Avenue 9 Gallery: Meet the Gallery

Maria Phillips

Maria Phillips was born in Italy, brought up in Venezuela and studied in Los Angeles where she received her PhD in Renaissance art history from UCLA. She has taught in California and Georgia and has been awarded numerous fellowships and grants, including an American Academy Rome Prize and a Getty research fellowship. The thread that connects all of her activities is an interest in the making and community-building role of art in diverse cultures. About her approach to art-making, she states, "I am nothing if not exuberant in my desire to allow beauty into my life. Reality and illusion are less interesting to me than effect and emotion--thus my work varies between the overtly representational and the abstract. Color guides me--light entrances me."

Dolores Mitchell

Dolores Mitchell received a BA in studio art and a PhD from UCLA with an art history thesis on Twentieth Century Public Sculpture in Britain Her research has been published in such journals as Leonardo, Source, The Journal of Popular Culture, etc. She has taught courses in Renaissance through twentieth century art history at California State University Chico for over thirty years. Now retired, she has resumed an interrupted career as a painter. Of her work, she writes, "I take great pleasure in making images from pigment. I am aware of parallels between my life and cycles of growth, decay, and renewal in the larger world. Each painting begins with sketches of a scene that has stimulated my emotions. I start from life, but feel free to invent imagery while I heighten color sensations. I work on a series until I feel I have exhausted its possibilities." To this end, she has been exploring a series of "barroom" scenes, musicians, and most recently, Chico bungalows.

Click here for Dolores' Homepage

Giovanna Rendall Jackson

Giovanna Rendall Jackson joined Dolores Mitchell and Maria Phillips as partner in the gallery when she retired from her position as Visual Resources Curator in the Art Department at Chico State University (1983-2006). Jackson (BA in Art History degree at UC Davis and MLS from Berkeley) also enrolled in graduate studies in architectural history at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Her interests and talents led in the early 1980s to her coordination of the Historic Resources Survey of Chico where she also served for 8 years on the city Architectural Review Board and became a founding member of Chico Heritage. Her position managing the Visual Resources collection at Chico State added immensely to her interest in and knowledge of the art world in general. She loves to travel to support her architecture habit and she is also an inveterate lover of the ballet.

Assisting the partners and valuable members of the team are:

Eva Farley

Eva Farley has recently been described as a painter of radiance: whether painting a train of baby shoes or a chorus line of pears (or even argyle socks!), Chico artist Eva Farley creates images that are as luminous as stained glass. Her approach to her art can be best described in her own words: "Color is the most important element in my art. I love the intensity and subtlety of watercolor and have the greatest respect for the emotional impact of pigments."

Eva's website is evafarley.com.

Elizabeth Newman Kuiper

In a recent statement regarding her work, the artist writes: "More is invisible to us than is visible. From the invisible, we become solid forms on a planet of visions. I am interested in the mystery and nuance that is both seen and unseen--what is affected by more than the eye. When creating art, I search to uncover that alchemy." Better known for her mixed media pieces and her glittering and sensuous surfaces, the artist is now engaged in an exploration of digital photography.

