The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery presents “Maiden, Mother, Crone”, an exhibition of new ceramic and mixed media works by artists Karmien Bowman and Ariel Bowman.

The exhibition is on display from November 22, 2025 to December 18, 2025, with an opening reception on Saturday December 6, 2025, from 2:00pm to 4:00pm during the Goldmark Cultural Center’s Holiday Art Walk.

Both artists will be present at the reception to respond to questions and comments about their artwork.

About the Exhibition

This exhibition explores the archetypes of the maiden, mother, and crone. These three aspects of the female triple goddess symbolize the phases of life each woman may experience. Mother and daughter artists Karmien Bowman and Ariel Bowman will share ceramic and mixed media artworks from the different phases of their lives. The pieces on display will highlight the impact each of these transitions in life has had on their work.

About the Artists

Ariel Bowman was raised in Dallas, Texas where her parents are both artists. Growing up, she spent a lot of time outside with animals. As a sculptor, Ariel works in clay using a variety of mixed media techniques. Clay is the most influential material that Ariel has worked with. She earned her  Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in ceramics from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2011, and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Florida in 2018. Ariel has been an artist in residence at the Armory Art Center and her work has been collected by the Belger Arts Center, the Florida Museum of Natural History, and the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts. Ariel is currently a studio artist and stay at home parent for her two children. 
www.arielbowman.com

Karmien Bowman was raised in Dallas,Texas. She has spent her life enriching the arts in Denton through her public artworks and contributions to the arts parks and libraries boards in Flower  Mound. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Painting and Art History from University of Texas  and her Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics and Art Metals with a minor in Sculpture from Texas Woman’s University. Bowman won the Art Prize at Woodstock in 1969 and served as Artist in Schools in Tyler Texas and Artist in Residence for the City of Dallas in 1978.She has inspired many students as a professor of Ceramics at Tarrant County College’s Northeast Campus for over thirty years of 45 years teaching. Her work has been exhibited and collected nationally. Her public art -commissioned bronzes can be seen at Northlakes Park Denton Texas and Heritage Park in Flower Mound,Texas. Karmien is now retired to her home studio, Yarmouth, to make sculpture and functional  commission wares and still teaches  private workshops.
www.karmien.com

The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery presents “Habitat”, a group exhibition of paintings by Denton artists Rachel Black, Elaine Pawlowicz, and Susan Seaborn.

The exhibition is on display from Monday October 13, 2025 through Friday November 7, 2025, with an opening reception on Saturday October 18, 2025 from 4:00pm to 6:00pm at the Norman Brown Gallery (14001 Goldmark Drive). The reception is an ideal time to meet the artists and learn from them about their work.

About the Exhibition

In this collection of paintings of the outdoors, scenes are revealed through three distinct lenses. The works are the result of introspection and exploration.

Shared are fallow landscapes, suburban lawnscapes and skyscapes, including "natural" or orchestrated habitats which define our sliver of the world.

We strive to present and interrogate the spaces between and within our constructed environment. These places are the habitat we share.

About the Artists

Elaine Pawlowicz received her B.F.A. from Southern Methodist University, Dallas, in 1990 and her M.F.A. in Painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1993. She continued to live and work as an artist in Chicago for the following 15 years before beginning teaching at the University of North Texas in 2006. Her paintings are inspired by the Chicago Imagist Tradition. The style is magical realism, where the space is flat with an idiosyncratic perspective. The paintings are speckled with tiny characters swallowed up by neon color fields. These highly personalized narratives are slightly ambiguous and peculiarly lighthearted. Her work has been exhibited in numerous national solo and group shows. She was commissioned in a highly competitive process by the City of Chicago to paint 12 large-scale paintings for permanent installation at Oriole Park Library, Chicago. She is currently an Associate Professor in Studio Art: Drawing and Painting.

Rachel Black received her M.F.A. in Studio Art: Drawing and Painting from the University of North Texas in 2006. She was a Sol Lewitt mural project crew member at DFW airport. She created an original mural in the permanent collection of the Texas Forestry Museum in Lufkin, Texas. She has also taught workshops at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, been a staff member at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, and shown her work in exhibitions throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth region. In Summer 2024, Rachel was selected by the Valles Caldera National Preserve, Jemez Springs, New Mexico, as one of five artists for its inaugural artist-in-residence program during the 2024 summer season. She is currently a Principal Instructor in the Foundations program of UNT’s College of Visual Art and Design.  

Susan Seaborn returned to university after careers in both IT and language instruction. She received her B.F.A. in Studio Art: Drawing and Painting from the University of North Texas in 2020. She is currently a graduate student in the M.F.A. Visual Art program at Texas Woman’s University. Her work has been selected for juried shows across the DFW area, including prestigious student shows at both UNT and TWU. Her work has also been seen at Ro2 Gallery in Dallas, in the Chaos! shows in 2022 and 2023. Susan also curates shows at Anna Street Studios, a gallery space in Denton, Texas. Anna Street Studios hosts quarterly contemporary art shows and seeks to provide a space for contemporary art to Denton, and build closer ties between the university art communities and the local art scenes in Denton and the greater DFW area.

The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery presents “You’re Never Safe With Eddie”, a solo exhibition of oil paintings by Dallas artist Gordon Young.

The exhibition is on display from Monday September 8, 2025 through Friday October 3, 2025, with an opening reception on Saturday September 13, 2025 from 4:00pm to 7:00pm at the Norman Brown Gallery (14001 Goldmark Drive), with an artist talk at 6:00pm that evening. The reception is an ideal time to meet the artist and learn from him about his work.

About the Exhibition

“ … art is ‘not a set of rules but a harmony of whims.”
- Ruben Dario, an early 20th century Nicaraguan poet

I chose the painting “You’re never safe with Eddy” as the center for this exhibit  as it reflects the essence of my aesthetics. It is a record of my artistic whims.

What is a whim? The Cambridge Dictionary describe a whim as, “ a sudden wish or idea, especially one that cannot be reasonably explained.”

Combining early Modernist formalism, an image transformed through mid 20th century technology and a painted skull, the visual differences unify through their formal relationships. The choices made were both conscious and subconscious,

To begin, using a brush still wet with the turpentine from a previous painting, I create  lines, spaces and areas which will be activated in various ways as the painting grows. In those first marks I see faces, figures and forms, some I keep some I discard. The organization/composition of the bits and pieces are controlled, consciously and subconsciously, by the formal necessities of the painting.

The painting is about the painting.

-Gordon Young, 2025

The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery presents “Sözsüz Hikaye: The Kilim Speaks”, a solo exhibition of new fiber and ceramic works by Ukrainian artist Vasfie Abderafi, based on traditional Crimean Tatar cultural themes and Turkish kilim-rug textile designs.

The exhibition is on display from Monday August 4, 2025 through Friday August 29, 2025, with an opening reception on Saturday August 9, 2025 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm at the Norman Brown Gallery (14001 Goldmark Drive), plus an artist talk at 7:15pm that evening. The reception is an ideal time to meet the artist and learn from her about her work.

About the Exhibition

This work emerges from a deep well of ancestral memory - rooted in the Crimean Tatar heritage of Crimea, Ukraine.

Artist Vasfie Abderafi's practice is an act of cultural revival and resistance: a way to honor her lineage and give voice to a tradition nearly silenced by exile and erasure.

Using sgraffito, traditional patterns (Örnek), and hand-built clay forms, Abderafi creates to remember and preserve.

Each piece is a quiet actof devotion - a meditative ritual, a dialogue with the past, and an offering to the future.

The clay holds everything: the pain of displacement, the beauty of survival, and the unbreakable threads of identity.

This exhibition is a visual story woven in silence - a space where tradition, memory, and identity are threaded into ceramic form. Like a Kilim, the ancestral woven carpet, each piece invites the viewer to listen with the eyes and feel with the heart, as clay becomes a vessel for what cannot be spoken aloud.

