Main Floor
A writer turned visual artist, Portland painter Thérèse Murdza began drawing big words on giant rolls of paper in 1998. Using an evolving and animated range of circles, lines, and colors, she continued her work onto stretched canvas in 2001, eventually building her now signature bright, richly textured paintings on large, sometimes multi-paneled works on canvas, and smaller paintings on canvas and paper. From her studio in Portland, Oregon, she partners with gallerists, design professionals, and private collectors to place her artwork nationwide. |
Second Floor
John Beckelman's work has been exhibited in shows nationwide. He has been the recipient of numerous awards, commissions, and grants. He received his Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics and his Master of Science in Ceramics from Illinois State University. John is the Robert O. Daniel Professor of Art, Emeritus at Coe College. He lives and works in Cedar Rapids, Iowa where he maintains a studio at the ‘Iowa Ceramics Center and Glass Studio’ in downtown. |
Welcome: New Gallery Artists
open call for representation | group exhibition
Main Floor
Call to artists seeking gallery representation. This exhibition will be a welcome for new Gallery Artists. The show is not based on a theme but the best representation of an artist’s body of work and style. |
By Design
curated | group exhibition
Second Floor
An exhibition inviting interior designers who have previously partnered with Gilded Pear Gallery and appreciates the value of original art in the home and office. Designers are asked to design a mood board surrounding an artwork/s of their choice from Gilded Pear artists. This showcase is meant to have a new spin on an exhibition, highlight our design friends, and be a fun show for the summer. |
Jim Ochs: 45 Years of Work
posthumous solo exhibition | Jim Ochs Main Floor
James Ochs was born in Denver, Colorado in 1943. He gained print experience at Blacks Print Studio in New York City, and he worked in collage and paint at the Art Student League. He received his B.A. in painting at Colorado State University, and went on to earn an M.A. and M.F.A in printmaking and drawing from the University of Iowa. Ochs’ work can be found in prominent art collections around the US, including the Des Moines Art Center; Muscatine Art Center, Muscatine, IA; Farm Bureau, Des Moines, IA; Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; Harvard College, Cambridge, MA; and Brown University, Providence, RI. Featured in over 120 national, regional and solo shows nationwide, his works have received numerous awards, including the Coconut Grove Art Exhibition, Coconut Grove, FL; and the Winter Park Art Festival, Winter Park, FL. |
Animalia by Maggie Vandewalle
Second Floor
Maggie Vandewalle was born and raised in Iowa City, Iowa. In 1981, she received an art scholarship to the University of Iowa where she worked toward a BFA in printmaking. After college, she gravitated to watercolor—a medium she uses almost exclusively today. She recalls a childhood divided between two passions—an insatiable love of reading and a profound fascination for the natural world. These early interests are the foundation for her paintings of whimsical creatures; their antics often bring a smile or a feeling that one has walked into the middle of a remarkable journey. |
Exhibition Dates: November 6, 2023 - January 27, 2024
Public Reception: November 17th, 5:00-7:30pm
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Main Floor
Crit Streed tracks time and response using an intuitive reflex and her analytic nature. The medium is ink on paper and the approach is intense but not pre-planned. The drawings are reciprocal for the artist and reveal the effect of surroundings and the impact of experience. Forms in the drawings often expose natural growth intersected by human interaction and the tremor of events. Crit Streed explores installation and video as well as a performative approach to drawing. Crit has exhibited both nationally and internationally. She credits her creative explorations to a life in Iowa, extensive travel to other cultures and how her synapses fire. |
Second Floor
Kristina is a visual artist and performer and is drawn to creative projects that will combine both of these passions.. She has exhibited her sculptural fiber art across the Midwest and in the Twin Cities, is a 2010-2011 recipient of a Jerome Fiber Art Project Grant at the Minnesota Textile Center, and has performed with The Winding Sheet Outfit, Red Eye Theater and Sandbox Theatre. Her current work incorporates light and sound through projected animation and explores how it interacts with her sculptures. Kristina is a graduate of St. Catherine University with a MAED in Art and Theater Education, an ensemble member of Sandbox Theatre and a founding member of The Winding Sheet Outfit. |
Main Floor
Preston Preston's paintings primarily depict the dramatic climate of the Midwest, as well as its expansive skies and rolling fields. They often represent particular locations against a backdrop of weather events from observation, memory and where necessary, imagination. Simple, visual attraction is the central motivation, and he enjoys finding an idea in an image, rather than finding an image for an idea. Preston has exhibited nationally and is in many public and private collections, including Iowa State University, John Deere and the Chicago Federal Reserve. Wagener Wagener's landscapes demonstrate her awareness of the great tradition of landscape painting, from which she invents her own conceptual and stylistic approach. The Hudson River School, American Luminism, the French Barbizon School, Impressionism, and 20th-century Iowa artists such as Grant Wood and Marvin Cone are the landscape painters that inspire her. Her tour-de-force, F5Tornado, 2003, in the Figge Art Museum permanent collection, demonstrates her ability to work within her own alphabet of realistic landscape imagery to create symbolic, abstract works. Stormy clouds, burning fields, dust storms, and tornadoes move across her formerly pristine, carefully groomed landscapes, demonstrating the powerful force of nature. |
