The artist membership of Art Presence Art Center is now 28 strong. We value them highly for the wonderful diversity of style, variety of technique in their respective mediums, and the unique and individual approach to creating art each artist brings to the gallery and our community.

The Poet’s Palette Continues… Art Presence invites you to enjoy the second month of this fantastic exhibition! Come in to the gallery and consider a purchase from the selection of poetically beautiful works on display through Sunday, April 29.

Art Presence Sponsors “Poets on the Loose” for National Poetry Month, Saturday, April 28, 11:00am-2:00pm—Look for Art Presence members randomly stopping people on the streets of Jacksonville to ask if they want to hear a poem! Poets running wild around town are highly unusual. But when they do appear, they raise the art up to the light and offer its vast treasures to their audience who, in the hearing, complete the great circle of the poetic art. Without others’ ears to hear, the poet’s spoken words would not be transferred into sound and that particular beauty, that shining gift would not exist. Yes, the printed pages might be found lying around a hundred years from now, but the exquisite beauty and power of poetry spoken would be lost.

New Member ~ New Medium—Art Presence extends a warm welcome to our newest member, sculptor Jan van Ek, and a new medium—bronze sculpture. If you haven’t yet seen Jan’s stunning bronze sculptures, come in to the gallery for a real treat! A Medford native, Jan began sculpting while studying fine art at Oregon State University. Once she earned her BFA, she moved to Denver to perfect her technical skills, working at a bronze casting foundry and creating original bronze sculptures of horses. 22 years later, having established herself as a nationally recognized equine sculptor and married to Jay Warren (also a bronze sculptor), she returned to Oregon in 2004. In the gallery you can see “Lightning, Thunder, Rain”—from a limited edition of seven pieces—a sculpture of three spirited horses running atop carved marble thunderclouds with a bronze base in the form of lightning. While most of Jan’s pieces are free-standing, others can hang on a wall. In addition to sculpting horses, she enjoys creating statues and sculptures of angels. Be sure to seek out Jan’s work the next time you visit Art Presence!

Art Presence Offsite Exhibits—Exhibit of paintings by Delores Ribal is available for viewing at Pioneer Village through September.

Gardeners Gone Wild—Next month, Art Presence Art Center celebrates the changing of the seasons with an exhibition of works expounding on Spring’s always-anticipated beauty. The show opens Friday, May 4, with a reception on Saturday, May 5 from 1:00-3:00pm.

Reserve our upstairs room for your class, workshop or meeting! Contact Anne Brooke at 541-941-7057. As always, you can find the above information and more on our website, https://art-presence.org.

Featured image is “Lightning, Thunder, Rain” by Jan van Ek.