Past Exhibitions

2024

Exhibit Dates:
February 19-May 11, 2024
Public Reception:
Friday March 15th, 4:30pm-7:30pm

Inclinations by Ann Royer

Main Floor
Ann Royer is a multidisciplinary artist with more than 60 years of artmaking experience. Her wide repertoire consists of abstracts, female figures, florals, and her beloved horses. Paintings are best known for growing tendril lines, sweeping bold blocks of color, voluminous shapes filled with patterns, and sharp geometry. Three-dimensional sculptures in bronze and ceramic are recognized as a focus on form and the personality of the subject or sitter. She says of her work, “I have always thought each person looks at art bringing with them their own experiences, which governs what they see- no one should interfere with that process.”

view exhibition

The Idea of Color by Julia Kottal

Second Floor
Julia is a native mid-westerner, born in Michigan. She has studied art in Florida, Maryland and California before moving to Iowa in 1992. She has a B.A., with painting as her emphasis, from Coe College. She has work in various collections nationally, including Alliant Energy, Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Coe College, Kirkwood Community College, University Miami of Ohio, Millhiser Smith, Terry, Lockridge and Dunn, and United Fire Group. She is currently a full-time painter in Cedar Rapids.

view exhibition

Exhibit Dates:
May 20-July 20, 2024
Public Reception:
May 31st, 5:00-7:30pm

Main Floor Gallery
Protected Landscapes: External & Internal

Randy Richmond
Randy Richmond works as a photographic artist. After spending 20 years in the dark(room) he carefully and suspiciously stepped into the light of a glowing computer monitor. Randy pursues several photographic projects while subverting the photographic paradigm, by converting silver based materials to digital, as well as using imagery that began as pixels and transporting that imagery back in history to handmade fictional cabinet cards and Van Dyke Brown and Cyanotype prints. He utilizes a cross-pollination of photographic mediums like ingredients in a photographic cookbook to communicate concepts and observations.

View Exhibition

Midwest Landscapes

Audrey Brown
Audrey Brown has been a working artist for over 20 years. After receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, Brown began combining her academic education with her long love and experience exploring the natural world around her, to create her landscapes. Clouds, trees, sky and water combine to remind the viewer of the natural world. "River and streams move me, as well as the connection between land and sky," she states describing the shapes and color that she finds so important to the process of creating a mood or feeling.

View Exhibition

Second Floor Gallery
Brittle Branches

Nancy Lindsay

Nancy Lindsay was born in 1948 in Lincoln Nebraska. She studied art at Colorado State University and worked for many years in the commercial printing industry as a designer. While raising three children, she began painting seriously in the 1980's. Encouraged by other artists, she began entering and winning competitions. Later on, she attended Art Students League of New York and was a student of William Scharf. Moving to Iowa in 1998, she discovered the beauty of the Iowa landscape. Lindsay currently resides in Anamosa, Iowa, with her husband Lee.

View Exhibition

Exhibit Dates:
August 5-October 26, 2024
Public Reception:
Saturday, October 5th, 5:00-7:00pm

River to River: National Juried Exhibition
Iowa Clay Conference: Co-curated with Iowa Ceramic Center and Glass Studio

Main Floor
The Iowa Ceramics Center and Glass Studio (ICCGS) located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa is pleased to host the 6th Iowa Clay Conference (ICC) October 4th-6th 2024. In conjunction with ICC, the exhibition, River 2 River, which is a national call for artists, is hosted here at Gilded Pear Gallery. This exhibition was juried by Jonathan Christensen Caballero and Kate Schroeder. The exhibition highlights the richness and diversity of ceramic art in the nation.

view exhibition

more Iowa Clay Conference

Eastern Iowa Educators
Concurrent Exhibition
Iowa Clay Conference: Co-curated with Iowa Ceramic Center and Glass Studio

Second Floor
Troy Aiken
Heidi McKay Casto
Jim Shrosbree

view exhibition

Exhibition Dates: November 11, 2024 - February 8, 2025
Public Reception: November 15th, 5:00-7:30pm

Unmoored
by Mary Zeran

Main Exhibition
Zeran’s collage work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in galleries and museums throughout the United States and abroad.

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.

