Artist Exhibition Becky Johnson: Beam Me Up Or Beam Me In

The Center for the Arts is pleased to present fine artist Becky Johnson’s watercolor paintings on paper and canvas in the Granucci Gallery for an exhibition entitled Beam Me Up or Beam Me In, beginning July 7, 2023 through August 21, and with the opening reception on July 21, 2023. 

Becky Johnson currently resides in Grass Valley with her husband and two kids (and one more on the way!), and was born and raised in these Sierra Nevada foothills. Though she spent some time living and working elsewhere, having grown up in and around Nevada County has and continues to shape the art she makes. Becky earned her BA in Art Studio from UCDavis in 2007, and her Masters degree in Art Therapy and Creativity Development from Pratt Institute in New York in 2011. Before grad school she worked locally at the Neighborhood Center of the Arts, and as a teaching artist for Yolo County Arts Council. While living in the Bay Area, Becky was part of group and solo art shows in galleries and throughout the community. She worked for a number of organizations throughout the Bay Area as an Art Therapist. Her longest tenure was as the Day Program Coordinator and Art therapist at a conditional release program that served severely-mentally-ill felony offenders.

In 2015 Becky moved back to Nevada County and worked both as a practicing artist and at a local nonprofit as a therapist supporting kids and families. She subsequently opened her own private Art Therapy practice out of her home art studio. In the past year Becky has also co-founded an art center called Art Space and is currently the Director of Art and Art Therapy. Art Space is a studio-based art and Therapeutic Art Therapy center that offers group, individual, and community art-making.

Becky’s artist statement is as follows: “I believe the practice of creating art can transport us to the liminal spaces between the known and unknown, skill and instinct, fluidity and control; and mirrors how we navigate life. I wholeheartedly trust in the power of the art-making process. I know that it is impossible to hide from yourself in your art, and so I try to find meaning and beauty in the things I make so that it may inform how I interact with the world around me. I am highly synesthetic, and my paintings are both a reckoning and projection into what I see and feel.”

The paintings for this show could be described as metaphysical landscapes and portraits rooted in observations of our biosphere, specifically of our local California Sierra Nevada. This includes studies of earth and light and life, biomorphic compositions, veils of seeing and not seeing, shimmering light, and atmospheric moods that distinguish the show. Compositions propel the viewer into an esoteric world that can either be objective or non-objective. 

Becky will also be facilitating an Oracle Card Collage workshop, on the new moon, August 16, 2023 from 4:30 – 6:30 pm in the Granucci Gallery. Becky will guide participants using watercolor and mixed media collage in exploring the potent shadow side of the new moon and channeling their own intuition and expression as a way to divine personal and collective meaning. $35 per participant, under 18 welcome with an adult. All supplies provided and there is limited space, so RSVP to save your seat.

There will be a reception for Becky Johnson’s exhibition on July 21, 2023, from 5:00 – 7:00 pm. The Granucci Gallery is open Tuesday – Saturday from noon to 5:00 pm for viewing her paintings.  

Since 2000, The Center for the Arts, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organization, has grown into a leading presenter of music, dance, theater, comedy, literary and visual art, and family programming, offering more than 150 events per year from its location in downtown Grass Valley. The Center recently completed a major renovation of its multiuse, 21,000-square-foot facility in downtown Grass Valley, making it a premier performing arts destination. The venue includes the Main Stage, which accommodates up to 492 guests in configurable theater seats and up to 700 patrons for dance shows, and a 90-seat studio theater.