The College of Southern Nevada, School of Arts & Letters, and Department of Fine Arts will host a traveling exhibition of paintings by Ukrainian – American artist and College of Southern Nevada alumni, Elena Wherry. Elena Wherry: Garden Party, curated by Kira – The Art Revival, will open on Saturday, June 1, 2024, and will travel throughout the Las Vegas valley with showings on the CSN North Las Vegas campus (June 1, 2024 – September 30, 2024), the Henderson campus (October 1, 2024 – January 31, 2025), and the Charleston campus (February 1, 2025 – May 31, 2025). The CSN Student Union Art Galleries are free, family friendly, and open to the public.
Elena Wherry was born in 1967. Art and creativity have been a part of her life as long as she can remember, having grown up with a father and grandfather who were both great musicians and artists. After moving to the United States in 2000, she began to study art in college and work professionally as an artist. She took Art History and almost all of studio art classes at the College of Southern Nevada and UNLV. After rediscovering watercolor and loving to work on paper surface, she began to take workshops with the best national and international water media artists. Elena is constantly learning and searching for ways to keep her work exciting. She has accumulated numerous awards at the local and national juried exhibitions. In 2016 Elena was an artist in residence at the Neon Museum in Las Vegas. Her works were exhibited at the Barrick Museum, and her paintings are in the permanent collection of UNLV Student Union.
Speaking of her work, Wherry states, “My work has evolved from early emphasis on traditional watercolor techniques and realism to an unconventional use of water media and the exploration of the area that lies between realism and abstraction. This exhibition marks and illuminates developments in my painting and gardening of the past several years. I accumulated a vast collection of plants in my outdoor and indoor gardens. For me, painting in my studio, surrounded by lush greenery is one of the most satisfying activities there is. Precise observations of constant changes of shapes and colors of growing plants, birds and insects. With all this inspiration of our world, how can the well ever be empty?”
The CSN Student Union Art Galleries are free, family friendly, and open to the public. Gallery hours vary by campus and semester. Please visit https://www.csn.edu/student-unions for current hours of operation.
For more information, please call (702) 651-4146
http://www.csn.edu/artgallery
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