Colorful Surrounding
by Gordon Kellenberger

Second Floor
Gordon Kellenberger is a full-time painter working out of his Wasch Haus Studio in High Amana, Iowa, one of the seven historic villages of the Amana Colonies. He graduated with a degree in art from the University of Northern Iowa in 1965. Gordon is a past recipient of the Iowa Arts Council's Iowa Arts Award, which honors individuals for their commitment to excellence in the arts. His pastels are found in many private and public collections throughout the United States.

Jewelry Showcase:
Holiday Cocktail Party

Exhibition Dates: December 6, 2024 -February 15, 2025
Holiday Party: December 6th, 5-8pm

First Floor
Our Holiday Cocktail party has become a festive tradition, join us for some holiday spirits!

Ann Royer: Inclinations

Julia Kottal: The Idea of Color

Randy Richmond: Protected Landscapes: External/Internal

Audrey Brown: Midwest Landscapes

Nancy Lindsay: Brittle Branches

Iowa Clay Conference: River 2 River Juried Exhibition

Iowa Clay Conference: Eastern Iowa Educators

Mary Zeran: Unmoored

Gordon Kellenberger: Colorful Surrounding

Holiday Cocktail Party & Jewelry Showcase

2023

Exhibit Dates:
February 20-May 13, 2023
Public Reception:
April 21, 5:00-7:30pm

Tell Me Everything by Thérèse Murdza

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.

view exhibition

Constellations by John Beckelman

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.

view exhibition

Exhibit Dates:
May 30-August 5, 2023
Public Reception:
June 9th, 5:00-7:30pm

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.

view exhibition

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.

view exhibition

Exhibit Dates:
August 14-October 28, 2023
Public Reception:
September 8th, 5:00-7:30pm

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.

view exhibition

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.

view exhibition

Exhibition Dates: November 6, 2023 - January 27, 2024
Public Reception: November 17th, 5:00-7:30pm

Gilty Pleasures:
The Gilded Girls
by Gallery Staff

Main Exhibition
The exhibit features drawings, paintings, and sculptures by Linda Ge, Suzy McGrane-Hop and Lauren Tucci. While the title of the exhibit references the popular TV show “The Golden Girls” the artworks on display pay little homage to the sitcom giant (though the ‘Girls’ themselves unite the artists). "Gilty Pleasures" welcomes the 2nd installment of the trio showing together.

Small works:
Holiday Shop
artwork $500 and under

Second Floor
Stop by for Small Business Saturday for Mimosas and Munchies, November 25th.

Our small works show is a great one stop shop for gifting items.

Jewelry Showcase:
Holiday Cocktail Party

Exhibition Dates: November 27, 2023 -February 17, 2024
Holiday Party: December 1st, 5-8pm

First Floor
Our Jewelry Cocktail party has become a festive tradition, join us for some holiday spirits!

Thérèse Murdza: Tell Me Everything

John Beckelman: Constellations

Welcome: New Gallery Artists

By Design: Group

Jim Ochs: 45 Years of Work

Maggie Vandewalle: Animalia

Gilded Pear Gallery Staff: Gilty Pleasures

Holiday Cocktail Party & Jewelry Showcase

2022

Exhibit Dates:
February 28 - May 21, 2022
Reception:
April 1st, 5:00-7:30pm

ON THE VERGE by Crit Streed

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.

view exhibition

Fiber Optics by Kristina Fjellman

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.

View Exhibition

Exhibit Dates:
May 31- August 20, 2022
Reception:
June 10th 5:00-7:30pm

Selections From the Lasansky Workshop

coinciding with an exhibition of the work of Tomas and Charlie Lasansky at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art

Main Floor & Second Floor

Featuring: Tomás, Charlie, Diego & Rory Lasansky with Adam Rake and introducing Amadeo Lasansky.

Tomas
Since 1980, the iconic portrait paintings, drawings and prints of Tomás Lasansky have been included in more than 120 exhibitions and 30 solo shows, among them The Butler Museum of American Art and The Snite Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame. His uniquely powerful images capture a dignified and empathetic vision of the inexhaustible American spirit, throughout the generations. His works are represented in the collections of U.S. Embassies and museums worldwide.

