By Chip Chandler — Digital Content Producer
In this roundup of arts-related news, learn about a new outdoor painting competition, how to check out Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum at night and about a couple of major new shows.
First Friday Art Walk
Amarillo artist Jon Revett will look back over his career in a new retrospective exhibition opening during the monthly First Friday Art Walk.
Revett, an assistant professor of painting and drawing at West Texas A&M University, will display works in the Creative Arts Research Lab — Amarillo and Experimental Gallery spaces at The Galleries at Sunset Center, 3701 Plains Blvd. The show will be on view through July 31.
"I am constantly making work, and have had several solo shows all over the country, including Amarillo, Dallas, New Mexico, and New York, in the last eight years featuring multiple bodies of work," Revett said in an email interview. "This is the first time for it all to be shown under one roof."
As a young man, Revett first encountered Amarillo Ramp, an earth sculpture by the late Robert Smithson that was commissioned by the late Stanley Marsh 3 in the 1970s.
"This piece taught the possibilities of art and gave me a unique understanding of the role of the artist in culture. Since then I have investigated the entire gauntlet of art, and finally begun to find my mature voice as an artist," Revett said. "I am interested in finding and creating the connecting points of culture. I do consider myself an American artist because I am highly influenced by the idea our country is a global melting pot. I am also consider myself a conceptual artist, because I believe craft is the servant to concept."
The walk, a free monthly event, runs from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday at the galleries, 3701 Plains Blvd.
Paint Out Plein-Aire Competition
Area artists can compete for cash prizes while painting summer scenes around the Amarillo Cultural District.
The Paint Out Plein-Aire Competition will be held June 10. The contest is limited to 30 adult artists and 30 student artists.
All paintings must be completed within the boundaries of the Amarillo Cultural District, which stretches from downtown to the San Jacinto neighborhood, as well as the Wolflin and Plemons Eakle neighborhoods.
Painters must paint in the plein-aire style, a type of painting popularized by the Impressionist movement where artists took their easels and canvases and painted in the outdoors, according to a news release.
Artists can check in and register at a reception from 5 to 8 p.m. June 9 at XXXX. Painting will take place between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. June 10.
Entry forms are available at Center City of Amarillo, 1000 S. Polk St., or by email at info@centercity.org.
Entry fees are $35 for one canvas or $10 for up to two more canvases for adults, and $15 for one canvas and $5 for up to two more canvases for students.
A reception and awards ceremony will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. June 10 at Happy State Bank, 701 S. Taylor St.
Prizes are $800 for first place, $400 for second place and $200 for third place for adults, and $300 for first, $200 for second and $100 for third place for students.
Call 806-372-6744.
Night at PPHM
Visitors can get an after-hours peek at Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon at the annual Night at PPHM event on June 9.
Flashlight-led tours and other activities will take place from 8 to 11 p.m. June 9 at the museum, 2503 Fourth Ave. in Canyon.
Role players and storytellers will provide insight into life on the Plains during the event.
Cost is $10 for adults and PPHM members, $5 for children ages 4 to 12 and free for children younger than 4.
The museum recently launched its new summertime hours and will now be open on Sundays and Mondays. Hours through Aug. 30 are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 1 to 6 p.m. Sundays.
And the museum is now one of more than 2,000 museums across the country to offer free admission to military personnel and their families as a Blue-Star museum.
The program — a collaboration between the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families and the Department of Defense — offers free admission through Labor Day for active-duty military personnel and families.
Regular admission is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors, $5 for children and free for members and children younger than 4.
Call 806-651-2244.
Alfonse Mucha: Master of Art Nouveau
An exhibition reflecting the work of a distinctive Czech painter and decorative artist will be on view through the summer in Canadian.
Alfonse Mucha: Master of Art Nouveau will hang at The Citadelle, 520 Nelson Ave. in Canadian, through Aug. 27.
Mucha (whose first name also was spelled "Alphonse") was active in the late 1800s and early 1900s, known for a style in his paintings, posters and other designs that was initially called "The Mucha Style" but eventually became known as Art Nouveau, French for "new art."
The art museum is open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and by appointment.
Admission is $10 for adults and $8 for seniors.
Call 806-323-8899.
Chip Chandler is a digital content producer for Panhandle PBS. He can be contacted at Chip.Chandler@actx.edu, at @chipchandler1 on Twitter and on Facebook.