Throughout the work, symbolic motifs emerge - not as decoration, but as carriers of ancestral knowledge, spiritual guardians, and memory keepers. Each line, texture, and symbol speaks of masculinity and femininity, fertility and resilience, and a sacred connection to land, lineage, and spirit. Together they form a visual language passed down through generations - a silent prayer for survival, healing, and continuity.

Let the Kilim speak - where words fall away, form remains.

The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery presents “3 Women 3: A Perspective of Women by Women”, an exhibition of new painting, sculpture, and found-object works by Goldmark artists Rita Barnard, Vicki Charlotta, and April Soncrant.

The exhibition is on display from June 30, 2025 to July 25, 2025, with an opening reception on Saturday, July 12, from 6pm - 8pm. The reception is an ideal time to meet the exhibiting artists and learn from them about their artwork.

About the Exhibition
”3 Women 3: A Perspective of Women by Women” features a selection of paintings, sculptures, and found-object works that use the female form to illustrate the stories and lived experience of women. The three exhibiting artists — Rita Barnard, Vicki Charlotta, and April Soncrant — are longtime friends and artistic collaborators, whose works collectively provide a visual commentary and female perspective on the multiple roles of a woman: her person, her purpose and her personality.

There is a paradox in being female. There seems to be constant and conflicting demands. Is it possible to be hard AND soft? As a modern woman, we are supposed to be delicate but strong, tender but tough, harmless but capable, protective but needing protection, sensuous but sensible, innocent but intelligent, to be beautiful, but not boastful. We aspire to have the quality of feminine mystique without guile or deception and childlike playfulness without being foolish or naive. Some of these expectations are of our own making. We resist having doors opened for us, but want to be treated “like a lady.” We want to flirt, without being called flirtatious. We want to be seen and treated as equal, but acknowledge at times that we are different. Walking the fine line is exhausting! No wonder we are always tired and frustrated! 

About the Artists
Rita Barnard
Rita graduated with a degree in Fine Arts from Texas Woman's University. She freelanced as a designer, art director, and stylist for 33 years, working for many advertising agencies in Dallas and surrounding areas.

Rita retired in 2005. She opened the Small Gallery in 2013 and retired again in 2016. Rita has been a resident artist and member of the Goldmark artist community since 2018.

Rita is currently exploring different art mediums. She creates art from metal clay, jewelry fabrication and ceramics. She continues as a conceptual/narrative artist in mixed media.

Vicki Charlotta
Vicki graduated with a degree in design from the University of North Texas. She is a multidisciplinary artist who works on paintings, sculptures, and found-object works. She has created a series of “Girlfriends and Godesses” sculptures from various found-objects and personal treasures. Each female figure has its own story to tell and its own name and personality that has evolved over its creative process. Vicki has been a resident-artist and member of the Goldmark artist community since 2018.

April Soncrant
April is a mixed media artist working in 2-D and 3-D with fabric, paper, found objects, acrylic paint and ink. She loves texture, color, line, and form. April is always exploring by bringing out the beauty from the mundane. Currently she is working on textured papers to use in collage and paper jewelry. April has been a resident-artist and member of the Goldmark artist community since 2019.

The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery is proud to present” it takes a village”, a solo exhibition of new paintings, sculptures, and installation works by Goldmark artist David Snider.

The exhibition is on display from 26 May to 20 June, with an opening reception on Saturday 31 May, from 1:00pm to 3:00pm. The reception is an ideal opportunity to meet the artist and learn from him about his artwork.

About the Exhibition
Using floor and wall sculptures, David Snider demonstrates two concepts. First, community is a fundamental experience in which we are all complicit. Second, and more illusory, we are all dirt, hardened, colored, very different and essentially similar when measured on a small scale.

The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery is proud to present “Life Goes On”, an exhibition of new painting and drawing works by artist Jim Hastings.

The exhibition is on display from 14 April to 16 May, 2025. An artist talk and reception will take place on Saturday, 3 May, from 5pm - 7pm, at the Goldmark Cultural Center. The reception is an ideal opportunity to meet the artist and learn from him about his artwork and exhibition.

About the Exhibition
”My artwork is primarily figurative, with a focus on portraiture and family relationships. Human interactions, comedy, and honest depictions of life are what I’m constantly trying to find as I makes pictures. When people look at my drawings or paintings, I hope they see something familiar. There are so many aspects of our lives that are universal, and yet we often feel alone. I hope that people will see themselves laying on a couch or working in the yard or helping a child get ready for bed. Jim is married and the father of 5 children, who keep him very busy!”

About the Artist
Jim Hastings, is a Dallas native. He earned a BFA in Painting and Drawing from the Kansas City Art Institute, and an MA in Art Education from the University of North Texas. He has been a working artist and teacher for the last 25 years.

The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery is proud to present “Lines Encircling the Sun”, an exhibition of new sculpture and installation works by artists Alex Ferrante and Brynn Higgins-Stirrup.

The exhibition is on display from 10 March to 4 April, 2025. An artist talk and reception will take place on Saturday, 22 March, from 1pm - 3pm, during the Spring Art Walk at the Goldmark Cultural Center. The reception is an ideal opportunity to meet the artists and learn from them about their artwork and exhibition.

About the Exhibition

Lines Encircling the Sun is the result of collaborative material explorations, visual play and conversations between artists Alex Ferrante and Brynn Higgins-Stirrup. The exhibition manifests from processes of collecting and reimagining created, found and generated images and objects of the natural world - from Charles Darwin’s diagrams of plants movements following the sun to the tracings of glitched AI generated butterflies.

We reflect on a natural world that is home to biological and synthetic processes so complex and intertwined that they edge towards a present imperceptibility. We are interested in teasing out how the integration of the natural world and our own human making, entangles us in questions of authenticity and authorship. Through the lens of landscape we employ processes of mold- making, digital drawing, ceramic inlay and video projection to produce and reproduce our own un/natural world. A diorama of questioning and a ground for our desire to know the world that we live within.

About the Artists

Brynn Higgins-Stirrup
Brynn Higgins-Stirrup is an interdisciplinary artist with a focus on drawing and an Assistant Professor of Instruction at the University of Texas at Dallas. Currently, she is exploring the history of mapping and diagramming processes where they intersect with spiritual, emotional and unknowable worlds. Brynn grew up and became an artist in rural Canada and has traveled widely to study, create art, complete research and teach, from working with papermakers in Japan to printmakers and biodynamic farmers in India.

Brynn completed her MFA in Visual Art at the University of Michigan in 2018, where her thesis work focused on the intertwined relationships between embodiment, process, and knowledge through the lens of feminist epistemology and scientific drawing and painting practices.

She has an active record of exhibiting and publishing internationally on this subject, including Figure Drawn, a solo exhibition and accompanying publication presented by Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar in 2022, An Index of Longing, a research paper published on her recent work in Drawing: Research, Theory, and Practice, an academic journal based in the United Kingdom and the exhibition Diorama for an Exhibition with Serendipity Festival in Goa, India in 2024.

Alex Ferrante
​Alex is a Professor of Art at Dallas College. He was a Visiting Assistant Professor of Art at the University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio, from 2022-2023 and the John Hirschi Family Resident Artist and Teaching Fellow at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas from 2021- 2022. He was the recipient of the Zeldin Fellowship from The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was an artist in residence from 2019-2021.

Alex’s practice pivots around a central question, how has landscape, a representation of that which is exterior to ourselves, informed the creation of the human subject? By examining Western depictions of landscape, its parables and myths, he aims to dismantle and reimagine culturally inherited relationships between the outside world and the human body.

Alex holds an MFA in Studio Practices from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He attended art and philosophy seminars and workshops at the American Academy in Rome and Anderson Ranch. He has exhibited across the United States and internationally at galleries and museums such as San Angelo Museum of Art, South Texas Museum of Art, McDonough Museum of Art, University of Colorado Boulder Museum of Art, The Clay Studio, Millersville University, Living Arts, and Singapore Art Museum.

The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery is proud to present “Made in Plastic”, an exhibition of new scultpure, painting, and installation works by Goldmark artist Shabnam Modjarrad.