Charlie
Charlie Emmert’s intrinsic creativity and natural ability to link color with emotion perfectly complements her dexterity and enthusiasm for the paint and brush. Emmert’s skill as a colorist has always been the focal component of her expressionistic portraiture. “Color,” says Emmert, “corresponds to the complexity of life.” Visually attractive and compelling psychological portraits intimating the inner life of the subject showcase her ability to connect deeply with her subject. Charlie’s works have been collected throughout the United States and abroad for over 30 years.

Diego
Painter and printmaker, Diego Lasansky, grew up in the milieu of an exceptional family of artists. By the age of 21, his work had already garnered local, national, and international accolades. His work can be found in over 55 national and international museums and public collections. Diego’s work is figurative, and focuses on subjects readily available to him-such as family members-and those of historical and personal significance.

Rory
The son of artists Charlie and Tomas Lasansky, and grandson of Mauricio Lasansky, Rory’s recent intaglio prints and paintings speak directly to that history through expressive portraits of family members and cultural luminaries, richly layered with color and texture. Rory Lasansky’s work has been recognized nationally and internationally, and is held in numerous private and public collections, including The China Printmaking Museum.

Adam
In an era when artistic practice is often celebrated for how it diverges from traditions, the prints and drawings of Adam Rake remain committed to aesthetic formalism. Whether by way of detailed renderings of the human form, or in abstractions that probe the elusive realms of memory and place, Rake strives towards a permanence that he knows will never come. Over the past decade, Adam has shown extensively throughout the United States in gallery and juried exhibitions, as well as internationally. His works are included in the numerous collections including Temple University and Guanlan Print Art Museum, as well as many private collections. He received a BFA in Printmaking from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA in 2002 and moved soon after to Iowa City, Iowa to work at the Lasansky Gallery & Studio.

Amadeo
"I grew up in a family of artists, surrounded by art, but it wasn't until I looked through the lens of a camera, that I discovered my own medium, and a way of seeing the world. I love capturing, in one shot, the essence of a person, scene or landscape. We each see the world in a unique way, and my photographs present my particular vision,” Amadeo Lasansky says. That vision has been honed by traveling to over 35 countries and documenting what he saw and experienced. The result is a body of work that spans the world and yet also brings the world into focus, so to speak. In his own words Amadeo says “I grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota. My dad is a printmaker, and my mom is a writer. I like to think that I am continuing their tradition by taking these photographs. I have traveled and photographed throughout the world and have lived in NYC, Cuernavaca and Beijing. I currently live with my wife in Nashville, Tennessee."

View online

Exhibit Dates:
August 29 - November 12, 2022
Reception:
September 9th, 5:00-7:30pm

Rare Earth by John Preston & Ellen Wagener

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.

View Exhibition

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."

View Exhibition

Exhibit Dates:
November 21, 2022 - February 11, 2023
Reception (Zeran):
December 2nd, 5:00-7:30pm
Cocktail Party (Jewelry):
December 9th, 5:00-8:00pm

The Ancient Healing Properties of Clay, Paper, Plastic, and Wood
by Mary Zeran

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.

view exhibition

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.

Jewelry Showcase

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.

Shop

Crit Streed: On the Verge

Kristina Fjellman: Fiber Optics

Selections from the Lasansky Workshop

John Preston, Ellen Wagener: Rare Earth

Laura Young: Connections

Mary Zeran: The Ancient Healing Properties of Clay, Paper, Plastic, and Wood

Holiday Jewelry Cocktail Party

2021

2021- 10th Anniversary

Picking up the Pieces by Kimberlee Rocca

Virtual Reception: February 5th, 5:30pm CST
Exhibit Dates: January 29- February 27, 2021

"I am an Iowa artisan working by day in new home construction and remodeling. My job sites are filled with a myriad of common, yet uncommon materials that continually spark my imagination and wiggle their way into my fine art works. Designing and building homes captures a desire for large scale creativity, but the ever-flowing variety of construction waste products intrigues my bold color loving side. My two artistic disciplines are intertwined and I have found that I can barely do one without the other."

