Home, Family, Birth, Life, Death, The Riffe Gallery Looks at Growing Pains
by Lacey Luce

The Ohio Art Council’s Riffe Gallery explores the life experiences that shape us with Growing Pains an exhibition opening July 27 and on view through October 15, 2006.

Growing Pains features artwork by Ohio artists working in a wide range of media and exploring the many markers in life’s journey—from family dynamics to that place we call home.

“There is no guidebook, no way to plan, and no absolute path. Childhood, adolescence, career, marriage, children, aging—it’s anyone’s guess what is the best way to navigate these universals,” said curator Bellamy Printz. “In this exhibition, we explore the voyage from infancy onward: growing up, parenting and growing old. The viewer is invited to dig below the surface, to remember, or consider a different time, different life choices.”

As the experiences that frame us are varied so are the ways in which artists can explore these themes. Growing Pains brings together many artistic disciplines from Janis Mars Wunderlich’s witty sculptures to mixed-media works by Michael Arrigo. Each artist seizes different influential experiences to explore. Bridgette Murphy Milligan revisits her childhood home in her mixed media paintings; Paige Williams’ abstract latex paintings explore her role as a new mother and look at the lexicon of new imagery that has entered her life; while Eliana Calle-Saari’s woodcut prints are rich with her exploration of cultural identity and the cross generational ties between mothers and daughters.

Curated by Bellamy Printz, Growing Pains includes work by the following Ohio artists: Michael Arrigo (Toledo), Eliana Calle-Saari (Gahanna), Benjy Davies (Albany), Marcella Hackbardt (Mount Vernon), Brooke Inman (Cleveland), Liz Maugans (Bay Village), Bridget Murphy Milligan (West Salem), Robert “Boomer” Moore (New Marshfield), Migiwa Orimo (Yellow Springs), Nathaniel Parsons (Cleveland Heights), Christina Pereyma (Troy), Lynn Whitney (Waterville), Paige Williams (Cincinnati) and Janis Mars Wunderlich (Columbus).

The Riffe Gallery is located on the first floor of the Vern Riffe Center for Government and the Arts, on the corner of State and High streets, downtown Columbus, Ohio.

Summer gallery hours from July 27 to September 13 are: Tuesday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.; Wednesday, 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday noon – 4 p.m. On September 14 gallery hours will return to: Tuesday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.; Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.; Saturday, noon – 8 p.m. and Sunday, noon – 4 p.m. The gallery is closed Monday and state holidays. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.riffegallery.org, e-mail riffegallery@oac.state.oh.us or phone 614/644-9624. Free group tours are available Tuesday through Friday throughout the run of the exhibition. To schedule a group tour contact Riffe Gallery Director Mary Gray at mary.gray@oac.state.oh.us or 614/728-2239.

Image seen here: Laundry Monkeys, 2005, 18 x 8 x 6'' artist: Janis Mars Wunderlich
The Riffe Gallery is supported by the Ohio Building Authority. Media sponsors include Alive, CityScene, Ohio Magazine and Time Warner. The Ohio Arts Council’s Riffe Gallery showcases the work of Ohio’s artists and curators, exhibitions produced by the Ohio Arts Council’s International Program and the collections of the region’s museums and galleries. The Riffe Gallery’s Education Program seeks to increase public appreciation and understanding of those exhibitions. The Ohio Arts Council is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally and economically.

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