The exhibition is on display from 5 February to 28 February, 2025. An opening reception will take place on Saturday, 8 February, from 2pm - 6pm. The reception is an ideal opportunity to meet the artist and learn from her about her artwork and exhibition.

About the Exhibition

“Through art I aim to highlight the complex and fragile relationship between humans and the natural world. By means of drawing, painting, sculpting, and installation, I explore the impact of human actions on the environment and raise awareness about pressing issues. As a nature lover, I am deeply concerned about the destruction and exploitation of the earth's resources. I often incorporate elements of the natural world, such as dried plants, bones, and other organic materials reflecting my fascination with the interconnectedness of all living beings and manmade material. This is a reminder of the delicate balance and interdependence of all ecosystems; we are part of nature and not above it or outside of it.

I am drawn to using found and reclaimed materials in my work, not only for their aesthetic value but also to bring attention to the excess and waste that pervades our society. Most of my materials are found at nearby lakes, streets and my own by-products. By repurposing these materials and displaying a new perspective, I hope to spark conversations about consumerism and its detrimental effects on the environment.”

- Shabnam Modjarrad

The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery is proud to present “The Wee Teeny TIny Mini Itsy Bitsy Art Show, 2025”, an exhibition featuring miniature artworks by Goldmark artists and friends.

The exhibition is on display in the Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery from 14 Janaury 2025 to 1 February 2025. The exhibition’s closing reception is on Saturday, 1 February 2025 from 1.00pm - 3.00pm. The reception is a great opportunity to meet many of the exhibiting artists and to learn from them about their artwork.

All of the artworks in the exhibition are priced at $100 or less and will be available for purchase before and during the reception.

Featured Artists

The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery is proud to present “Possible Worlds”, an exhibition of ceramic sculptural works by artist Christy Wittmer.

The exhibition is on display from November 11 to December 19, 2024. An opening reception will take place on Saturday, 11/16, from 1pm - 3pm. Christy will present an artist talk about the exhibition and her artwork at 1:30pm on Saturday, 11/16.

The reception and artist talk are ideal opportunities to meet the artist and learn from her about her artwork and exhibition.

About the Exhibition
Possible Worlds is an exhibition that abstracts human histories and refigures them for an expansive future. Complicated porcelain structures and industrialized forms explore the space between progress and entropy, the known and the unexpected, and physical and unbodied worlds. These abstract thought/feeling studies investigate experiences of upheaval and messy emotions as open-ended questions and points of possibility.

Artist Statement
Balancing experimentation with skilled craft I create sculptures that challenge expectation of function and notions of stability.

Clay is an essential material in my work. Press your finger into its cool softness and it will give way, recording the trace of the interaction, an indication of the hand-made. Coils of clay are a primal mark, the first thing humans make in clay. My repetition of this shape echoes the experience of daily practice. The hours and marks accumulate into a structure more complex than the single simple gesture. With fire, the clay ossifies irreversibly into an unchanging and fragile artifact.

I contrast these delicate hand made sculptures with soft fabric forms and industrial objects. Stacked and balanced, the work is held together by the weight of one object supporting another, creating spaces of tenuous stability. The temporary equilibrium of this work engages body awareness, exploring time, impermanence and longing.

- Christy Wittmer

The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery is pleased to pleased to present Channeling Experiences, a joint exhibition featuring the work of painters Jill Brown and Michal Romero.

The exhibition is on display in the Norman Brown Gallery at 14001 Goldmark Dr from 9/30 to 11/1, with a closing reception on Friday, 11/1, from 5:30pm - 7:30pm. Jill and Michal will be present at the closing reception to respond to questions and comments about their artwork, and this will be the best time to meet the artists.

About the Exhibition
Jill Brown and Michal Romero (2023-2024 Goldmark resident artists) will be exhibiting their recent works for the first time together in 12 years. Brown works primarily in oil on canvas and utilizes various tools to scrape imagery into her surfaces. Romero also works mainly in oil on canvas but also uses mixed media on paper. Brown’s work is highly abstracted and nonobjective while Romero’s dances back and forth between representational and abstraction. Both of the women’s works, however, depict an ongoing dialogue of their search for meaning and making sense of their lives through gesture, color, imagery, and structure. Though each painter has her own aesthetic, their works collectively transform their thoughts into vibrant experiences for the viewer.

Brown and Romero became close friends while attending UT Tyler in the late aughts / early teens. Romero (neé Durham) was working on her MFA while Jill was completing her BFA in the small-but-growing art program. Since then, both women have kept in touch over the years while creating work and sharing stories. In early 2022, they started planning a two-person show together. Brown had just returned to the US after spending 6 years overseas. Romero had gotten married, left the teaching profession after 7 years, and had moved to Fort Worth to focus on her art full-time.

Channeling Experiences shows their visual conversations and brings the viewer into the stories the women shared with each other of life, aging, vulnerability, humor, love and loss. Their creations have brought them even closer together as they have shared and continue to share evolving outlooks. Inevitably, it reveals how necessary friendship is in order to live a richer, fuller life.

About the Artists
Jill Brown, born in Dallas in 1985, has recently returned to her hometown after six vibrant years in Australia. Since childhood, her passion for drawing blossomed into a love for painting during her college years. Jill’s work creates a striking dialogue between artist and viewer through her bold use of color, dynamic marks, and compelling compositions. Her pieces invite a deeper look, revealing a meticulous and enigmatic side beneath the surface.

Jill earned her BFA from the University of Texas at Tyler in 2010 and now focuses on her art while teaching in Forney, TX.

Michal Durham Romero was born in 1983 in east Texas and has been drawing since the age of 4. Romero creates abstract landscapes and settings based on notions of spirituality and nostalgia. Her creative approach derives from how she perceives her surroundings and how certain objects or images stay with her over time.

She received her BA at the University of Texas at Austin in 2007 and her MFA from the University of Texas at Tyler in 2012. Michal won the "Visual Communications Through Art" Award from the Visual Art Alliance Houston, the December "Artist of the Month" award from Downtown Tyler Arts Coalition, has work in UT Tyler's permanent collection.

A firm believer in the importance of fine arts in everyday life, Romero has spent 7+ years educating others at the college and secondary levels about art processes, art in-context, and fostering individual creativity. Romero lives and works in Ossining, NY.

The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery is proud to present “Gaps and Spaces”, a solo exhibition featuring paintings by MCat Davis.

The exhibition is on display in the Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery from 19 August 2024 to 20 September 2024 with an opening reception on Saturday, 14 September 2024 from 2 pm - 4 pm.

Davis will be present at the reception to respond to questions and comments about the exhibition.

About the Exhibition

By forming a visual vocabulary for forces that have an Intangible form, I build and create imagined bodies and places that straddle my experience and imagination. I am drawn to the infinite possibilities in emptiness, in-between, and the fleeting. With a long background in dance and choreography, my art practice is activated by physicality and steady motion. I dissect personal interactions and observations into simple forms and colors that I associate with my experiences while leaving room for transformation. I relate to postmodern abstractionists and transcendentalist painters; Their consciousness of their surroundings and conceptualizations around energy flow and human perception greatly influence my process and development of work. This show explores possibilities born from the gaps and spaces in the every day, turning nothingness into creatures, timelines, and worlds.

About the Artist

Mcat Davis is an interdisciplinary artist and an educator in the College of Visual Arts and Design at the University of North Texas. Originally from Dallas, Davis earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Mississippi in 2018, where she focused her studies on drawing and painting. Upon returning to DFW, she began showing work locally through spaces such as Craighead Green Gallery and the Bathhouse Cultural Center. She briefly occupied a studio in the Goldmark Cultural Center and also worked with organizations like the Texas Visual Arts Association to curate group shows and coordinate events. Davis moved north to Denton to attend Graduate School where she earned her Master of Fine Arts from the University of North Texas. Since relocating to Denton, Davis has continued to show her work, Teach classes through UNT, and enjoys curating group shows around the metroplex.