VIEW EXHIBITION
Rhythm in Bloom by Ann Royer
solo exhibition of recent abstract artworks

Reception: TBD
Exhibit Dates: March 5- April 17, 2021

"It was with some reluctance that I agreed to write about my art. I have always thought each person looks at art bringing with them their own experiences, which governs what they see (no one should interfere with that process). Over the years I have tried to explore the horse and female images. Every time I worked with other animals I would always return to the horse. Its exquisite form is universal as a war horse, sport horse, or plow horse. The female form represents mother earth. Its pear-shaped, voluminous form is fun to work with. I have always felt free to work in many media and examine an image in a representational, semi-abstract, or totally abstract form. It is personally satisfying. The need to create images precedes recorded history. The drawings in the Caves of Lascaux are an example. I have that need. I hope the people see something magical in all art in any form."

View exhibition
Polyphonous 2021:Mimetic Lives II by Satomi Kawai & Jillian Moore
A satellite exhibition during Munich Jewellery Week with Polyphonous partners in Europe.

Virtual Reception: March 12th, 11:00am CST
Exhibit Dates: [extended] March 5- June 26, 2021
Closing Reception: June 18, 5:00-7:30pm CST (in person. masks required)

Satomi Kawai "I would like to invite you to join me as I explore life and nature as a contemporary jewelry artist.
I grew up in a rich natural environment in Japan, and I have always enjoyed observing nature. I learned traditional Japanese cultural practices, including flower arrangement, tea ceremony and calligraphy. Also, my grandmother encouraged me to develop my artistic appreciation when I was a little girl. With this background, today, I live in Iowa. I feel a strong tie to nature wherever I am, and I enjoy traveling and experiencing different environments. Substances in and outside of the body consist of solid and fluid, and something in between. Also, substances transform as a solid becomes fluid, and fluid becomes gas. Over time, matter changes color, pattern, shape/ form, and substance. This macro process in an external environment- nature- is reflected by the micro environment in our own bodies, including cell activity. By exploring the internal environment, I focus my observations on several layers of personal femininity, including the physical, emotional, and psychological quality of being a woman.

Jillian Moore is an artist and writer based in Iowa City, Iowa working primarily in the field of contemporary jewelry and small 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. "Our natural tendency to seek out patterns results in a sensitivity to the congruities in biological forms. Deliberate exploitation of these phenomena results in objects that are both ambiguous and evocative. Some are organs removed from the body in which they once belonged, revealing structures with unknown functions.”

View Exhibition
10 Year Anniversary Party

Date: April 1st, 2020

A treat for you and a treat for us. Because of you, we get to celebrate not only surviving an incredibly uncertain year, but a full decade in business providing the finest art and professional services to our community.

Thank you for your ongoing support!

Celebrate safely with us during our anniversary weekend, April 1st- 3rd, by stopping into the gallery during our regular business hours and pick up a little treat.

View Celebration
any way new by Thérèse Murdza

Exhibit Dates: April 30- June 12, 2021
Reception: June 18th, 5:00-7:30pm (in person. masks required)

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 mult-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.

view exhibition
The Gilded Girls by Suzy McGrane-Hop, Linda Ge & Lauren Tucci
Staff exhibition

Exhibit Dates: July 2 - August 14, 2021
Reception: July 16, 5:00-7:30pm

To commemorate Gilded Pear’s 10th anniversary, the summer exhibition will be showcasing artworks made by gallery staff artists! Gilded Pear Gallery is thrilled be able to celebrate in person after gatherings had come to a halt due to the pandemic. Join in on the fun for the Party and Reception, July 16th, 5:00-7:30pm CST. Please RSVP!

The exhibit features drawings, paintings, and sculptures by Linda Ge, Suzy McGrane-Hop, and Lauren Tucci. While the title of the exhibit references the popular TV show “The Golden Girls” the artworks on display pay little homage to the sitcom giant (though the ‘Girls’ themselves unite the artists).

View Exhibition
Meditations on Moments in the Landscape by Fred Easker

Exhibit Dates: August 20 - October 2, 2021
Reception: September 17, 5:00-7:30pm

Fred's landscapes offer an extraordinary view into the ordinary. Drawing on familiar scenes from the back roads of his native eastern Iowa, he explores both the aesthetics and the character of the place, offering a keen meditation on the power, vulnerability, and eloquence of this beautiful land.

