Last week, we reported on the month-long show that opens at the Grants Pass Museum of Art
March 29th: “Fire, Fury, & Resilience.”
It represents a body of work she created during the COVID “lockdown” as a way of channeling her energy into symbolic expressions influenced by immigration issues, environmental destruction, and social issues of. She calls these “Totem Witnesses.” Inspired in part by folk art from many countries in which Betty has traveled and shared time with other artists and cultures, the results of her original and heartfelt creativity is spectacular.
Her totally original witness, translated into brilliantly colorful works of art, provides a stunning and evocative social commentary. She feels into the grief for the refugees she visited at our southern border; the Geroge Floyd murder; and the enormous loss of homes and beauty from the Almeda Fire addressing “”Fire and Fury.” Some of the “Totem Witnesses” represent the isolation of the DACA Dreamers; Pandemic experience and the tender balance between hope and sorrow these themes evoke within us all.
Through the Ford Foundation grant, the show will make it possible for fifth graders in Josephine County to visit the remarkable artistry of Betty LaDuke on field trips and receive coloring books she created together with their own art supplies as a way of engaging them in both themes of social justice and their own creative self- expression.
The show represents a collaborative spirit between Betty, who was an art teacher at SOU for over thirty years, and Hyla Lipson, Executive Director Grants Pass Museum of Art, engendered by the director’s own response to the vibrancy and witness she saw. In the exquisite and free catalog provided at the exhibit, Ms. Lipson writes:
“When I became the director of the Grants Pass Museum of Art, I used to receive notes from Betty about her newest art and exhibit ideas. I was familiar with her art because of the work she has in the Medford Airport. In 2016, the museum had a solo exhibit of Betty’s work called “Oregon Harvest.” The exhibit depicted Oregon’s agricultural workers, much like the art in the airport. That is when I met Betty for real.
In 2019, the museum hosted a solo exhibit called “Social Justice.” This exhibit was a combination of the past, the present, and the future. It was also a definite statement of Betty’s passion for the earth in general and animals, plants, water, and humans specifically. Throughout her life she has traveled and sketched what she sees. There is a mountain of sketch books in her studio. Some of the sketches are becoming coloring books.
The books are a gentle way to introduce people of all ages to the issues of life.”
– Hyla Lipson Executive Director Grants Pass Museum of Art
The show will be at Grants Pass Museum of Art, 229 SW G Street, Grants Pass, OR 97526. Call 541-479-3290 for more information.