The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery is proud to present Drawing Invitational 4, an exhibition featuring works by Louise Murdock, Kyle Wood, and Gordon Young. All three artists bring together a diverse array of aesthetics, styles, methods, and conceptual issues in the drawing medium.

The exhibition is on display in the Goldmark Cultural Center’s in the Norman Brown Gallery from 8 July, 2024 to 9 August, 2024. An opening reception for the exhibition will be held on Saturday, 13 July, from 2 to 4 pm. An artist talk will be held at 3pm that day in the gallery.

About the Exhibition

The Goldmark Gallery Committee is pleased to present The Fourth Annual Drawing Invitational. This year we invited three amazing artists whose styles of drawing and material choices are widely varied. At the same time the viewer will discover a unity of commitment to this most basic and uniquely human form of expression running through the exhibition. In 2021, the Gallery Committee created the Drawing Invitational to fill a void in our exhibitions to highlight the most fundamental of all visual arts —drawing.

The importance of drawing in an artist’s life is hard to overstate. For most of us, artists as well as non-artists, drawing was the first form of expression we used to communicate— often before we mastered language. Additionally, drawing is the basic building block for many forms of visual art, a foundational skill we build on in our artistic journeys, whether we specialize in painting, sculpture, printmaking, ceramics, or other art forms.

The Gallery Committee wishes to thank the Goldmark Cultural Center for their commitment to this exhibition as well as our three talented exhibiting artists: Louise Murdock, Kyle Wood, and Gordon Young.

We also want to thank you, the viewer, for your participation without which our efforts would be meaningless. We hope you will enjoy this exhibition as much as we have enjoyed bringing it to you.

The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery is proud to present “Whispers of the Canvas”, a solo exhibition featuring paintings and ceramic works by Fort Worth artist Ivette Levy.

The exhibition is on display in the Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery from 14 April 2024 to 17 May 2024, with an exhibition reception on Saturday, 20 April 2024 from 1pm - 3pm.

Ivette will be present at the reception to respond to any questions or comments about her exhibition.

About the Exhibition

"Whispers of the Canvas” extends an invitation to reflect on the life we are leaving behind in our pursuit of constructing a false existence within the realm of social media.

This collection delves into the surreal landscape of the 'New People,' beings that with their multiple eyes and chicken feet, stand as ethereal emissaries, offering glimpses into the intricacies of our contemporary existence.

At its core, this series is a poignant exploration of the human experience—a reminder of the yearning for genuine connection amidst the chaotic allure of virtual realities. It is a call to embrace authenticity and reclaim the beauty found in the simplicity of genuine human interaction.

Each piece within this collection serves as a testament to the complexity of our shared journey, encouraging introspection and dialogue about the impact of digital personas on our perception of self and society.

As I navigate the creative process, I am guided by spontaneity and intuition, allowing the canvas to unveil the profound sentiments evoked by our digitally saturated world. Each work becomes a vessel through which I express the urgency to reconnect with our authentic selves and each other.

The title, "Whispers of the Canvas," embodies the subtle yet powerful messages that resonate within each artwork—a reminder of the profound beauty found in embracing our true selves.

Inspired by the poignant words of an elder who once shared with me the sentiment that 'It hurts to be alive,' this collection stands as a testament to the vitality and significance of genuine human connection amidst the illusion of social media.

Join me on this journey of exploration and discovery, where art serves as a mirror reflecting the complexities of our modern existence. Let us embrace the whispers of the canvas and embark on a voyage of rediscovery and authenticity.

About the Artist

Ivette Levy's artistic journey is deeply rooted in personal history and the world, embracing both its positives and negatives. She strives to capture the complexities and contradictions within herself and society, acknowledging their dualities. Ivette's paintings reflect a fusion of her experiences, societal interactions, and historical contexts.

Living with ADHD, she offers a unique perspective through her art. While craving connection as a social being, she often grapples with the delicate balance between reality and desires, influenced by the illusions propagated through social media. In an age of instant gratification, she observes how social media molds emotions like malleable clay, distorting realities and hindering genuine connections.

Through her art, Ivette earnestly advocates for awareness in a society consumed by immediate gratification. Drawing inspiration from her personal struggles, she sheds light on aspects often overlooked by mainstream media.

Her objective is to foster a fresh outlook through her creations. In a time where superficiality often prevails, her art encourages deeper introspection and reflection

The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery is proud to present “Mind Explosion: Unfinished Stories on Canvas”, a solo exhibition featuring paintings, ceramics, and jewelry by Dallas painter Amy Twomey.

The exhibition is on display in the Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery from 4 March 2024 to 5 April 2024. The exhibition is on display during the Spring Art Walk at the Goldmark Cultural Center on Saturday 23 March and Sunday 24 March.

The exhibition reception is on Saturday, 30 March 2024 from 1.00pm - 3.00pm.

About the Artist

Amy Twomey is an extraordinary artist whose passion for creativity has taken her on a remarkable journey. With an unwavering determination to pursue her dreams, she has become a master in various mediums, including photography, pottery, painting, jewelry design, and printmaking. Her artwork is an expression of her soul and a reflection of her innate artistic talent.

In 2018, Amy faced a life-changing diagnosis of incurable blood cancer/NMZ lymphoma, propelling her to appreciate the value of time and the significance of living purposefully. She chose to immerse herself in nature, setting challenging goals and exploring new adventures, such as hiking, camping, and discovering the beauty of the world. The desert holds a special place in her heart, and her dream is to live in a little eco-friendly adobe home surrounded by a big garden, small cabins for guests, and an art studio where she can hold workshops and retreats.

Amy holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in photography and fine arts from The Art Institute of Chicago, The University of New Mexico, and The University of Wisconsin. These degrees have allowed her to hone her skills and expand her artistic horizons. Amy is currently working on a series of mixed- media paintings for an art exhibition.

With an unshakable love for her family, dedication to her creative passions, and a newfound appreciation for the healing wonders of nature, Amy is committed to making every moment count on life's beautiful adventure. She invites you to join her in this inspiring quest as she creates art that moves the soul and makes the most of this precious gift called life. Amy's world of boundless creativity and unbridled joy is a true inspiration to all.

About the Exhibition

In my art, I aim to pour my heart out onto the canvas, allowing the viewer to witness not just the highlights of life but also the struggles and complexities that make us human. Through a process that often begins with a jumble of emotions and experiences, I find solace in putting brush to canvas. It's a journey of release, a way to let go of the weight that life can sometimes bring.

Each stroke, each layer, is a deliberate step towards unearthing the beauty that exists even in the darkest moments. As I paint, I confront the shadows, the challenges, and the pain, transforming them into something that radiates with hope and light. It's in this transformative process that I find my sense of healing and resilience, and I hope that it resonates with others who encounter my work.

For me, the act of creation is an exploration of the human experience, an invitation to embrace both the complexities and the simplicities that define our lives. It's a reminder that every story, no matter how complicated or dark, has the potential to evolve into something beautiful and inspiring. I hope that when people engage with my paintings, they find a sense of connection and understanding, a recognition of their journey within the vibrant narratives I depict.

Through this exhibition, I invite you to join me on this journey of transformation, to witness the raw emotions and experiences that have shaped my art, and perhaps to discover a reflection of your own story within the layers of color and texture that adorn the canvas.

The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery is proud to present “Bridges”, an exhibition featuring over 45 ceramic sculptures and paintings by Goldmark artist Riki Greenspan. The exhibition brings together artworks representing two decades of Riki Greenspan’s art career in Dallas.

The exhibition is on display in the Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery from 22 January 2024 to 23 February 2024.

The exhibition reception is on Saturday, 10 February 2024 from 3.00pm - 5.00pm.

A separate closing reception will be held on Friday, 23 February 2024 from 5.00pm - 7.00pm. Riki Greenspan will be available at the reception to respond to questions and comments about her artwork.