Fred Easker has been painting full time since 1994. Like most artists he had previously worked at other things including teacher, museum educator and director of a historic house museum which was completely renovated under his guidance.
He actively participates in the life of his community working on boards and organizations involved in the arts and humanities, and was awarded the Friend of the Arts award from Marion Fine Arts council in 1993. Easker resides in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Fred Easker's work is included in museum, corporate and private collections throughout the Midwest and has appeared in a number of periodicals and books. He was an arts Midwest/NEA regional visual arts fellowship recipient in 1997. The artist holds a BA and MA in Art Education from the University of Iowa.

View Exhibition
The Promise of Life in memory of Stephen Metcalf (1948-2020)

Exhibition Dates: August 20 - October 2, 2021

Biography
"Simply put, I believe my work is about the act of painting.”

Born in Chicago, Stephen Metcalf grew up in the Midwest. As a child he practiced drawing and painting and by the time he started art school at the University of Illinois his drafting skills could mimic photographs. Frustrated by the tedious nature and predictability of this process, he decided to reinvent himself as an artist and as a graduate printmaking student at the university of Illinois he produced mixed media paintings and large scale works on paper that were recognized by their inclusion in major exhibitions like drawings USA 77 at the Minnesota museum of art and works on paper at the art institute of Chicago.

Since receiving his MFA in art and design, Stephen has produced hundreds of paintings which are represented in public, private, and corporate collections throughout the United States, including the Illinois state museum, the Minnesota museum of art, the Kirkwood center hotel, the U.S. Military hospital on Nellis airbase, and the Cleveland clinic.

View Exhibition
Juncture by Ellen Kleckner

Exhibit Dates: October 15- November 27, 2021
Reception: October 22nd, 5:00-7:30pm

Through a convergence of materials, Ellen's work uses a familiar vocabulary drawn from a legacy of makers and to leads viewers into the unfamiliar; where materials embody ideas and form becomes a question.

Ellen's education began at the Craft Schools of Penland School of Crafts, Arrowmont School of Arts and Craft, and John C. Campbell Folk School. She received her BFA in Ceramics from The Appalachian Center for Craft and completed a Post Baccalaureate year of study at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. She received her MFA in Ceramics at Ohio University.

With roots in Southern California, Iowa and New York; Ellen’s work continually investigates connections. Connections between place, material, idea and legacy. Ellen has been an artist in residence in many communities including The Flux Factory in New York City and the International Ceramics Studio in Kecskemet, Hungary. Ellen is currently the Executive Director of the Iowa Ceramics Center and Glass Studio, a non-profit community art center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

view exhibition
Dance Party by Mary Zeran

Exhibit Dates: December 3, 2021 - January 29, 2022
Reception: December 3rd, 5:00-7:30pm

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. Her collage works have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in galleries and museums throughout the United States and abroad including the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art; Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art, in Kansas City; SOIL Gallery in Seattle; Higher Art Gallery in Michigan; and Chaing Mai University in Chaing Mai, Thailand.

view exhibition

Jewelry Cocktail Party

Thursday, December 9th 5:30pm

Check back for the RSVP in early November!

RSVP

Preview and shop early

Kimberlee Rocca: Picking Up the Pieces

Ann Royer: Rhythm in Bloom

Satomi Kawai, Jillian Moore: Polyphonous 2021 Mimetic Lives II

Thérèse Murdza: any way new

Gilded Pear Gallery Staff: The Gilded Girls

Fred Easker: Meditations on Moments in the Landscape

Stephen Metcalf: The Promise of Life

Ellen Kleckner: Juncture

Mary Zeran: Dance Party

Holiday Jewelry Cocktail Party

2020

Making Arrangements: Ataraxia by Crit Streed

January 23, 2020: 5:30-7pm
January 30, 2020: 5:30-7pm
along with video installation; exhibit will also display additional work by the artist.

"Making Arrangements is an ever-changing configuration in glass positioned in relationship to a video projected on the wall. The woman in the video is endlessly moving two chairs in an empty room in pursuit of the perfect arrangement. The shelves of milk glass have equally been arranged to balance, flow, fill the eye and evoke an interest."

