In celebration of SAAC’s fiftieth anniversary, the Merkle, Price, and Lobby Galleries are filled with part of SAAC’s permanent art collection. Some of the notable pieces include works by Frank Webb, AWS, NWS; Arnaldo Pomodoro, and Millard Sheets. A reception is scheduled for Friday, August 15, 6-9pm. The event is sponsored by Chris and Tela Webb.
Born in Pennsylvania in 1927, Frank Webb has accrued over 100 major awards, including a Dolphin Fellowship from the American Watercolor Society, and is a member of the National Watercolor Society, Audubon Artists, Pennsylvania Watercolor Society and many more. His works hang in numerous collections including the Butler Institute of American Art, Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Palmer Art Museum of Penn State, and the Taiwan Art Education Institute, as well as at the South Arkansas Arts Center. “Path in the Woods” was donated to SAAC by the Merkle family.
Arnaldo Pomodoro’s “De Cantore Urbino Series” of eight etchings hangs in the Lobby Gallery. Pomodoro is an Italian sculptor. He was born 1926 in Morciano, Romagna, Italy, and currently lives and works in Milan.Some of his “Sphere Within Sphere” sculptures can be seen in the Vatican Museums; Trinity College, Dublin; the United Nations Headquarters and Mt. Sinai Hospital, New York; the de Young Museum, San Francisco; Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art; and Tel Aviv University. “De Cantore Urbino Series” was donated to SAAC by Elizabeth Bass.
Millard Sheets (1907-1989) was an American painter and a driving force behind the California Style watercolor movement. In his 20’s, he was already on his way to national and international recognition. He exhibited works in Paris, New York, Chicago, Houston, St. Louis, San Francisco, Washington D.C., and many other cities throughout the United States. By the time he was in his late 20’s, sales of art enabled him to travel to Europe, Central America and Hawaii. He was an artist-correspondent for Life during World War II. He was commissioned for artwork for the Detroit Public Library, the Mayo Clinic, the dome of the National Shrine in Washington D.C., the University of Notre Dame Library, and the Hilton Hotel in Honolulu. Sheets’ works were donated to SAAC by the Merkle family.
Also included in the exhibit are selections from SAAC’s Japanese woodblock prints donated to SAAC by Japan Air Lines.
Other artists included in the permanent collection exhibit are: Al Allen, Judi Betts, William R. Boswell, John Bridges, Michael Brown, Don Cicone, Sheila Cotton, Thase Daniel, B. Danman, Ann S. Downs, Richard Ensor, Neil Harrington, Jim Lemon, Sara Lewis, H. Linton, Colleen Doyle Means, Ron Meese, Lyda Merkle, Sarah Merkle, George Price, Bobby Threlkeld, Jorge Villegas, Maria Villegas, M. Douglas Walton, Terrance White, and Shawn Whittington.
