REXBURG— The Art Museum of Eastern Idaho is set to open its new art exhibit “Sacred Spaces: Visions of the West from the Prosaic to the Sublime” this Friday. The opening reception is a free event the public will not want to miss.
This exhibit honors the agricultural legacy of the area and its role in the community through art.
Amy Thompson, the development director at The Art Museum of Eastern Idaho, hopes this exhibit will connect especially with the agriculture community.
“[The agriculture community] will see their work and their livelihood and their passion on the walls of the museum and that we can make a connection there and that other people in the community will really see that, just see these agricultural spaces elevated and see them in a new light,” Thompson said.
The exhibit will feature the work of six contemporary artists from Idaho and Utah: David Dibble, Bryan Mark Taylor, Josh Clare, Allie Zeyer, Louisa Lorenz and Carson Thompson. The artists enjoy going in person to do their paintings.
“And so that's when [the artists] go out to the location with their paints and their canvas, and they paint right there on site, or they at least do a study and bring it back to their studio,” Thompson said.
Some of the artists’ study pieces will be on display, so the community can see the process of art. The art displayed will be primarily oil paintings, but in addition will be historic farm photographs from the museum of Idaho as well as some private collection photos from the executive director Alexa Stanger.
Thompson invites the public to see the art exhibit this weekend; there will be three free events from Thursday to Saturday.
The Art Walk is on Thursday from 5 - 8 p.m. where you can walk from gallery to gallery.
On Friday there is the opening reception at 5:30 p.m. for the new exhibit where the community can meet the artists. There will be an audio tour as well featuring the voices of the artists themselves talking about the stories behind the art.
On Saturday there are art demos from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. and a Q&A with the artists at 11 a.m.
To learn more information on the art exhibit, visit www.theartmuseum.org