Chuck Olson at the Amarillo Museum

Let me start by introducing myself, I moved to Amarillo a year ago to teach photography and digital imaging at Amarillo College. One of the determining factors, besides the facilities and people that I would work with, was the art and culture available in the area. The Cadillac Ranch is world famous but what else was here? What kind of resources would be available to my students?

The first thing I discovered was the Amarillo Museum of Art. The museum is housed in a clean, contemporary, and beautifully designed space. Under the direction of Graziella Marchicelli, the museum has enjoyed steady growth while providing the community with exceptional contemporary Art. The quality of the exhibits in the last year has been astonishing.

Currently, the museum features large scale abstract paintings by Chuck Olson. He has a gestural quality to his mark making, a bold sense of color, and his paintings really pull the viewer in. Four of the paintings were made in response to the vast Amarillo sky that he experienced for the first time two years ago.

Olson gave a gallery talk at the museum last Thursday night, and played a few songs with a local band “Gravy.” Friday morning he visited with the art students at Amarillo College, and that afternoon started teaching a 3 day workshop at the museum. On Sunday night everyone met at the Sunset Center for a pot luck dinner and a song circle with local musicians. It was an amazing weekend my battery is charged, I am full of new ideas, and ready to be creative.

These types of events are so important to the culture of an area, and especially to aspiring artists growing up in this community.

This is my first post and I will be writing about being a newcomer to the area, and about the artists featured in this season of Art: 21.