The Center for the Arts is pleased to present Voices of Our Story—Shifting Perceptions; Bridging Divides curated by Susan M. Davis in the Granucci Gallery beginning on April 21 through May 13, 2023. Join us for a special evening of art and refreshments as we celebrate the opening of this dynamic group show, featuring the works of 4 local artists with a reception on April 21 at 5:00 pm in the Granucci Gallery. This is a great opportunity for you to meet the artists, and the curator and get up close and personal with the art.
Featuring Artists: Marylou Falstreau (painting and poetry), Dee Anne Dinelli (photography), Aaron Davis (painting and tattoo), and Hollie Dilley (sculpture).
We live in a society more divided than ever before. There are so many “isms”, all of which reflect divides: Ageism, Racism, Sexism, Ableism, Classism, Heterosexism, Cissexism, and Sizeism. Then there are the political isms: Capitalism, Environmentalism, Socialism, Communism, Theocratism, Fascism, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg. If the world continues to be divided, to look at all issues through the lens of taking sides as to right or wrong, black or white, them or us, we will never achieve satisfaction, happiness, joy—live a positive life with meaning—on a personal level, community level, national or global level.
Art has the power to bridge divides. Artists communicate story and meaning, tapping into the emotions of the viewers, and shifting perceptions in subtle and not so subtle ways. The arts can intensify divides when used as a tool of propaganda or can act as a bridge to connect us. The meaning expressed in the works of the four artists represented in Voices of Our Story: Shifting Perceptions; Bridging Divides, serve as bridges to bring us together.
ARTIST BIOS
Aaron Davis was born in Mountain View, California in 1987. Drawing, Graffiti, and skateboarding appealed to him in his youth, which led him to explore the craft of tattooing in adulthood. He completed his apprenticeship in 2012, focusing his style on Japanese and traditional motifs. His paintings are a representation of Japanese images through the lens of a western perspective, with a focus on the Ukiyo-e time period style of paintings in Japan. He currently works at Royal Peacock Tattoo in Sacramento and creates his fine art paintings in the time between work and playing with his new son, Beaux.
Dee Anne Dinelli, owner of Shadow Dance Photography, is a portrait photographer, with work most recently shown at the Museum of Northern California Art in Chico, California, and The Center for the Arts in Grass Valley. She is especially drawn to photographing artists, musicians, poets, playwrights, and actors in their most comfortable settings. Edgy and creative work, such as “Art on the Body”, and “Faces of Change” can be viewed on her website, ShadowDancePhotography.com. Her interest in photographing women with tattoos began in 2005, when she returned to college to study digital photography. Encountering young women who were heavily tattooed, she began a project to photograph and document stories, “Art on the Body”, with the intent of producing an art book.
In 2017, Dee was a primary collaborator with A-Place-To-Call-Home, an ongoing project funded, in part, by grants from California Humanities and California Arts Council. Her portraits of unsheltered people in Nevada County are part of several multi-media film shorts and videos. She was one of the featured artists in the gallery show at The Center For the Arts, Granucci Gallery, in Grass Valley entitled, A Place To Call Home: Stories Inspiring Transformation. Her photographs were also the featured visual for the 2018 A-Place-To-Call-Home Compassionate Action Wall Calendar, published as part of this arts-related, grant-funded project. In 2018, Dee was one of the fifteen artists chosen to participate in “Belonging, I Am Here”, a grant-funded project created by Ruth Chase, Artist in Residence, Nevada County Arts Council. Dee is a member of the Nevada County Camera Club and Four Eyes, a collaborative photography group.
Hollie Dilley states, “My art is born from an animalistic world that calls to me, a world I do not understand, but I am extremely drawn to it. Every piece I make brings me that much closer to understanding this realm. I cannot define it, all I can do is bring these inspirations into temporal reality with my art. Luckily I have found ceramics and taxidermy and have been able to add to the effects with small metal work and detailed glazing techniques. These techniques have helped me realize my vision. I do not spend too much time critically dissecting the reasoning behind my artistic motives, and that is fine for me, because it liberates me and gives me the freedom to channel these inspirations without feeling trapped inside walls. All I seek in life is profound freedom, and I need that to transcend into my art. I am always creating something- when not sculpting I can often be found hovered over a wheel throwing cups for local restaurants or creating custom roller skates for my boutique. For years I worked with clay, bronze and small metals to achieve my vision. But one fateful weekend I attended a pair of taxidermy workshops at Paxton Gate in SF and everything fell into place. I dove headfirst into taxidermy, at first approaching it from a traditional sense, learning the delicate techniques and processes. My community got word that I was doing taxidermy and every week people would bring me dead animals (in varying degrees of decay) that were found on roads and in the woods. My alpaca vet even brought me a stillborn alpaca. I feel like this was all meant to be. Once I became acquainted with the skills of taxidermy, I was able to fuse this ancient and misunderstood art form into my own. My foray into creating these mythical creatures had finally received this last element, a piece I didn’t know was missing until it was right there in my hands.”
Marylou Falstreau remembers the delicious feeling of coloring when she was a child. It was as if something clicked inside and felt just right, a feeling she calls upon and uses as her compass when painting and writing, today. Was it her destiny to create or merely a story that provided a sensitive child and her parents an answer? What Marylou knows now is that becoming a working artist takes commitment, resolve, ingenuity, and hard work, magic too. Sensitivity helps. Her paintings are mostly women-centric, and she considers herself strong in the use of bold colors and pattern, creating depth with symbolism, design, and her desire to tell stories.
Self-taught and independent, Marylou enjoys the process of learning as she goes. Making perceived mistakes that have shifted the direction of her life and art is the river that’s carried her to her current and most surprising age. She is best known for her line of inspirational art and gifts for women called the “Women and the Hourglass” series and for sharing her late partners’ channeled messages, “Whispers in My Ear.”
Voices of Our Story—Shifting Perceptions; Bridging Divides, curated by Susan M. Davis, begins in the Granucci Gallery with an opening reception on April 21 from 5:00 – 7:00 pm. The Granucci Gallery is located at The Center for the Arts at 314 W. Main Street in downtown Grass Valley, CA. Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 12:00 – 5:00 pm.
WHAT: Voices of Our Story—Shifting Perceptions; Bridging Divides Curated by Susan M. Davis
Featuring Artists: Marylou Falstreau, Dee Anne Dinelli, Aaron Davis, Hollie Dilley
WHERE: The Center for the Arts | 314 West Main Street, Grass Valley, CA 95945
WHEN: Exhibition Dates: April 21 – May 13, 2023 Opening Reception: April 21, 2023 5:00 -7:00 pm
TICKETS: FREE | thecenterforthearts.org
WEBSITE & INFO: https://bit.ly/3HijtI2 or (530) 274-8384
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.