Crit Streed was born in 1948 in Washington, Iowa, where she grew up. She received a B.A. in art from the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, and her M.A. in painting and drawing and M.F.A. in painting and lithography from the University of Iowa, Iowa City. Between short-term teaching positions, she lived and worked in Nepal from 1982 to 1984, and has participated in various artist residencies nationally and abroad. She has exhibited widely and is Professor Emeritus of Art at the University of Northern Iowa, where she had taught since the 1980s. Recently, she completed a residency in Cadaqués and currently lives and creates in Cedar Falls, IA.

View Exhibition
Collector Showcase

Reception: February 21st, 5:00-7:30pm
Exhibit Dates: February 18 - April 4, 2020

Select group exhibit of renown artists of the Midwest.

This group exhibit celebrates the rich history of Iowan and Midwestern artists on a national stage. Their contributions to current regional arts programming, funding, and institutions are fundamental and they continue to garner attention on prominent platforms.

Artists featured:
Marvin Cone
Bertha Evelyn Jaques
Mauricio Lasansky
Conger Metcalf
Grant Wood

View Exhibition
Stillness and Occurrence by John Beckelman

Reception: [updated] May 22nd, 5:00-6:00pm
Exhibit Dates: April 17 - June 13, 2020

Due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the gallery has adjusted the reception date to a "Closing" reception. On view dates will remain the same. Check back periodically for updates on virtual reception.

Using the expressive potential of clay and a variety of other materials, the work explores liminal space and are often times referenced as topographic or cosmographic. At the same time, this work attempts to gently entice the viewer into the inner landscapes and interior spaces of our imagination and memory.

John Beckelman's work has been exhibited in shows throughout the country, including California, New York, Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Ohio, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, South Dakota, Montana, and Iowa. 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 the Historic Cherry Building.

View Exhibition
Peculiar Reality

Exhibit Dates: June 26 - August 8, 2020
Virtual Reception with Mary Koenen Clausen: July 24th, starting at 5:30pm CST
Virtual Reception with Jillian Moore: July 25th, starting at 11:00am CST
*RSVP for video details

Due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the gallery is withdrawing submissions for the national call. Instead, Peculiar Reality, will be a 2-Person exhibit with the invited gallery artists to participate: Mary Koenen Clausen and Jillian Moore. Peculiar Reality: National Juried Exhibit will be announced at a later date when threat to health becomes less of a concern. For more information about the call, visit Call for Entries.

Check back periodically for updated dates for the reception. We're navigating our schedule day-to-day.

Mary Koenen Clausen’s mixed media collages are rich in texture and image. Her works frequently are comprised of three visual fields or planes: the heavens, earth, and underworld. Figures composed of mismatched heads and bodies float among animals, icons, musical notes, and foreign texts on backgrounds thickly painted with deep hues. Mary sees the musical notes, symbols and foreign text, many of which she reproduces in her own hand, as messages emanating from her spiritual guides while channeling energy from other time and space dimensions. She gathers her material from Italian magazines, 17th and 18th century Bibles, antique books, among other sources. Mary also uses photographs of her surroundings in her work. Her home and studio are full of paintings, photographs, wall hangings, dolls, and other collected objects, an environment that reflects the complexity of her work. Mary lives and works in Muscatine, Iowa.

Jillian Moore is an artist and writer based in Iowa City, Iowa working primarily in the field of contemporary jewelry and small 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. "Our natural tendency to seek out patterns results in a sensitivity to the congruities in biological forms. Deliberate exploitation of these phenomena results in objects that are both ambiguous and evocative. Some are organs removed from the body in which they once belonged, revealing structures with unknown functions.”

View Exhibition
Vision: Inner and Outer by Marcia Wegman

Exhibit Dates: August 21-October 2, 2020
Reception: Virtual, September 18th @ 5:30pm cst.

Due to the Derecho that impacted Cedar Rapids August 10th, the gallery opened the exhibit August 28th.

Marcia Wegman lives in Iowa City, IA. She has worked in multiple media, including intaglio printmaking (which she studied for her MFA at the University of Iowa), oil, watercolor, collage, and paper making. Her landscapes of the Midwest capture the spirit of Iowa. In addition to pastoral pastels, she also paints abstract landscapes on Yupo. They convey a feeling rather than the exact details of a location. The layering of long brushstrokes fractures the landscape and rebuilds it in new and exciting ways.