About the Exhibition

“It is not a secret that after more than twenty years living in Dallas, my husband and I are about to relocate closer to our children and grandchildren, near Washington DC. I feel that my years in Dallas were artistically fruitful, that my work developed and grew. In recent years I built an artistic home in my Goldmark studio, and was proud of the fact that I was the first artist to move into the building. I would love an opportunity to say goodbye to Dallas and to the Goldmark community by presenting the work I have created in the Norman Brown Gallery,

With the upcoming move in mind, I embarked on creating a set of outdoor sculptures that will serve as identifying signs for the multiple trees in our new back yards. Ten different species at all, each will be marked with a carving of its name, and decorated with identifying representation of leaves and fruit. I imagine this series to be the center piece of the exhibition.”

-Riki Greenspan, 2023

About the Artist

​Riki Greenspan is a native of Jerusalem, Israel and has resided in the United States for about three decades, She has lived in Dallas since 2003.

Riki initially trained in education, has teaching experience with both children and adults. She started honing her interest in art in the late 1980s.

Riki received a BFA in Art, and an MA in Ceramics from the University of SC in Columbia.

A lifelong learner, Riki continues to attend classes at Brookhaven College in Ceramics, Sculpture, Printmaking, and Photoshop.

Riki was a member of Studio 8 in Dallas for three years until it closed in 2017 and has been a resident artist at the Goldmark Cultural Center since 2018.

Riki’s sculptures have been shown in local and national exhibitions.

The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery is proud to present “The Wee Teeny TIny Mini Itsy Bitsy Art Show”, an exhibition featuring over 70 miniature works by 43 Goldmark artists and Dallas College Brookhaven ceramic students.

The exhibition is on display in the Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery from 15 December, 2023 to 13 January, 2024. The exhibition’s closing reception is on Saturday, 13 January, 2023 from 1.00pm - 3.00pm.

Featured Artists

Nan Martin
Rita Barnard
Susan Sponsler-Carstarphen
Richie Peña
Kathleen Carpenter
Lisa Helm Ballew
Margo Miller
April Soncrant
Barbara Jones
Christi Clark
Kristie Golden
Florence McLure
Rebecca Boatman
Ani Thurmond
Kyle Wood
Mr. Mo
Cecilia Navarro
Victoria Rios
David Snider 
Hugh De Witte
Vicki Charlotta
Riki Greenspan 
Dawn Branan
Natalie Friedman
Dan Hargrave
Jenni Simms
Alex Yeh
Rachel Hoehn
Du Chau 
Elizabeth Bentley 
Marty Ray
Cyndi McDonnell
Ginny Marsh
Terri Wilder
Jacqueline Jackson 
Conan West
Weston Pugh
Beverly Crockett
Dennis Sweeney
Barbara Franklin 
Bret Hahn
Midori Kitagawa
Ina Jeon

The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery is proud to present “The Nature of Things”, an exhibition featuring new ceramic works by Lisa Ehrich.

The exhibition is on display in the Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery from 3 November, 2023 to 9 December, 2023. The exhibition reception is on Saturday, 11 November, 2023 from 1.00pm - 3.00pm.

About the Exhibition

I make clay objects that are influenced by nature. Embedded in the layers of intention and accident are the ideas that inspire my work: the sensuality of form, implied volume, human touch to a natural object, symbols of fragility, healing, and regeneration.

My experience of working with clay cannot be separated from my life experience, which includes a passion for research and travel. My eyes, head, and spirit have been filled with images of a ceramic world that includes ancient skills, timeless forms, and conceptual and symbolic content. Italian niches, Stonehenge, the Canadian Rockies, my backyard garden, and much more reside in my subconscious well that feeds my imagery and symbolism.

I move from throwing to hand-building, seeking the process that best actualizes the ideas that emerge. My surfaces are intended to reveal the form, to feel like the skin of an object, appearing as a natural consequence of its being.   I focus on atmospheric firings to achieve the desired effects and often use sandblasting as a final step.  A medley of other materials is sometimes employed to complete a concept, which results in a visually poetic combination.

- Lisa Ehrich, 2023

About the Artist: Lisa Ehrich

Having grown up in a small town in Mississippi, several things were very important to me, traveling and making things. Traveling affirmed that the world was much larger than the Delta and making things allowed my hands to understand the beauty and oddness of the world in which I lived.

I came from a very artistic family. When I was 13, my parents sent my sister and I to study art for the summer at the Banff Center of Arts in Alberta, Canada. I was transformed by the experience and knew my life would always include some form of art- making. It was my sophomore year in college at the University of Texas at Austin that I took my first ceramics class. Graduate school followed at the University of North Texas where my major was Ceramics and my minor, Sculpture. I graduated UNT in 1981 with a clear vision of wanting to teach in higher education and desiring to make objects in clay.

Since 1982, I have enjoyed 40+ years of teaching and providing leadership for the Art Department at Brookhaven Campusof Dallas College. The classroom,students, and working with amazingcolleagues have given me the chance to build a challenging and rewarding career. Also, the opportunity to teach field courses in Italy and England allowed our students and me to expand our perspectives while learning different cultures.

Working in clay continues to be my primary medium in my studio practice as an artist.As I transition from my teaching career to being a full-time artist, I am excited to enter this phase of my professional career.

- Lisa Ehrich, 2023

The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery is proud to present “Pretty in Pink”, an exhibition featuring new works of hand-cut and painted photography by Venessa Monokian.

The exhibition is on display in the Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery from 25 September, 2023 to 27 October, 2023.

About the Exhibition

On a nature walk during a visit to Miami, my hometown, I found myself in what I can only describe as a magical fairy forest. Lush and green, with light streaming in to illuminate miles and miles of heart shaped vines coating everything. The vine enveloped every bush, palm, and even climbed to the top of the trees. What initially felt magical started to feel odd. I didn’t recognize this vine from my childhood, and its loving embrace seemed to be suffocating. I later learned that this was an invasive species called air potato vine (Dioscorea bulbifera). In reality, the vine was choking everything in its path.

This vine has found its way, not just to South Florida, but also to my new home in southeastern Texas. Invasive species like this one are often cultivated because of their beauty. When misplaced they kill the native plants and throw off a natural balance.

Standing within the miles and miles of vines, reflecting on how this one plant has impacted both of my current home spaces, I felt truly overwhelmed. I began to photograph the vine, unsure of what these images would become. After printing, I cut most of the photograph away, isolating the vine and its victim. Colorizing the shadow areas of the image where the air potato vine is positioned to highlight it. I deliberately picked a neon pink color due to the unnatural tone, acting as a toxic visual marker. The visual effect is similar to my own first reaction to the air potato. One of awe and enchantment of its beauty. The work lures and guides the viewer to think more deeply about their relationship to nature and the negative impact humans can have on it.

This work helped me build a strong connection, not only with the environment in my newer home of Texas, but between Texas and the place I grew up, South Florida. Miami and Houston are coastal cities, each affected by hurricanes, humidity, and the effects of humans on the natural terrain. Here, I found myself, more strongly than ever before, pulled to think about more than just my immediate surroundings.

- Venessa Monokian, 2023

List of Works (with pricing)

About the Artist

Venessa Monokian was born and raised in Miami. She currently lives in Houston and is a member at Box13 ArtSpace. Monokian received her MFA from Florida International University. In 2011, she was featured in a WLRN documentary by Emmy winning filmmaker Andrew Hevia, Rising Tide: A Story of Miami Artists. Monokian has shown her work internationally including Met/Gal in Austin, the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans, Mac Fine Art in Fort Lauderdale, Academy of Fine Arts in Poland, Panal 361 Argentina and Mister Pink Galeria De Arte in Spain. In 2023 she was be part of a three person show at Sam Houston State University Art Gallery entitled Scarcity and Abundance and is currently has a solo exhibition at the Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery in Dallas Texas.

Venessa Monokian
vmonokian@yahoo.com
Monokian.com
(305) 804-0758

The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery is proud to present TRES LECHES, an exhibition featuring selected works by Brujita Workshop.

