Beneath the SurfaceMary Morrison
Main Floor |
Collector ShowcaseGroup
2nd Floor |
2025 |
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Beneath the Surface by Mary Morrison
Main Floor
Mary Morrison was born and raised in Iowa and graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with honors. She began creating art early in life and has been creating ever since. "My work has evolved over the years. Currently, I am using many materials, and I've designed new techniques that involve printmaking and painting. In the last six months, I've designed and created stencils that are hand done, and then I send my designs to a company that laser cuts them for me." She says of this body of work: "There seems to be an alchemical formula with combining my dry pigment paint, crayons, and precious metals. I use pure 24k yellow gold and sterling silver sheets. When all of these sources are pulled together they make the kind of surface I strive for. I build many layers of paint and use my tools to manipulate the paint, unveiling what is there beneath. Much like an archeological dig." |
Collector Showcase University of Iowa Artists
Second Floor
This exhibition celebrates the collective taste in artworks acquired by select artists from the University of Iowa community. Collectors Showcase offers seasoned and new collectors a rare opportunity to engage with pieces that speak to the artistic legacy of one of the nation’s esteemed creative institutions and acquire works that had been cherished and exhibited by other individuals, offering a unique connection to the art’s history and its past owners. |
Main Floor
"Using colors and shapes inspired by my synesthetic experience, I make paintings to engage and enliven people where we work, rest, and gather. Seeing sound, tasting words, listening to language for the visual pulse -- my childhood musical training remains an influence, as do my years as a writer and meditator. I’m interested in how we encourage each other to be continually touched by beauty and color and surprise. Art helps. Since 2001, I’ve applied paints and pencils to create large, multi-paneled works on canvas, and smaller works on canvas and paper." |
TBD by Jillian Moore
2nd Floor
Jillian Moore is an artist and writer based in Iowa City, Iowa working primarily in the field of contemporary jewelry and sculpture. Her work is inspired by forms in the biological world and amplified by an interest in the fantastical. Operating with a background in metalsmithing and a foreground in experimental resins and other plastic processes, Moore's work is comprised of a variety of new materials and techniques executed with the obsessive, monomaniacal approach of her craft discipline training. She completed her MFA in jewelry and metal arts at the University of Iowa in 2008. She received her BFA in metalsmithing and jewelrymaking from Western Illinois University in Macomb, in 2004.
Support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Iowa Arts Council, which exists within the Iowa Economic Development Authority. |
Main Floor
Rocca Born in New Jersey and raised in Iowa, Kimberlee Rocca studied Design, Printmaking, and Fiber Arts at The University of Iowa before earning her BFA in Metal Smithing in 1991. During her studies, Rocca was introduced to Foil Imaging, a unique process which combines traditional printmaking techniques with commercial foil printing processes. She has spent the last 30+ years exploring this incredibly seductive medium. While her foil works are unique, she also works extensively in Mixed Media on Paper, Canvas, Wood Panel and Aluminum in 2 and 3 dimensions. Gronvold Roller Nichole Gronvold-Roller is a painter who received a BFA in Art Education from Minnesota State University of Moorhead, an MA in Art Education from Boston University, MA, and an MFA in Painting from Bradley University. In addition to being an artist, Nichole is a full-time high school art teacher in Tremont, IL, where she has been teaching for the past twenty-six years. Furthermore, she is a contributor writer for the Inland Art column with Community Word. |
TBD
by Julia Kulish Second Floor
As a full-time artist and instructor of 12 years, Kulish brings flowers to life in a big way as a semi self-taught artist. Both of her parents were artists, and she states, this is where she “inherited a desire to know more.” Over time she has been included in several regional exhibitions including a solo show in the Des Moines Botanical Garden. Using oil paint, applied in a layered glazing technique, Kulish’s oversized blooms burst with color, revealing the unique personality of each flower. And while vibrant color is a large part of her work, equally so is the use of sinuous lines to create movement, along with the idea of the “beautiful chaos” found in nature. Her inspiration comes largely from her own expanding flower gardens, and the influence of both the floral still-life’s of the Dutch masters, and the light effects found in the works of Caravaggio. |
TBD by Ellen Kleckner
Main Floor
Ellen Kleckner is an artist and educator based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Her artistic practice weaves together community engagement, material investigation, and collaboration. Kleckner seeks to create visual narratives that that depict mutual reliance in the creation of new forms. The physical joinery that excites her creative process is reflected in the person-to-person relationships within a community. Her studies were in ceramics at the Appalachian Center for Craft where she received her BFA. She went on to study at the University of Nebraska (Lincoln) and Ohio University (Athens) where she received her MFA. Kleckner’s engaging work has also earned her a number of awards and grants in addition to exhibitions around the country. She has been a recipient of a Windgate Foundation Scholarship, the NCECA Graduate Student Research Fellowship, the Studio Potter Graduate Merit Award, Women of Achievement Award, an Artist Catalyst Grant from the Iowa Arts Council, and an Emerging Artist Fellowship from NCECA. |
TBD by Linda Ge
2nd Floor
Linda Ge was born in Fort Collins, Colorado but has lived most of her life in Iowa. She received her BFA in Drawing and Painting from the University of Iowa in 2012 and relocated to Colorado in 2014 to pursue a two-year post-baccalaureate program in Ceramics at the University of Colorado Boulder. She moved back to Iowa in 2016 for a residency at the Iowa Ceramics Center and Glass Studio. Linda currently works as the Gallery Assistant and Inventory Manager at the Gilded Pear Gallery in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Her works have been exhibited nationally and internationally and have been featured in various publications including Ceramics Monthly. "The sculptures and drawings I create are vague reflections of what we are familiar with...The body not only houses multiple micro- and macrocosms, but it in itself serves as a singular component in the complex structures of our world. By observing the anatomy and similar forms echoed in nature, I reduce these elements down to their most basic components, then reconstruct them back together." |
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Exhibition Dates: November 17- February 14th, 2026
Public Reception and Holiday Cocktail Party: December 5th, 5:00-8:00pm
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Jewelry Showcase:
Holiday Cocktail Party Exhibition Dates: December 5, 2025 -February 14, 2026
Holiday Party: December 5th, 5-8pm First Floor Our Holiday Cocktail party has become a festive tradition, join us for some holiday spirits! |
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Gilded Pear Gallery
808 THIRD AVE. SE CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA 52403 319-366-0205 [email protected] [email protected] |
Gallery Hours:
Monday: by appointment Tues-Friday: 10:00am-5:00pm Saturday: 10:00am-2:00pm Sunday: Closed Art appraisals are by appointment only. |
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