Green River Art Teacher and Local Artist in Western’s Art Gallery
Western Wyoming Community College (Western) will be hosting an exhibition of art by Sweetwater County local artist, Shane Steiss in Western’s Art Gallery. The artworks on display will demonstrate Shane’s unique works of mixed media painting, which are rooted in the natural world, and carry personal significance as evidence of familial bonds forged in nature. The exhibition, titled Memories in Nature, will be on display from March 8, through April 16. A public reception of Memories in Nature will be held in the Art Gallery on March 15.
Memories in Nature will feature artworks which focus on themes of nature, memory, familial connection, loss, and emotion. Shane’s work often features aspen trees because, to him, aspen groves are special places of solace and meditation.
“When I am in an aspen grove, I feel the strongest connection to my lost family members. It is a place of reflection and meditation. When I include aspen trees in my paintings they are from specific places I have strong emotional attachments to,” says Shane.
Shane graduated from Green River High School, attended Western, and then the University of Wyoming studying Art. Shane is an educator at Green River High School where he teaches Art.
Western’s Gallery aims to promote arts-centered learning for college students and community members alike. The Art Gallery at Western hopes that Memories in Nature will inspire patrons to lead creative lives.
The exhibition will be open to the public starting Friday, March 8, with a reception to be hosted in the gallery on the evening of Friday, March 15, from 4:00-6:00 p.m.
Works in the exhibition will be available for purchase, and proceeds will be split between the artist and Western’s Art Gallery. Western’s Ben Nathan will oversee the installation and display of Memories in Nature along with the help of several student gallery interns.
For additional information on the exhibition or other visual arts programming at Western contact: Ben Nathan, Assistant Professor of Art at bnathan@westernwyoming.edu or (307)382-1723.