The exhibition is on display in the Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery from 21 August, 2023 to 22 September, 2023. A reception for the exhibition will be held on Saturday, 9 September, from 3 pm to 5 pm at the Goldmark Cultural Center.

About the Exhibition

The group exhibition TRES LECHES presents a whimsical yet thoughtful exploration of the front yard picnic experience, delving into its minutiae and broader cultural significance through a diverse range of mediums including drawing, textiles, and ceramics. The artworks in this exhibition are at once playful and profound, inviting the viewer to contemplate complexity of domestic and interpersonal dynamics in an outdoor setting.

Artworks in TRES LECHES show that femininity can be powerful, grotesque, and wild rather than the passive and docile ideal often seen in traditional representations of women.

About the Artists

Brujita Workshop is the Dallas-based art collective by SooMi Han, Analise Minjarez, and Mylan Nguyen. They have shared studio spaces since 2020 and their work continues to inform each other's practices.

The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery is proud to present the Familia Printmakers Group Exhibition, an exhibition featuring new printmaking works by 10 different printmakers of the Familia Printshop.

The exhibition is on display in the Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery from 7 July, 2023 to 11 August, 2023. A reception for the exhibition will be held on Saturday, 5 August, from 3 to 5 pm during the Summer Art Walk at the Goldmark Cultural Center.

About the Exhibition

The Familia Printmakers Group Exhibition brings together the work of our 2023 community print shop members. This exhibition features work from 10 different artists across many printmaking disciplines such as lithography, relief, intaglio, and screen printing.

Featured artists include:

• Braulio Lazon-Conde

• Madison Cooper

• Savannah Flores

• Clarissa Gonzalez

• Taye Karp

• Benjamin Muñoz

• Richie Peña

• Sarah Pickett

• Anna Redman

• Robyn Rozelle

The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery is proud to present “The Battle of Good & Evil”, an exhibition of sculptural works by Goldmark artist Terri Wilder.

The exhibition is on display from 26 May 2023 to 30 June 2023, with a closing reception from 1pm - 3pm on Saturday, 24 June 2023. An artist talk will be presented on Thursday, 8 June 2023, from 11am - 12pm.

About the Exhibition

As we go about our daily lives, each of us makes hundreds of choices between good and evil. Will we be kind and patient or gruff and sarcastic? Do we choose to be generous or selfish? Is honesty our policy even when it costs us, or do we find a little lie more convenient? Why do we so often fall into the temptation to do what we know is wrong? Paul the Apostle described our struggle in his letter to the Ephesians: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual forces of wickedness in high places. Eph. 6:12

As an artist contemplating Paul’s words during the covid pandemic and the ensuing social and political chaos, Terri wondered what this would look like. The Battle of Good and Evil is her attempt to make these invisible spiritual truths visible.

About the Artist

For 30 years Terri’s passion for art had to fit into the busy work and travel schedule of a flight attendant.

Her career with Delta Air Lines allowed her to meet all kinds of people and to travel around the globe having many great adventures along the way. In 2012 when she retired, she began a new but equally exciting chapter. At last, she was free to give ceramics her full attention. When the possibility to apply for graduate school presented itself, naturally she jumped at the opportunity. The University of Dallas accepted her into their program in the fall of 2016. After completion of her MA in 2018 and MFA in 2019, she moved into her current studio at 14001 Goldmark, Suite 235. She loves being part of this wonderful community of talented artists.

Once she had moved into her studio in July 2020, she got to work creating seven wall-mounted black Madonna. Influenced by her travels to Africa and a love of Ankara fabrics and tribal mask-making, the work challenges ethnocentric ideas of beauty and finds inspiration in spiritual text to bring clarity and insight to a chaotic year of isolation, sickness, social unrest, economic downturn, and overwhelming uncertainty for a good future.

As 2020 gave way to 2021 she added a series of seven devils and seven angels to this body of work. The fourteen double-walled vessels pair together in provocative relationships. For anyone familiar with contemporary Texas clay, they should recognize the influence of her ceramic heroes: Dan Hammett, James Watkins, and Carl Block.

The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery is proud to present “LAST SONG”, a joint exhibition by Laura Hyunjhee Kim and SV Randall.

The exhibition is on display from 14 April 2023 to 19 May 2023, with an opening reception from 3pm - 5pm on Saturday, 22 April 2023, during the Spring Art Walk.

About the Exhibition

LAST SONG is a multimedia installation that intertwines the past, present, and future into a cyclical perception-altering timescape, in which constructs of order and continuity no longer apply. From a disorienting assemblage of found object sculptures, to audiovisuals suspended within an endlessly repeating temporal loop, Laura Hyunjhee Kim and SV Randall present an evocative (other)worldy diorama of displacement, where a sense of semblance and linearity has been warped. On the cusp of reanimation, seemingly discordant artifacts conjure and reveal memories and traces of performers from strange spaces between spaces of entanglement, that echo neither-neither. 

About the Artists

LAURA HYUNJHEE KIM is a Korean-American multimedia artist who creates post-disciplinary performances to reveal spaces of hybridity that reimagine on/offline (non)human interactions. Kim has shown work worldwide, recently including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Theatre of Digital Art in Dubai, Kadist Art Foundation, Transfer Gallery, Pioneer Works, Harvest Works, and the Athens Digital Art Festival. Kim received the ArtSlant Award in New Media (2013), New Media Caucus Distinguished Scholar Award (2019), Judson-Morrissey Excellence in New Media Award (2020), and the Black Cube Video Art Award (2020). Kim is the author of “Entering the Blobosphere: A Musing on Blobs” (The Accomplices, 2019) and the co-author of “Remixing Persona” (Open Humanities Press, 2019). Kim is an Assistant Professor of Visual and Performing Arts at The University of Texas at Dallas. She lives in the company of neighboring songbirds, squirrels, and wild rabbits in Richardson, Texas.

SV RANDALL is an interdisciplinary artist from Buffalo, NY. He received his MFA in Sculpture + Extended Media from VCU and his BFA from Alfred University. His work has been exhibited at David & Schweitzer Contemporary, Brooklyn, NY; the El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, TX; Ditch Projects, Eugene, OR; and the Museo de Arte de Ciudad Juárez in Mexico. SV is the recipient of the Toby Devin Lewis Fellowship Award and has most recently participated in residencies at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (Skowhegan, ME), Sculpture Space (Utica, NY), the Fine Arts Work Center (Provincetown, MA), the Vermont Studio Center (Johnson, VT), and the Roswell Artist-in-Residence Program (Roswell, NM). He is currently an Assistant Professor of Visual and Performing Arts at the University of Texas at Dallas.

The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery is proud to present “Reclaiming my World, a solo exhibition of new paintings by Goldmark artist Armando Sebastian.

The exhibition is on display from 3 March 2023 to 7 April 2023, with an opening reception on Saturday, 11 March 2023, from 1-3pm.

About the Exhibition

In his exhibition, “Reclaiming my World”, Armando Sebastian creates narrative works to tell the story of his journey. “Growing up in Mexico as the only son in a traditional Hispanic family I felt pressured to choose a manly profession that would please their expectations,” Sebastian says. After coming out and losing most of his friends in the process he made the decision to start a new life in the US, in search of better opportunities, to follow his passion and to pursue his dreams. With vibrant colors and symbols with references to gay poets and music icons, Armando Sebastian takes us through an imaginary journey toward another place in time, an intimate place free from gender codes and cultural boundaries. “This exhibition is about new chapters, beginnings and endings. I’m reclaiming my world. A universe immersed in elements and themes that have inspired my work from the beginning of my painting years,” Sebastian states.

Sebastian chose these lyrics by Steven Morrissey to precede his work as an epigraph.

Ordinary boys, happy knowing nothing happy being no-one but themselves
Ordinary girls, supermarket clothes who think it's very clever to be cruel to you
For you were so different you stood all alone
And you knew that it had to be so
Avoiding ordinary boys Happy going nowhere, just around here
In their rattling cars
Ordinary girls Never seeing further than the cold, small streets that trap them 
But you were so different you had to say no
When those empty fools tried to change you, and claim you
For the lair of their ordinary world where they feel so lucky
So lucky, so lucky with their lives laid out before them
They are lucky, so lucky, so lucky
So lucky, so...   