View Exhibition
Endless Planes
by Julia Kottal and David Kupferman

Due to the staff testing positive for (COVID-19), the gallery has adjusted the reception date with Julia to a "Closing" reception. On view dates have been extended.

Exhibit Dates: October 16 - November 28, 2020
Reception with Julia Kottal: December 4th, 5:30pmCST

Julia is a native mid-westener, born in Michigan. She has studied art in Florida, Maryland and California before moving to Iowa in 1992. She has a B.A., with painting as her emphasis, from Coe College. She has work in various collections nationally, including Alliant Energy, Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Coe College, Kirkwood Community College, University Miami of Ohio, Millhiser Smith, Terry, Lockridge and Dunn, and United Fire Group. She is currently a full time painter.

Kupferman’s work combines spontaneous, gestural imagery with geometric abstract shapes of color and linear patterns that weave a tapestry of flowing images in a unique fusion of Eastern and Western styles. He was born in Boston,and is son of artists Ruth Cobb and Lawrence Kupferman. He studied and apprenticed with his father, Head of the Dept. of Painting, at the Massachusetts College of Art and with sculptor Mirko at Harvard University. He attended the University Of Wisconsin, Madison and MERU, Switzerland.

View Exhibition
Mission Happiness by Mary Zeran

Exhibit Dates: December 11, 2020 - January 23, 2021
Virtual Reception with Mary Zeran: December 11th, 5:30pm CST

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. Her collage works have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in galleries and museums throughout the United States and abroad including the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art; Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art, in Kansas City; SOIL Gallery in Seattle; Higher Art Gallery in Michigan; and Chaing Mai University in Chaing Mai, Thailand.

View Exhibition

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.

Video: Crit Streed | Making Arrangements

Collector Showcase: Group

John Beckelman: Stillness and Occurrence

Mary Koenen Clausen, Jillian Moore: Peculiar Reality

Marcia Wegman: Vision- Inner and Outer

Julia Kottal, David Kupferman: Endless Planes

Mary Zeran: Mission Happiness

2019

Carnaval de Craft

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

True Maps by Thérèse Murdza

Reception: April 5th, 2019 5-7pm
Exhibit Dates: April 5th-June 7th, 2019

A writer turned visual artist, Thérèse Murdza began drawing big words on giant rolls of paper circa 2000. Using an animated range of circles, lines, and colors, she continued her work onto stretched canvas, eventually building her signature bright, richly textured paintings. Her musical training remains an influence: ‘I am keenly aware of the precise and imprecise moments of sound-making, shapemaking, emotion, and contact -- not so concerned with narrating the beginnings and the ends, but in opening up the middles. Making marks within the potent middle of things. With you. Yes, you. Do you see? We are in this thing together.’

Cedar River Artisans

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.

a line goes for a walk by Priscilla Steele

Reception: September 6th, 2019 5-7pm
Exhibit Dates: August 30th-October 4th, 2019

Priscilla Steele was raised in New Jersey, just outside of New York City where regular trips into New York and Philadelphia opened a large, somewhat daunting, but very exciting, cosmopolitan world. She studied at a small liberal arts college in northern New York, and four years later spent a productive academic year in Europe where she developed a strong interest in drawing and printmaking.

After graduating in 1973, she moved to the Midwest and balanced printing and drawing with theatrical design and painting, as well as furniture design with her husband, Craig Campbell. In 1986, her family moved to Iowa so she could attend graduate school at University of Iowa and acquired an MFA in printmaking. She stayed in Iowa to teach at Coe College and has since retired and continues her journey as a working artist focusing on figurative and botanical subjects in Omaha, NE.

Open Air
by David Gordinier and Kristin Stoeffler

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.

Keeping the Bubble Happy by Mary Zeran

Reception: December 6th, 2019 5-7pm
Exhibit Dates: December 6th, 2019-January 17th, 2020

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. Her collage works have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in galleries and museums throughout the United States and abroad including the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art; Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art, in Kansas City; SOIL Gallery in Seattle; Higher Art Gallery in Michigan; and Chaing Mai University in Chaing Mai, Thailand.

Holiday Jewelry Cocktail Party

December 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