An exhibition of shrines created by Palouse Women Artists that honor the women artists who have inspired them: internationally known artists, artists next door, and relatives who are artists. The objective of the exhibition is to educate, identify female role models and to create art in an organic form as well as have fun. The show is aesthetically diverse and compelling with the use of a variety of material, reflections of the specific artist's medium and thematic imagery. Each work of art is in a box no larger than 18" × 22".

The Chase Gallery is located in City Hall at 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. in Spokane. An artist reception will be held on Friday, Nov. 4, 2011, 5 to 8p.m. Gallery hours are Monday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Tuesday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The artists in the exhibition are:

• Sue Benier
• Beth Blekesley
• Celia Boland
• Valerie Boydo
• Tina Carlson
• Michelle L. Carr
• Katherine Clancy
• Gail Cochran
• Louise Colson
• Jane Estocin-Klaibir
• Barbara Feil
• Becker Gutsch
• Carolyn Guy
• Janna Jones & Dona Black
• M.N. Lehman-Kessler
• Sharon King
• Blue Leitch
• Laurel Macdonald
• Sally Machlis
• Judy Marvin
• Joan McDougall
• Pamela S. Overholtzer
• Lolly Owens
• Linda Puccio
• Janet Richards
• Debi Robinson-Smith
• Melissa Rockwood
• Jennifer Rod
• Ludmilla Saskova
• Gerri Sayler
• Mel Siebe
• Carrie Vielle
• Ellen Vieth
• Linda R. Wallace
• Patricia Wallace
• Jeanne Wood
• Nara Woodland

Some of the artists whose lives and art are commemorated are:

Deborah Butterfield is commemorated by Valerie Boydo; Butterfield is known for her sculptures of horses made from found objects, like metal and especially pieces of wood and divides her time in Montana and Hawaii.

Frida Kahlo is commemorated by Laurel Macdonald; Kahlo was a Mexican painter, born in Coyoacán who is best known for her self-portraits as well as intense and vibrant colors.

Georgia O'Keeffe is commemorated by Louise Colson; O'Keeffe was chiefly known for paintings of flowers, rocks, shells, animal bones, and landscapes in which she synthesized abstraction and representation.

Artists from the organization Northwest Designer Craftsmen will show at the Chase Gallery. Chase Gallery is located in City Hall at 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. in Spokane. An artist reception will be held on Friday, October 7th, 2011, 5p.m-9p.m. Gallery hours are Monday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Tuesday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Northwest Designer Craftsmen (NWDC) was founded in 1954 to promote excellence of design and craftsmanship and to stimulate public appreciation and interest in fine craft. Artists in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska, who work professionally in clay, wood, glass, metal, fiber, and/or mixed media, are members.
www.nwdc-online.org

The artists in the exhibition are:
• Barbara Barnes Allen, mixed media, Seattle, WA
• Joline El-Hai, mixed media, kiln-formed Glass, enamels, Seattle, WA
• Gina Freuen, ceramic porcelain, Spokane, WA
• Deborah Gregory, quilting, Bellevue, WA
• Carol Gouthro, ceramics -terrecotta, handbuilt, pressmolded, slip-casted glazes, underglazes, gold leaf., Seattle, WA
• Lin Holley, ceramics-terracotta, patinas, glazes, Seattle, WA
• Lars Husby, ceramics-stoneware, underglazed, glazed, & overglazed slab built , Seattle, WA
• John H. Killmaster III, polymer clay and acrylics, Middleton, ID
• Patty King, quilt, Seattle, WA
• Jan Koutsky, mixed media, fiber, Seattle, WA
• Cheryll Leo-Gwin, mixed media – paper mâché, Redmond, WA
• Margo Macdonald, fiber – hand woven tapestry, Vaughn, WA
• Linda McFarland, mixed media - paper, cloth, Seattle, WA
• Dorothy McGuinness, basketry – watercolor paper, acrylic paint, waxed linen, Everett, WA
• Donna Prichard, fiber – collage, Bellevue, WA
• Denise Snyder, fiber – mixed media, Bellingham, WA
• Judy Zugish, Basketry, Marysville, WA

A group exhibition featuring work by Robin Dare, Larry Ellingson, Cathy Fields, and Dara Harvey, “Humor,” will take place from June 28th to August 26th 2011. The Chase Gallery is located in City Hall at 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. in Spokane. An artist reception will be held on Friday, August 5th, 2011, 5p.m-8p.m. Gallery hours are Monday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Tuesday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The artists in the exhibition are:

• Robin Dare: Spokane artist who takes a quirky approach to his art, combining creativity with everyday objects like vintage shoes, PEZ dispensers, and frozen turkeys. He is never one to bow to the mainstream pressures of commercialism. His highly detailed drawings reflect a surreal and nonlinear thinking process. Pure talent, original vision, and old-world craftsmanship are embodied in Dare's art. He is an uncompromising purist with an unconventional perspective.

• Larry Ellingson: Ellingson’s artwork is a sort of 3D doodling that consists of junk, texture, media, images, and sometimes light and sounds. This Spokane artist’s work utilizes collisions of contrasting texture that relies more on what doesn’t go together than what does. Tools are constantly a part of Ellingson’s creative process. Whether it be tin snips, polymer resin, a soldering gun, a table saw, a paper cutter or an encaustic palette, nothing is more exciting to this local artist. Ellingson perfectly describes his purpose with the simple statement that, “Many of us daydream and wander through our imaginations. I bring back souvenirs.”

• Cathy Fields: In this era of impersonal technological prowess, and life lived at a hectic pace, Fields relishes the hands-on sensation of working in traditional artistic mediums as well as bright and vibrant colors, with a composition full of movement and flowing lines. Fields describes her work by explaining that, “Each new painting is a chance to look at the world with a fresh perspective, and to put onto canvas the new ideas, concepts and approaches, unique to that moment.” Her pieces may be quirky, strange, fanciful or wisecracked, but all are imagined. While her art travels via public and private collections across the U.S., Fields remains in S.E. Seattle, where she lives with her husband and two Dobermans.

• Dara Harvey: Motivated by the automatic process and organic thinking, Harvey’s art is a layering of the deconstructed form which is imbued with a love of nature and color, ornamentation, patterning, mythology, folklore, music, kitsch and a curious intermixing of dark humor. The Spokane artist states, “I am drawn to the little idiosyncrasies that make their way into my art: stitching, knots, dots, circles, buttons, striped things and zippers. I make art because I love art.”