About the Artist

Armando Sebastian was born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico. At an early age he became interested in theater and fashion, which later evolved into his expression through narrative painting. Sebastian moved to the U.S in search of broadening his opportunities as an Artist, to learn English and to follow his passion. He has been exhibiting his work in the North Texas region for the past decade in venues such as the Latino Cultural Center and the Fort Worth Community Arts Center among others, as well as with galleries based in Los Angeles and New York City. In 2017, he was recognized with the Artistic Merit Award granted by the ArtSpace111 in its Fourth Annual Regional Juried Exhibition in Fort Worth, Texas. In 2018, he was included in the juried exhibition, New Texas Talent, at Craighead Green Gallery and was a participating artist in MaricónX, a group show that traveled to multiple cities across the state of Texas. His work has been featured in publications such as the Dallas Morning News and PublicArt magazine among others. Armando Sebastian currently lives and works in Dallas, TX.

The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery is proud to present “SMART - Social Message Art”, a solo exhibition of new paintings by Goldmark artist Tony Strickland.

The exhibition is on display from 20 January 2023 to 24 February 2023, with an opening reception on Saturday, 1/21, from 1-3pm. During the opening reception, Tony Strickland will present an artist talk from 2-3pm in the Norman Brown Gallery.

About the Exhibition

2020 was easily the most tumultuous year of my life, I thought. With the sudden onset of COVID, coupled with all the civil and racial unrest from the George Floyd killing, and the consistent televised killings of unarmed Blacks by White police officers and their constant acquittals, it was obvious White society still fails to see the humanity in African Americans. Combine all of the above factors with the current political climate and the Insurrection at The Capitol in January 2021, and I knew I had to express myself creatively and become a part of the conversation.

However, all of these issues would become secondary and minuscule in my life with the sudden passing of my fiancé, Angela Woods, on June 5, 2022. My life has been forever altered, and all of the grief, memories, and emotional emptiness is reflected in the paintings produced since that date.

This series of paintings addresses all the above issues and is an accurate barometer of today’s political and racial climate. The series and concept is titled “SMART.” This is an acronym for Social Message Art. The paintings also bridge the gap between the disciplines of graphic design and fine art by executing graphic compositions in an expressive painterly style.

-Tony Strickland

Artist Statement

I firmly believe there’s an inner artist in every person, but the difference between the professional, and/or lifetime creative professional and the lay person, is the artist’s ability to face their fears and insecurities and pursue the final vision. This is my life’s purpose and journey. The pursuit of creative freedom, spiritual & intellectual growth, and the unexpected results and truths that are discovered as a result of this process.

-Tony Strickland

The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery is proud to present “2x2: Art in Pairs”, a group exhibition of ceramic works by Dawn Branam, Kathleen Carpenter, Seema Christensen, Barbara Franklin, Rivka Greenspan, Virginia Marsh, Sue Miller-Jochum, Kay Morgan, Susan Sponsler-Carstarphen, Lora Stutts, and Terri Wilder.

The exhibition is on display from 5 December 2022 to 15 January 2023, with an opening reception on Saturday, 12/10, from 1-3pm, and a closing reception on Saturday, 1/14, from 1-3pm.

About the Exhibition

In the world of art, clay is a medium all its own -- at once humble and sophisticated, simple and complex, intuitive and highly skilled.  Ancient as the earth from which it comes, it is also fresh and contemporary. No wonder, then, that a humble incidental experience with the material becomes, for some of us, a serious life pursuit. Working in clay is labor and love. Hands on, hands in, wet and dry, soft and firm. Satisfaction has to be derived from the doing, since the final result will reveal itself only at the end of a long process. 

We are a community of Dallas women from diverse backgrounds examining the relationships and interactions of ceramic artwork presented as “doubles”. Born in South Korea, South Africa, Israel, India and the U.S., we share our stories through ceramic works-- some functional, some sculptural.

“I liked doubles because the eye couldn’t be passive. The viewer had to go from one to the other to see why they were similar and why they were not similar.”                                                         -Viola Frey

In this collective body of work, we explore the dynamics created by sameness and contrast in form, surface, and concept. Our investigation reveals the truth of Frey’s observation.  The sum of the pairs is larger than the individual value of its components.

About the Artists

Dawn Branam was born in Lawton, Oklahoma and earned a Bachelors of Business degree from the University of Houston.  She went on to a successful career first in the field of accounting and later migrated to software and logistics where she is still active.  Also, as a long term Vipassana meditator, Dawn is a deeply involved volunteer at the local meditation center in Kaufman, Texas where she exercises functional design skills in the development of the campus.  Along the path of her life, art has been a constant companion.  From an early age, she worked in ceramics alongside her mother.  Later, she absorbed and experimented through elective course work during business school. Her present work in clay is an exploration of ideas with no functional purpose. 

Kathleen Carpenter hails from Dallas, Texas - but has been kidnapped by her husband and relocated to an undisclosed location in the surrounding suburbs. Her work spans the cute and the craven, the moe and the macabre, but these days she’s taken to painting pets in Victorian dress and molding amorphous monsters out of clay.

Seema Christensen was born in New Delhi, India, and immigrated to Canada and later to the United States.   Seema has a BS in Electrical Engineering with Computer Option degree and worked as a Software Engineer and Oracle Database Administrator in the Virginia/DC area.  Her true passion for clay started in the Fall of 2005 after taking her first ceramics course at a local college in Texas.  Clay was a way to incorporate creativity and problem solving with a tangible outcome.  Her recent ceramic works deals with nature - balance, beauty, serenity, and fragility.  Her experience and travels to other countries allowed her to explore world architectures using clay. Most of her work is wheel thrown using underglaze techniques, and/or hand carving.

Barbara Franklin was born in South Africa and emigrated to London in 1972. She began her ceramics journey in 1976, when she was urged to go to a sculpture class at the Henrietta Barnet School in London, UK. John Brown, an encouraging teacher, put her on the path to create many types of work including abstract sculpture and mediums using stone, wood and clay. Barbara arrived in Dallas in 1989. She attended Brookhaven college to further her artistic studies in ceramics. She considers herself very fortunate to have professors Du Chau and Lisa Ehrich as teachers and mentors. She works out of her studio at Goldmark Cultural Center in Dallas.

Rivka Greenspan, more familiarly Riki, is a native of Jerusalem, Israel. She has lived in the U.S. for more than half her life, andin Dallas since 2003. She took her first ceramic class almost 30 years ago, while an art student at the University of South Carolina, and never stopped. Eventually she earned a BFA at USC, and in 2004, an MA in Ceramics, under the tutelage of Prof. Virginia Scotchie. Since then, she has taken classes and workshops with many wonderful teachers and artists, no one more influential on her artistic development than Du Chau. After the art community at Valley View Mall closed, she was the first artist to establish her studio in the Goldmark Cultural Center. Her work utilizes techniques of hand building and mold making. Riki’s emphasis is on the artistic medium and its creative possibilities, not utility. A strong inspiration in her work is derived from the physical making process. 

Virginia “Ginny” Marsh is known for her bold stoneware and porcelain vessel and sculptural forms set off by colors and textures. Transformed by the fire, they retain marks of the earth from which they are made and of her hands. While raising a family on a small organic farm, she taught at the University of Louisville, worked as Editorial Advisor on ceramics for Chilton Books, gave workshops all over north America, and published numerous magazine articles. Her work has been featured in major pottery books. More recently she taught classes at the Craft Guild of Dallas and worked as Resident Artist at the University of Dallas. She now works in her home studio and fires in a small car kiln in her back yard. A native Texan, she is a member of the Goldmark Cultural Center and the Craft Guild of Dallas.

