Events

in the mezzanine gallery
“The Edge: Earth, Sky and All Between” paintings by Cindy Brower / sculpture by Gary Cassidy
July 16 – August 14

meet the artists during Prescott’s 4th Friday Art Walk at ‘Tis
July 23
5:00 – 7:00 PM

click on the images to enlarge and view the slideshow

Cindy Brower

 

Most of us have experienced events in our lives that, for a brief second, made time stand still; the images of those events burning themselves into our soul like a freeze-frame photo, forever redefining how we see life. For Cindy, the tragic loss of her two brothers, which came when she was a teenager, changed all that had come before and all that was yet to come; casting the world in a very different light.

Cindy’s love of nature and introspection was planted before she was born. Her mother, discovering that she was pregnant late in life and fearful for her unborn child, escaped the city of Phoenix to the woods outside of Prescott, Arizona, and spent three months camping with Cindy’s two brothers, waiting for her arrival.

Cindy’s paintings take inspiration from her Arizona roots — sweeping landscapes with a surrealistic twist. Cindy also paints what she calls her “chaos series” — bold and quirky dreamscapes often with a baby bird.  In each painting there will always be a message of hope and a place of peace. Cindy became fascinated with surrealism as a child when her mother would take her to the Phoenix Art Museum.  Her favorite stop would always be to see the paintings of Phillip Curtis. Years later, it was a great honor when she met Phillip in his studio and he critiqued one of her paintings.  Cindy has a patient painting style, using many layers of glazing to achieve a sense of depth and intrigue.

Cindy earned a BS in Horticulture from the University of Arizona and an AAS in Interior Design from Scottsdale Community College, where she also studied painting with Robert You.

She has studios in Prescott and Scottsdale.

“My paintings are a distillation of my dreams, visions, and life experiences. They represent my on-going struggle with the duality of life and my efforts to find the creative force in all things, “good” and “bad”, that challenge us to grow, expand, and recreate our world. We cannot stand in light without casting a shadow, each is dependent on the other.  My goal is to embrace light and darkness with equal grace, communicating life’s balancing acts: humor against gravity; confidence against uncertainty; unity against isolation; love against fear; pitting our feelings of chaos against our search for peace. In my paintings, for those who seek, an image of hope can always be found.”

Gary Cassidy

Colonel U.S. Army (retired)

Gary “Butch” Cassidy, a Special Forces Colonel upon retiring from the U.S. Army, was recalled from retirement to be the Army’s Artist and sent to Bosnia in 1998/99 to capture images and create a body of artwork depicting our soldiers’ experiences.  From that Bosnia Art Project, one painting, Checkpoint at Bedrock, honoring U.S. Army soldiers’ Bosnia service, was unveiled at the U.S. Capitol building in a ceremony on April 11, 2000.  Gary’s achievements include Doctor of Arts, Master of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees.  He served in various command and executive positions for the U.S. Army Staff, U.S. Army Special Operations Command, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict. His military experience overseas includes the Balkans, First Gulf War, Panama, Korea, and the Vietnam War.

Since retiring and moving to Prescott in 2002 Gary has served in a number of positions to include, Executive Director of the Phippen Museum of Western Art, Board Member and President of Arizona Classical Theatre, Board Member and Chairperson for Arts and Cultural Affairs Study Group for Prescott 2050, Board Member and President for Friends of Yavapai College Art, and Board Member for the Yavapai College Foundation.

His art is in the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum in Chicago, Illinois, the Army Art Collection in Washington, D.C. and his artworks have been displayed in the Pentagon; U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Ft. Bragg, North Carolina; U.S. Special Operations Command, Mac Dill Air Force Base, Florida; Special Operations and Airborne Museum, Fayetteville, North Carolina; U.S. Army War College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania; National Defense University, Washington, DC; and his art is in numerous corporate and private collections.

Gary works with steel, wood, stone and repurposed material as a sculptor and he is a painter.  Additionally, he is about to publish his third book of a trilogy of novels or mythomemoir based on what he observed during his thirty-year U.S. Army career.

 

In the Main Gallery- Eclectic Works

July 22 – August 24

In the Mezzanine Gallery- ” Art in Architecture” Collaborative Exhibit with Cindi Shaffer and Alison Heavirland of Astral Glass Studios and Alan Heavirland of Old Stage Enterprises

August 15 – September 14

In the Main Gallery- “Black and White with a Splash of Color 2021”

August 26 – September 21

In the Mezzanine Gallery- Jo Manginelli and Friends

September 15 – October 13

In the Main Gallery- Fine Art Photography

September 23 – October 19

In the Mezzanine Gallery- “Let’s Give the Ordinary a Day Off” featuring with work of extraordinary artists Mary Kaye O’Neill, Carol Hunter-Geboy, Linda Scott, Sherri Curtis, Michelle Johnson and Allison Kantor

October 15 – November 14

In the Main Gallery- “Assemblage and Collage 2021”

October 21 – November 23

In the Mezzanine Gallery- Barb Wills and Friends- wearable art by Barb Wills and more

November 15 – December 29

In the Main Galley- Eclectic Works

November 25 – December 21

In the Mezzanine Gallery- STEPS Art Education Program for ages 5 – 14 Student Exhibition

January 2 – January 14