MONROE - Monroe Clinic will kick off its 2014 spring exhibit with the "Mission of Healing" artist reception from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 20 in the Monroe Clinic hospital lobby.
Featured artists include mixed media artist Tracy Johnson, Monroe, abstract painter Allison Krezinski, Madison, and landscape painter Richard W. Patt, Milwaukee.
Tammie Evenstad, community outreach specialist at Monroe Clinic, said Monroe Clinic decided to give themes to each of its quarterly exhibits in 2014, the 75th Anniversary of the hospital. The spring exhibit theme of healing is fitting, she said, when one considers the main reason the clinic displays artwork.
"A lot of research has shown that artwork and the art displays have helped patients in their healing process," Evenstad said. "It just adds a nice, special touch. It's very soothing; it's very comforting."
Johnson, a teacher's aide at St. Victor Elementary School, has been involved in the Monroe community for more than 15 years. She is a member of the Colored Pencil Society of America and has been juried into two of its international competitions.
Johnson, who also held a solo art exhibit at the Madison Arboretum, will showcase her mixed media work in an exhibit titled, "Picking up the Pieces."
Johnson said in her artist statement that her exhibit "expresses the many emotions of healing and the stages of acceptance, through emotional imagery and quotes that are heartfelt and powerful."
Johnson uses canvas as a base, applying ripped or cut paper to represent pieces that "sometimes become broken in our lives." She said she puts these pieces together in a new way, which demonstrates the process of healing.
"We each process the many steps of acceptance in our own time, way and style," she said in the statement. "I feel it important to embrace each step along the journey, even the denial, anger, bargaining and depression, because as long as we never give up, we will reach the acceptance and healing."
Krezinski earned a bachelor's degree in Interdisciplinary Studio Art with a certificate in Art History from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. Krezinski said her exhibit "Light in the Depths" is a compilation of her favorite parts of painting and a fascination with pigments.
Krezinski said her work is influenced by the traditional techniques of Renaissance-style painting, the colors of the modern period and romantic influences of impressionism.
"I have always enjoyed creating something out of a world of my very own," she said in her artist statement.
Patt, who has more than 30 years of painting experience, holds professional membership in Wisconsin Visual Artists. His paintings have been exhibited in the Tucson Museum of Art, Museum of Wisconsin Art, Charles Allis Art Museum and in connection with art fairs at the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. He was elected to a full-term fellowship by faculty of Harvard University in 1989.
Patt's continuing series of paintings, "Barns in the Wisconsin Landscape," is a recollection of and homage to his early years growing up on a farm in Waukesha.
"One of the most precious realities in my life is the Wisconsin landscape," Patt said in his artist statement. "I was born in it; I grew up in it; I still live in it, although now it's mostly an urban scene.
"The rural Wisconsin countryside is the subject I love to paint and long to paint."
The three artists will speak at the reception at 5:15 p.m. The reception is open to the public, and refreshments will be served.
The "Mission of Healing" exhibit will conclude in June. The artwork, on display in four areas of the hospital, will be available for purchase. A portion of the proceeds will go to Monroe Clinic Hospital Foundation.
Featured artists include mixed media artist Tracy Johnson, Monroe, abstract painter Allison Krezinski, Madison, and landscape painter Richard W. Patt, Milwaukee.
Tammie Evenstad, community outreach specialist at Monroe Clinic, said Monroe Clinic decided to give themes to each of its quarterly exhibits in 2014, the 75th Anniversary of the hospital. The spring exhibit theme of healing is fitting, she said, when one considers the main reason the clinic displays artwork.
"A lot of research has shown that artwork and the art displays have helped patients in their healing process," Evenstad said. "It just adds a nice, special touch. It's very soothing; it's very comforting."
Johnson, a teacher's aide at St. Victor Elementary School, has been involved in the Monroe community for more than 15 years. She is a member of the Colored Pencil Society of America and has been juried into two of its international competitions.
Johnson, who also held a solo art exhibit at the Madison Arboretum, will showcase her mixed media work in an exhibit titled, "Picking up the Pieces."
Johnson said in her artist statement that her exhibit "expresses the many emotions of healing and the stages of acceptance, through emotional imagery and quotes that are heartfelt and powerful."
Johnson uses canvas as a base, applying ripped or cut paper to represent pieces that "sometimes become broken in our lives." She said she puts these pieces together in a new way, which demonstrates the process of healing.
"We each process the many steps of acceptance in our own time, way and style," she said in the statement. "I feel it important to embrace each step along the journey, even the denial, anger, bargaining and depression, because as long as we never give up, we will reach the acceptance and healing."
Krezinski earned a bachelor's degree in Interdisciplinary Studio Art with a certificate in Art History from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. Krezinski said her exhibit "Light in the Depths" is a compilation of her favorite parts of painting and a fascination with pigments.
Krezinski said her work is influenced by the traditional techniques of Renaissance-style painting, the colors of the modern period and romantic influences of impressionism.
"I have always enjoyed creating something out of a world of my very own," she said in her artist statement.
Patt, who has more than 30 years of painting experience, holds professional membership in Wisconsin Visual Artists. His paintings have been exhibited in the Tucson Museum of Art, Museum of Wisconsin Art, Charles Allis Art Museum and in connection with art fairs at the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. He was elected to a full-term fellowship by faculty of Harvard University in 1989.
Patt's continuing series of paintings, "Barns in the Wisconsin Landscape," is a recollection of and homage to his early years growing up on a farm in Waukesha.
"One of the most precious realities in my life is the Wisconsin landscape," Patt said in his artist statement. "I was born in it; I grew up in it; I still live in it, although now it's mostly an urban scene.
"The rural Wisconsin countryside is the subject I love to paint and long to paint."
The three artists will speak at the reception at 5:15 p.m. The reception is open to the public, and refreshments will be served.
The "Mission of Healing" exhibit will conclude in June. The artwork, on display in four areas of the hospital, will be available for purchase. A portion of the proceeds will go to Monroe Clinic Hospital Foundation.