Avenue 9 Gallery | 180 E. 9th Ave., Ste 3 | Chico, CA 95926 | 530-879-1821

avenue9gallery@sbcglobal.net


Home Programs Links Calendar Now Playing Coming Attractions Archives		Click here for Guidelines for Artists Seeking Exhibition Possibilities. MEET THE GALLERY 180 East 9th Avenue, Suite 3, Chico, CA 95926 530-879-1821 Just off the Esplanade "kitty-corner" from Big Al's on 9th Ave Home of the 2005 Sherwood Forest Plein Air Painting Competition! Founded in 2004, Avenue 9 Gallery in 2005 received the Mayor’s Award for Contributions to the Arts of Chico and was voted "Best Art Gallery" by Chico News & Review readers. 2007 Preview (click for calendar) SPECIAL Events • more exhibitions by mid-career and emerging artists; • significant "picture safaris" and plein air events; • participation in Art First Saturday Artwalks; continued Community involvement, i.e., Snowgoose Festival and Chico Visual Arts Association (ChiVAA), artist advocacy group • yearly Chico Icons exhibitions • discussions, one-day workshops, and casual art-making sessions; • consulting services for homes and businesses. THE PARTNERS Founding partners, Dolores Mitchell and Maria Phillips, were joined in the Spring of 2006 by Giovanna Rendall Jackson, Curator of the Ira Latour Visual Resources Center. Assisting in the Gallery are artists Eva Farley and Elizabeth Kuiper. Together we ensure that our exhibitions themselves are works of art to be enjoyed and treasured. Maria Phillips Maria Phillips was born in Italy, brought up in Venezuela and studied in Los Angeles where she received her PhD in Renaissance art history from UCLA. She has taught in California and Georgia and has been awarded numerous fellowships and grants, including an American Academy Rome Prize and a Getty research fellowship. The thread that connects all of her activities is an interest in the making and community-building role of art in diverse cultures. About her approach to art-making, she states, "I am nothing if not exuberant in my desire to allow beauty into my life. Reality and illusion are less interesting to me than effect and emotion--thus my work varies between the overtly representational and the abstract. Color guides me--light entrances me." Dolores Mitchell Dolores Mitchell received a BA in studio art and a PhD from UCLA with an art history thesis on Twentieth Century Public Sculpture in Britain Her research has been published in such journals as Leonardo, Source, The Journal of Popular Culture, etc. She has taught courses in Renaissance through twentieth century art history at California State University Chico for over thirty years. Now retired, she has resumed an interrupted career as a painter. Of her work, she writes, "I take great pleasure in making images from pigment. I am aware of parallels between my life and cycles of growth, decay, and renewal in the larger world. Each painting begins with sketches of a scene that has stimulated my emotions. I start from life, but feel free to invent imagery while I heighten color sensations. I work on a series until I feel I have exhausted its possibilities." To this end, she has been exploring a series of "barroom" scenes, musicians, and most recently, Chico bungalows. Click here for Dolores' Homepage Giovanna Rendall Jackson Giovanna Rendall Jackson joined Dolores Mitchell and Maria Phillips as partner in the gallery when she retired from her position as Visual Resources Curator in the Art Department at Chico State University (1983-2006). Jackson (BA in Art History degree at UC Davis and MLS from Berkeley) also enrolled in graduate studies in architectural history at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Her interests and talents led in the early 1980s to her coordination of the Historic Resources Survey of Chico where she also served for 8 years on the city Architectural Review Board and became a founding member of Chico Heritage. Her position managing the Visual Resources collection at Chico State added immensely to her interest in and knowledge of the art world in general. She loves to travel to support her architecture habit and she is also an inveterate lover of the ballet. Assisting the partners and valuable members of the team are: Eva Farley Eva Farley has recently been described as a painter of radiance: whether painting a train of baby shoes or a chorus line of pears (or even argyle socks!), Chico artist Eva Farley creates images that are as luminous as stained glass. Her approach to her art can be best described in her own words: "Color is the most important element in my art. I love the intensity and subtlety of watercolor and have the greatest respect for the emotional impact of pigments." Eva's website is evafarley.com. Elizabeth Newman Kuiper In a recent statement regarding her work, the artist writes: "More is invisible to us than is visible. From the invisible, we become solid forms on a planet of visions. I am interested in the mystery and nuance that is both seen and unseen--what is affected by more than the eye. When creating art, I search to uncover that alchemy." Better known for her mixed media pieces and her glittering and sensuous surfaces, the artist is now engaged in an exploration of digital photography.

Avenue 9 Gallery \| 180 E. 9th Ave., Ste 3 \| Chico, CA 95926 \| 530-879-1821 avenue9gallery@sbcglobal.net