A Retrospective of Paintings by Dorothy Kucera

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - This July, The Art Center of Corpus Christi will host a Retrospective Exhibition of paintings by Dorothy Kucera. Titled 'Looking Back Forty Years,' the exhibition will include 35 paintings of nature, wildlife and people, elegantly depicted through the eye of an experienced artist and storyteller.

Kucera sees herself as more of a storyteller than anything else, and believes that it is life experience that brings a rich and unique perspective to one's work. 'Each of us has known degrees of joy, sorrow, despair, happiness, loneliness, satisfaction, hopelessness, success and failure. It is the totality of these experiences that shape the way we see the world, which makes our work different from the work of others. A painting is as self-defining as our thumbprint,' quotes Kucera.

Kucera majored in Journalism in college, and is the author of five books. Because her husbands job was oil field related and involved many moves, she had the opportunity to do straight news reporting for a number of South Texas newspapers before the family moved to Corpus Christi in 1966. In 1980, she began writing regularly for the Op-Ed page of the Caller-Times under the title, 'Feedback.'

In 1972, Kucera decided to try her hand at creating art, signed up for a life drawing class at Del Mar College taught by Professor Ed Lambert, and was hooked. She studied oil painting with well-known South Texas painter, the late Dick Turner. When Turner moved to Houston, she began studying with the late Simon Michael in Rockport, who will be remembered by many as the 'Godfather' of the art movement in Texas.

'Early on I understood painting, like writing, is about communication. If you paint something but no one sees that painting, no communication has taken place.' It was a short step from there to seeing the need for area artists to have a 'home of their own' where they could study, exhibit their work, and support one another. This led to Kucera's instrumental work in fundraising to establish a home for The Art Center of Corpus Christi, on the bay front at 100 Shoreline Drive, in 1990. For her leadership role in this endeavor, Kucera was named by the Caller-Times as 'Arts Newsmaker of the Decade,' and then Mayor Betty Turner deemed her, 'Admiral of the Corpus Christi Navy' for 'extraordinary contributions to the City of Corpus Christi and to the quality of life for all citizens therein&'

See the work of Dorothy Kucera, 'Looking Back Forty Years' in The Kucera gallery at The Art Center from July 3 - 31st, during regular business hours. A reception, open to the public, will take place on Thursday, July 8th from 5 to 7 p.m. Admission is free and open to the general public. Contact The Art Center of Corpus Christi at (361) 884-6406 for more information or visit www.artcentercc.org.

About the Art Center of Corpus Christi
The Art Center of Corpus Christi (www.artcentercc.org , (361) 884-6406) was founded as a community art center and 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization in 1972. The Center provides an environment for creative expression with educational programs and exhibition of the arts. Its facilities include eleven art organizations, five gallery spaces, and studio space for art classes. The Art Center is located at 100 Shoreline Drive on Corpus Christi's historic bay front. Its facilities are available for weddings, receptions, and special events. The Art Center has free admission and is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, 10 AM to 4 PM.

(Art Center of Corpus Christi)

Community Calendar

09/09/2010 - Special Event

09/09/2010 11:45 AM - Rotary

09/09/2010 - Story & Craft Time

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