The Nebraska Arts Council (NAC) is pleased to announce the artists who will exhibit in the Fred Simon Gallery during the 2010/11 season. The Fred Simon Gallery, located in the NAC offices in Omaha's historic Old Market area, exhibits contemporary Nebraska Artists throughout the year. The artists selected for the upcoming 2010/11 exhibition season include:

Aug. 2 - Sept. 10, 2010: Inna Kulagina (Omaha), Painting

Sept. 27 - Nov. 5, 2010: Christina Narwicz (Omaha), Painting

Nov. 22 - Dec. 31, 2010: David McLeod (Omaha), Painting

Jan. 17 - Feb. 25, 2011: Janet Eskridge (Lincoln), Assemblage

Mar. 14 - Apr. 22, 2011: Mike and Anne Burton (Lincoln), Animation/Mixed Media

May 9 - June 17, 2011: Marvel Maring (Omaha), Book Arts

About the Artists:

ANNE BURTON

Anne Ruehrmund Burton was born in Washington D.C. in 1982. She earned her BFA from the University of Richmond in 2004 and her MFA from the University of Nebraska Lincoln in 2008 under a Hixson Lied Fellowship. Anne has exhibited her paintings, prints, and installations both regionally and nationally, most recently in Fremont Nebraska at the Gallery 92 West, in Nebraska City at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Gallery, and in Richmond Virginia at the Cornerstone Gallery. Anne currently teaches various art courses at Metropolitan Community College in Omaha and at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. Anne's work depicts an imaginary world of miniatures that are derived from her collection of nostalgic toys and decorative objects. She explores inherent meaning and personal attachments with these objects through her installations and paintings.

MICHAEL BURTON

Michael Burton was born in Fall River, Massachusetts in 1977. He earned his BFA from Green Mountain College in 1999 and his MFA from the University of Nebraska Lincoln in 2007 under a Hixson Lied Fellowship. Michael exhibits both regionally and nationally, most recently in Miami Florida at A-BoMB and at the Sioux City Art Center where he received Best in Show for the 61st Annual Art Exhibition. Michael currently teaches various art courses at Metropolitan Community College in Omaha and at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. He now resides in Lincoln with his wife Anne. Michael explores human and animal relationships and the painting process by combining traditional painting with film and digital media.

JANET ESKRIDGE

Janet Eskridge's childhood home was in the woods of Houston, Texas. She spent hours gathering, arranging and hiding treasures, such as sticks, feathers and rocks, among the trees. From a very early age, she worked in empty defined spaces to create something new. The art she makes is an invitation to look within. Themes in the work are birth, death, purpose, direction, and loss. Her art is an attempt to express the collective human desire and struggle to give meaning to experience. Working in antique boxes, Eskridge combines old paper, handmade books, objects, maps and photographs as representations of the life path. She often incorporates encaustic wax, an ancient technique used by Greek artists, into the work. Eskridge earned a master of professional studies degree in art therapy and creativity development from the Pratt Institute in 1992. Since 1997, she has worked as an art therapist at Children's Hospital & Medical Center in Omaha. Her experiences with children and families have strongly influenced her art.

INNA KULAGINA

Inna Kulagina was born and raised in Uzbekistan. She graduated with and MA/BA in Painting and many of her works are now in museums and permanent collections. Kulagina's settled life ended in 2004 and for the last five years she has been moving around the world every year from Uzbekistan to the USA, from the USA to Honduras, and back to the USA, which made her look at the world and the role of art around the world differently. Through this international travel experience, she has gained a new perception of the necessity of art. Here in Nebraska, she plans to go back to large scale paintings and big projects with students. Kulagina considers herself a teacher by nature: she loves creating together with students and trying to change the world for the best together, experiencing the true power of art.

MARVEL MARING

Marvel Maring, the proprietor of Crying Dime Press, produces fine press limited editions of poetry, as well as one-of-a-kind artist books and design bindings. Her current work investigates the tunnel book structure; a structure originating in the Renaissance to teach perspective. She has taught workshops throughout the US and in Ireland and has been awarded artist residency fellowships at the Pouch Cove Foundation, Newfoundland, Cló Ceardlann Na gCnoc in County Donegal, Ireland, and The Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences in Georgia. She has an MFA in Painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (1991), an MFA in Book Arts and an MLIS from the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa (2003). She is currently the Fine Arts and Humanities Reference Librarian at the University of Nebraska at Omaha where she has worked since 2004.

DAVID MCLEOD

David McLeod's advanced education includes a BFA in Ed from the University of Nebraska Lincoln, and an MFA in Painting from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. In his work, McLeod intends to inform the viewer about the production methods. His approach is to engage the viewer's physical perceptions to stimulate psychological/spiritual responses due to the lack of narrative imagery. Through unusual manipulation of the materials and reduced information about the content in the titles, the viewer is given freedom to participate in closure and satisfaction for themselves. If the viewer feels that the parts of each piece interact in a visually and emotionally satisfying manner, then McLeod sees the work as successful.

CHRISTINA NARWICZ

Christina Narwicz bases much of her work on the natural world. Although often abstracted, the painter's organic themes clearly reference botany, the Caribbean Islands, the constantly changing environment as well as her own garden. Narwicz has exhibited nationally and internationally in both solo and group shows at venues such as Artemesia Gallery (Chicago, IL) Galerie Shulgasse (Wurzburg, Germany) and Garden of the Zodiac Gallery (Omaha, NE), among others. Her paintings have been featured in publications such as Metropolitan Home, Omaha Magazine, the Briar Cliff Review and the Omaha World Herald. A two-time Artist-in-Residence at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha, NE, she has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Mid America Arts Alliance as well three Individual Artist Fellowship awards from the Nebraska Arts Council. Narwicz earned her BFA from Alfred University, New York State College of Ceramics and is the Director and Curator for Jackson Artworks in Omaha, NE.

The Fred Simon Gallery is located at the Nebraska Arts Council offices, at 1004 Farnam Street, Lower Level, in Omaha. The gallery is open during regular office hours, Monday - Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m... Opening receptions are scheduled for each artist and are free and open to the public. Please check the NAC website events calendar and our Facebook page to find out more about these special events.

Nebraska resident artists are eligible to apply for the Fred Simon Gallery exhibition program, which has an annual deadline for application on August 31. To learn more about this exhibition opportunity, contact J.D. Hutton for information.

Photo: Assemblage by Janet Eskridge