Learn about the art of memory painting

Join us for a special celebration of Memory Painters: The Art of Memories with guest speaker, Kevin Vogel, from Valley House Gallery & Sculpture Garden in Dallas, Texas.

6:00 pm | Public Reception and Gallery Talk by Kevin Vogel – “The Art of Memories”

Kevin Vogel of Valley House Gallery will speak about three naïve artists whose paintings were done from memories of their lives growing up in small-town Texas; Clara McDonald Williamson (1875-1976), Harold Osman Kelly (1884-1955) and Velox Ward (1901-1994). Of course, each has their own personal style. But, they do have some common characteristics. They tend to create complicated vignettes that are amalgams of memories from their youth. They tend to do expansive images with a bird’s-eye-view of the events. None of the three had much formal training in art and none came to painting until late in life. Even though each grew up under rough economic circumstances and lived through some tough times, their work focused on the pleasant memories from their past. And, by virtue of the fact their paintings document some of the facets of life in early Texas that have died out over the years, each was somewhat of an inadvertent historian of Texas.