ever the same,” explains Wheeler. “And so, I join the long history of adventurers who translate the beauty of their surroundings onto canvas with brushes and paint. It gives me great pleasure to share these moments in time with those who live with my paintings in their lives.”
Kathie was born in 1962 and was raised in the Chicago area. As a young woman, she studied at the American Academy of Art, where she won the prestigious Union Art League Scholarship Competition, then worked as a freelance commercial artist and portrait artist.
Kathie creates remarkable landscapes and portraits and works primarily with a rich oil palette, but also enjoys dabbling in pastel, watercolor. She paints plein air throughout the year, as well as working in the studio. Kathie and her husband reside on a small farm in southwest Wisconsin.
Sponsored by Commonweal Theatre:
This exhibit is sponsored by Commonweal Theatre and made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund. For more information visit www.lanesboroarts.org, call 507-467-2446 or email gallery@lanesboroarts.org. Handicapped accessible and free to the public, the exhibition gallery is located at 103 Parkway Avenue North in Lanesboro, MN.