Perrysburg, OH: The Owens Community College Department of Fine and Performing Arts invites the public to join them for an in-person reception on Thursday, July 22nd from 5-7PM at the Walter E. Terhune Art Gallery. Beth Genson, the college’s first Artist in Residence, will be presenting an artist talk and art demonstration for her solo exhibit “The Heavens and Earth.” Light refreshments will be served.
Northwest Ohio artist Beth Genson has created a collection of work that was inspired by a 2019 visit to Southeast Ohio to tour the area with Leatra (Lea) Harper, a community advocate and co-founder of the non-profit organization, FreshWater Accountability Project (www.FWAP.org). Harper witnessed first-hand the air and water pollution and associated animal and human health harms of hydraulic fracturing, or ‘fracking’ as the process is commonly known, a method used to gain access to natural gas and oil buried miles beneath the Earth’s surface. Over the ensuing two years, Genson has ruminated on the experience and decide to create activism with her art. “With my encaustic paintings I seek to demonstrate the beauty of the shale layers that contain the natural gas and oil in the earth, the water that carries life and joy throughout the region, and the atmospheric beauty of the sky containing the air we breathe…The Heavens and Earth – all in jeopardy due to the practice of fracking,” said Genson. Brief commentary accompanies each piece to walk viewers through the process and educate them on the subject. Suggestions and materials for taking action on this topic will be provided in the Gallery. 25% of the proceeds from sales of the paintings will benefit the Freshwater Accountability Project, an Ohio-based nonprofit.
The Heavens and Earth exhibition will be on display until August 13th. Beth will be teaching “The Art of Encaustic” through our Artist in Residence Program during the summer and can register for classes here: https://www.owens.edu/workforce_cs/workandplay-results.php?s=hobbies/interest To learn more about our Artist in Residence Program, visit our website: https://www.owens.edu/fpa/cfpa/artistinresidence/ To visit The Heavens and Earth exhibit in person visit the Walter E. Terhune Art Gallery website (https://www.owens.edu/fpa/cfpa/terhune/) to schedule an appointment or stop by during the open gallery hours – Tuesday: 10AM-1PM Wednesday: 1PM-4:30PM Thursday: 10AM-2PM
