Dates: July 10 - August 28
Reception for Artists: Friday, July 10 - 6pm - 8pm
Gallery Hours: Tue-Thu: noon - 5pm
Fridays - noon - 6pm
4th Saturday of month: 11am - 3pm
Closed Sunday & Monday.
Location: Old City Hall
1313 Market Street, Redding
Facebook event - facebook.com/events
L E A H H A R P E R
Finding my direction in art has been a path of discovery. Over the many years I have created art I’ve found myself drawn to certain images from my past. The works in this exhibit are a few of those images. They reflect memories of special events in my life. Hopefully by investigating these memories, and creating them in physical form, I can go beyond the obvious exterior and explore their deeper meaning.
I grew up the ninth child of a very close, creative and spiritual family. As a child I was immersed in the idea that “all things were possible ”, and if you believed enough you could do “anything.” Both sides of my family reinforced this concept. My father's family was among the first pioneers of Shasta County and my mother's family were of the Nor Rel Muk, Wintu tribe. In both cases there was a connectedness to the earth. The pioneer side of my family taught me to build upon the land while the native side helped me to find my gift and purpose within the land. I began my journey to explore, learn and help others with native medicine. This path of “knowing” would later permeate all aspects of my senses including my artwork.
As a young child I wanted to help others. My family sang gospel, and played instruments but my shyness held me back. Eventually I found I had a talent as a ventriloquist. This allowed me to start performing on stage at the early age of nine years old. This newfound experience led me to write children stories and songs, which I continue to do today. The publicity I received reinforced the teaching that “ all thing are possible.”
Later, I became a Teacher's Aid, still performing ventriloquist shows with my husband. I joined a band, Manzanita, singing and playing base. I was a rock and roll mama, a far cry from that shy little girl of my youth. I taught puppetry for the Redding Museum, and created a puppet troupe for Carter House Science Museum. I chaired the entertainment for the Redding Museum’s Art Fair for many years and began working and performing elaborate puppet shows with my brother John.
Eventually I got a short story published called “The Spinner.” Which was a great honor. I returned to teaching, this time as a G.A.T.E. instructor at Bella Vista School. In 1998, my brother John and I collaborated on an exhibit called, "Cross-Eyed". This exhibit was very well received by the north state community and led to many art reviews, a radio interview and a lecture series. Opening at the Redding Museum of Art and History, the exhibit then traveled to The National John Steinbeck Center in Salinas CA, and the Hermitage Museum near Nashville Tennessee. During that same time I was asked to give a Wintu blessing for the opening for the Sundial Bridge.
Over the years my involvement with the arts and native medicines led to many opportunities. John and I held a storytelling event for Turtle Bay Exploration Park with author, Pete Peterson. John and I received a grant from the community foundation to created a multi-panel painting which was permanently installed at the Shasta College Health Science Center in downtown Redding. The painting entitled “The Healing Arts” represents areas connection to the Nor Rel Muk, Wintu medicine. A poem that I wrote is installed next to the painting.
A film created by the Discovery Channel was made about my son's brain surgeries. It also highlighted the approach of western and Native medicines coming together for the surgeries. I continue to help individuals in my lodge and have been travelling all over the states, doing Native medicine. I'm still help teach cultural medicines to doctors and lecture in universities.
I was chosen for the Artist in Residence program to stay and work at Whiskeytown Lake. From that experience came a basket that I created with medicinal plants from our native land. I also created an exhibit, "Seeing Within” that was well received at the Methodist Church in Redding. These works were exhibited at the Old City Hall gallery, along with a painting by my brother Philip. The "Cross-Eyed" exhibit returned to Redding, with a showing at Shasta College Art Gallery, March 9 – April 17th of this year.
S K Y T I T U S
I was born June 3rd, 1991 into a very creative family. When I was four years old, my mother handed me bread ties to keep me busy while I was taking rides in the shopping cart whenever we went to the grocery store. They were like toys to me, free, colorful, bendable and portable. I began twisting them into figures and attaching found objects to make them look cool, as if they were my own personal superheroes. This past time had become useful when I began having seizures at age eight. Eventually stories about my supper heroes grew in my imagination as my collection got bigger and bigger. I then began writing and drawing these adventures into comic books.
In 2006, I elected to have brain surgery to cure my seizure disorder. This drew attention from a television program that was airing on the Discovery Channel. The program wanted to do a documentary about my life and my upcoming surgeries. The result was an hour-long program that aired on the Discovery Channels program “How Surgery Saved My Life.”
I have received much publicity from my artwork. I have been interviewed on public radio, featured in the Record Searchlight with many many articles, aired on channel 7 news, and channel 24 news. Also I was featured in Enjoy Magazine, at this time I had an exhibit at Shasta County Arts Council in the Old City Hall Gallery. This exhibit was of my twisty ties, comic books and Discovery Channel documentary.
Ever since the third grade, I have danced ballet. Since 2007 I then began dancing at The Redding Dance Centre, which lured my father into dancing with me; we have performed many performances to this day. Other performing activities include civil war reenacting.
I have shown in the Shasta College Student Art Exhibits three different years and in two of those years I have won awards. Presently I am one class away from my AA degree at Shasta College.
Recently I began making creative and often funny homemade films with family members and unusual props, such as chickens. The work in this exhibit reflects my fascination with chickens. Growing from years of observation and involvement with these peculiar and often funny creatures.
The post Leah Harper and Sky Titus – gallery show opens July 10, 2015 appeared first on Shasta County Arts Council.