Sue Miller-Jochum fell in love with pottery in her senior year of college at the University of Louisville.  Virginia Marsh was her instructor and she helped instill in Sue an appreciation of form, color, and function.  As so often happens, life gets in the way of the things we really enjoy. It was not until she was in her forties that she allowed herself to once again enjoy pottery. Her pieces are inspired by a sense of fun and by the movement of the clay. 

Kay Morgan was born in the small central Texas town, Comanche and as a child was always playing in mud. She earned a BFA in crafts at UNT with a concentration in ceramics. After a brief career in advertising, she spent the next 20 years working with another medium, three daughters as a stay-at-home mom. With her family raised, she returned to her addiction-- playing in mud. For the past 20 years she has been perfecting her skills as a member of ceramics classes in several community colleges in the DFW area.

Susan Sponsler-Carstarphen was born in Seoul, South Korea, was adopted at 6 months of age, and grew up on a farm in Iowa. She earned a BA in Advertising Design at Iowa State University, and an MFA in photography at Texas Woman’s University. Her work explores issues related to identity and being an Asian American international adoptee and consists of photo-based artworks which include ceramics, cyanotype images on fabric, encaustic paintings, installation, mixed media images and quilts. Her work has been shown in Seoul, South Korea; Panama City, Panama; Los Angeles, New York City and Chicago. Her work is included in numerous publications, most notably in “Convergent Conversations” by Margo Machida in Blackwell’s Journal: A companion to Asian art and architecture. She works in her studio at the Goldmark Cultural Center in Dallas.

Lora Stutts, a native Texan, holds an MFA from the University of North Texas. She worked at the North Carolina Arts Council and taught at Barton College. She lives in Texas and recently returned to an old passion: working in clay.

For 30 years Terri Wilder’s passion for art had to fit into the busy work and travel schedule of a Delta Air Lines flight attendant. When she retired in 2012, Terrifinally was free to give ceramics her full attention, later earning an MFA from the University of Dallas in 2019.  Her years of travel impact her work greatly. References to cultures from many lands are a natural part of her expression. Having had the privilege to experience the beauty and diversity the world offers, she wants to share those discoveries through her art.

The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery is proud to present “Refuge | Refuse”, an exhibition of environmentally themed, mixed media landscape paintings by Matthew Jones.

The exhibition is on display in the Brown Gallery from 28 October 2022 to 25 November 2022, with an exhibition reception on Saturday, 11/12 from 1 - 3pm during the November Art Walk at the Goldmark Cultural Center.

About the Exhibition

Painting is a way of expressing a connection to the land that was fostered in me at childhood. I grew up in an old forest in central Ohio, and though I now spend my days in urban centers I have never forgotten my roots. I want viewers to become immersed in my landscapes, but I do not just celebrate the land. Debris and discarded plastics litter my compositions. The work forms a tension in the viewer between the joy of exploring new lands and the revulsion of discovering the pollutants that are so often just off the trail.

My watercolors are created through a casting process. Beginning with a wax slab, I carve a negative of what I intend the finished project to be. That void is then filled with recycled paper pulp. When possible I try to mix paper refuse recovered from the sites I visit into the pulp; this adds a level of site specificity to the process. Once complete I have a low relief paper support to paint on, granting my watercolors a level of dimension and impasto that is on par with my encaustics.

Though I recover paper when I can for my casting process plastics are a larger concern of mine. They feature prominently in my work because only 9 percent of our plastics get recycled. The rest end up incinerated, wasting space in landfills, or in the water system where they break up into microplastic bits to poison marine life. Globally, 8 million tons of plastic enter the environment per year. Local activist groups like to challenge people to pick up 10 pieces a week. I encourage everyone to try to meet that challenge as well.

- Matthew Jones

About the Artist

Matthew Jones is an avid traveler and nature enthusiast who wants to share his adventures with the wider world through his art. His mediums of choice are watercolor and encaustic, but he uses casein and oil frequently as well. Matthew Jones received his MA in 2016 and his MFA from the University of Dallas in 2018. He is currently an Adjunct Professor for Tarrant County College - Southeast. His paintings have been exhibited nationally but notable local institutions include: Beaudry Gallery and Framing, The Irving Arts Center, The Oak Cliff Cultural Center, Umbrella Gallery, McKinney Performing Arts Center, Art 7 Gallery, Beatrice M. Haggerty Gallery, and now The Goldmark Cultural Center.

The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery is proud to present “Past is Present”, a solo exhibition of installation and video work by Michelle Cortez Gonzales.

“Past is Present” is on display in the Norman Brown Gallery from 16 September 2022 to 14 October 2022, with a closing reception on Saturday, 8 October 2022, from 1.00 - 3.00pm.

About the Exhibition

“Past is Present” is an exhibition of installation and video work that focuses on familial ties, identity and domestic labor through the effects of assimilation within my Mexican American family. I am strongly influenced by people in my life who share cultural experiences through hard work, hand-making, and objects. Simultaneously, I recognize a legacy of silence and trauma that has trickled down and informed the duality of connection and conflict between my past and present.

Found fabric and domestic craft processes are an essential feature in my practice, as they too can become lost histories. Ten small works made up of fabric scraps, drawings, and old photographs of family members are displayed along the wall and secured with vinyl tablecloth and gold embroidery. Each piece acts as a relic of memory, preserving the actions of love that draw me back to my family and my culture.

The 8-minute looped video is inspired by my grandmother, who was a strong but silent woman. She spent nights working hard for others and days carrying out household tasks for her family. I imagined the discrimination she faced that forced her to choose English over Spanish, and actions over words as methods of survival. I am depicted hanging wet sheets with hand embroidered Spanish words onto a clothesline. Sounds of cicadas and thunder rolling in the distance are heard throughout. The words Orgullo (pride), Familia (family), Lengua (language), Historia (history), Tradicion (tradition), and Yo (me) are literally left hanging in the elements of rain and wind. With each fabric hung, a shadow is created between me and my grandmother; as a mother, a woman, a laborer, and descendant of my Mexican American family.

The act of conjuring memories and connecting to the past becomes an important meditative exercise that allows me to link to my ancestors and aid in my healing journey. This exhibition is meant to evoke memories of one’s own past and speak to our interconnectedness of fragmented identities.

-Michelle Cortez Gonzales

About the Artist

Michelle Cortez Gonzales is a mixed media painter and installation artist. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from the University of Texas at Arlington, and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Dallas. She carries an extensive record of solo, juried, and group exhibitions across galleries in the DFW area. She was featured in Visit Fort Worth’s 2021 series of “Women Worth Meeting," and has been awarded residencies from Cuttyhunk Island Artist Residency, Massachusetts (2021), and with the Amon Carter Museum of American Art as a 2021 Community Artist. Her work has been written about in publications including the Dallas Morning News, Glasstire and Maake Magazine.

The Goldmark Cultural Center’s Norman Brown Gallery is proud to present Under the Surface, a solo exhibition of new works by Nan Martin. The exhibition features a collection of cement and wire figure sculptures that address a common theme of the vulnerabilities of the human experience.

Under the Surface will be on display in the Norman Brown Gallery from 5 August 2022 to 2 September 2022, with a reception on Saturday, 13 August 2022, from 12 - 5pm during the Goldmark Cultural Center’s Summer Art Walk.

About the Artist
Nan Martin is a sculptor who primarily works in wire, steel, cement, and whatever else strikes her fancy. Her early creative influences came from a French mother who was a painter and her Parisian grandmother who was a clothing designer and dress maker in 1950s Hollywood and 1960s San Francisco where she grew up.

Creating wire figures had its roots in the mid-1990s after she was encouraged to take a sculpture class while struggling with a family tragedy. A sculpture professor had a powerful influence in her emotional healing through art and introduced her to the wire and steel she uses today.

After earning an M.A. degree in sculpture, her early work was in ceramics which focused on faces and the human form. This work led to an invitation to appear on the HGTV program "Modern Masters as a featured artist.

Nan makes silicon molds from ceramic body parts which are cast in cement and integrated with wire and steel.