Connections by Laura Young
Second Floor
"I am an artist and a teacher. I was educated at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY (BA), Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, NJ (MA), and Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ (MFA). I often think of the work of the 19th century American landscape painter, George Inness, who lived and worked in Montclair, NJ where I lived for many years when my children were growing up. His dark fields and forests with a minimal, yet powerful light leaking through the trees and brush somewhere in the middle ground creates a yearning for something beyond the horizon, something intangible. The light pulls one forward. I think of the powerful series called “wall of light” by the contemporary Irish artist Sean Scully, examples of which can be found in museums all over the world. These two artists among many others have been inspirations to me." |
Main Exhibit
Mary Zeran was raised in a family of women artists whose textiles, embroidery, and woodcarvings, existed as their visual language; enigmatic shapes and forms were their words. Each time she picks up a brush or scissors she immerses herself in the language of her family, which brings her ever closer to their traditions, histories, and stories. Mary Zeran received her B.F.A and M.F.A from University of Iowa. She was born in Iowa City in 1964 and now lives and works in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She is the recipient of several awards and honors and her works are in numerous public and private collections as well as many notable corporate collections. |
Jewelry Cocktail Party
RSVP event First Floor
Leave your jewels and gems at home! Gilded Pear Gallery is opening up the cases for you to explore our incredible selection of contemporary jewelry. With over 300 pieces of jewelry from incredible local and international artists and designers, you'll be sure to find something to suit a unique style, whether it’s for yourself or a special someone. Our Jewelry Cocktail party has become a festive tradition, join us for some holiday spirits! Link to RSVP available in early November. |
Holiday Shop
artwork $500 and under Second Floor
Our second floor gallery showcases amazing artworks available $500 and under. We also curate an online Shop for you to browse even more offerings from the convenience of your couch. On view starting November 14th. Link for the online shop available in early November. |
Jewelry Cocktail Party
Thursday, December 9th 5:30pm
Check back for the RSVP in early November!
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Jewelry Cocktail Party
Due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the gallery will not be hosting it's yearly Jewelry Party in-person.
Join us on our social media, where we are holding our "Stories Jewelry Party" each day the week of December 14th!
Follow us and check in on our available jewelry selections this year. |
Curated group exhibit. Participating artists Jill Allan, Judy Bales, Michael Bauermeister, Mimi Damrauer, Kristina Fjellman, Ellen Kleckner, John Krizan, and Steve Sinner & Joe Meirhaeghe
This group exhibit celebrates the whimsy in line and color in contemporary craft works. Playful and meticulously created- a joyous celebration.
Exhibit Dates: February 8th-March 15th, 2019
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Reception: June 14th, 2019 5-7pm
Exhibit Dates: June 14th-August 16th, 2019 Cedar River Artisans:
Our group is composed of ceramic, sculpture, fiber, photography and landscape artists. We explore themes and tell stories through our diverse media presentation. The variety in our backgrounds and experience, as well as in our chosen mediums and styles, create the depth and interest in our collaboration as a creative body. Though we create independently, as a collective we invite viewers to join our conversation. |
Reception: October 18th, 2019 5-7pm
Exhibit Dates: October 11th-November 29th, 2019 This show brings together the work of artists who illustrate a particular style of moments in Midwest scenery. Both artists appear to have romantic or idealized renderings of these realistic vistas. The space between the sky and the earth is vast. Land reaches out to the endless horizon and the foliage seem to breathe the air that chase the clouds in that moment. Adventure and solace can be found in these paintings; the hunt for the cloud you could cut with a knife, the well-traveled path highlighted by the afternoon sun, or the colorful field within soft rolling terrain. The works themselves vary from the very large punchy style of Kristin’s and the mid-sized detailed serenity of David’s.
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Holiday Jewelry Cocktail PartyDecember 11th, 5-7pm
Please join us for select custom crafted, holiday inspired cocktails to celebrate our 3rd Annual Cocktail Party showcasing our selection of Contemporary Jewelry
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