Past Exhibitions 2024

Exhibition Statement

“Let’s Paint Music” brings the sights and sounds of music to the canvas.  These five paintings from my recent “Name that Tune” series feature visualizations of well-known tunes, songs, and even classical music. The works bring to life puns, plays on words, and homophones. Viewers are encouraged to hum or sing along (but maybe not out loud in the Library). 

Artist Biography

Ellen Reintjes' artistic journey has been shaped by a lifetime of visualization, beginning with her early years when drawing and painting were her primary activities. Throughout her life, she has seamlessly integrated her visual hobbies, including birdwatching, natural history, travel, art, photography, and computer graphics. Her professional background in city planning and business has enabled her to collaborate closely with design professionals, further enriching her creative perspective. For the past 15 years, Reintjes has actively reconnected with her artistic roots, painting under the mentorship of Marcy Wheeler, while indulging her passion as a museophile—visiting, studying, and enjoying art in various forms.

Since 2012, Reintjes has coordinated the Wonders of the World (WOW) Museum Lecture Series, bringing esteemed speakers from Northern California art museums to the Lafayette Library and Learning Center. This series, sponsored by the Friends of the Lafayette Library, has featured prominent institutions such as the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Asian Art Museum, the Berkeley Art Museum, St. Mary’s College Art Museum, and the Contemporary Jewish Museum. Reintjes is also a proud member of the Bay Area Studio Artists, a group of women artists who have been painting and exhibiting together for over 15 years, and the Lamorinda Arts Alliance.

Reintjes’ work has been recognized in several juried shows, including the 2023 deYoung Open. She has held solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group exhibitions at the Lafayette Library and Learning Center, the Orinda Library, the Town Hall Theater, the Aspen Surgery Center at John Muir Hospital, and the Main Street Arts Gallery in Martinez. Her work has also been featured in community spaces like Orinda Books and the CVS building in Orinda, where her mural "It’s in Our Nature" has been displayed since 2021.

Exhibition Statement

Started by local Bay Area moms after the Uvalde tragedy, the Morning Bell Project seeks to raise awareness around keeping schools safe from gun violence. The Project’s name is evocative of a school bell, a new day, a call to action, and in its use of the word “morning,” reminds us of “mourning” in the wake of Uvalde.  Earlier this year, thanks to our dedicated quilters, the Project completed two large community quilts that showcase drawings and messages from kids and adults about why school safety is so critical.  As quilts have historically symbolized unity, protection, and safety, they felt appropriate for this endeavor.  One quilt is on display here.  The other, which is comprised of squares from students of a local, Title I school, has been on display at libraries and other public spaces in Oakland.  Drawings that appear on that quilt can be seen at this exhibition.  The Project gained support from community members, state and federal elected officials, Giffords, Moms Demand Action, local businesses, schools (including a Title I school in Oakland), and religious institutions.  Our effort also raised nearly $3,000, which was donated to Giffords and the Sandy Hook Foundation to help with legal and policy initiatives.  While the Project has no political agenda, its hope is that the quilts remind lawmakers, parents, school leaders, and other community members that we cannot shift focus from keeping students, teachers, and school administrators and staff safe.  

Organizers

Kim Robinson

Kim is a Lafayette mom of two incredible elementary-aged kids.  As a parent, attorney, longtime education advocate, and former teacher, she felt a need to do something to support educational communities in the wake of the Uvalde massacre.  She is grateful for support from her collaborators, her family, the community, and the Lafayette Arts Commission.    

Samantha Fryer

Samantha is a Bay Area mother, crafter, and healthcare executive.  Samantha ran Diablo Actors Ensemble, a theatre company in Walnut Creek for 10+ years with her dad.  She is passionate about ending gun violence in support of safer schools and communities for our children's futures.  She spends her days working in Behavioral Healthcare supporting families impacted by intellectual & developmental disabilities and spends her evenings and weekends sewing and crafting while enjoying as much time as possible with her husband, Andrew, and children, Benjamin and Caleb. 

Kim Farnham-Flom

Kim Farnham-Flom has been working with Title I schools in Oakland for over 10 years.  She continues to appreciate and learn from the school communities as they navigate through issues surrounding gun violence, food and housing insecurity while educating and caring for our community's children.  

Ann Adams

Ann is a retired CPA who balanced herself by sewing and quilting since she was six years old.  Her love of Halloween costumes warped into a love for the creativity of quilting.  She spent 11 years spearheading the quilt project at her three kids’(Stephanie, Greg and Andy) school raising thousands of dollars for the school. Ann lives in Southwest Washington State with her husband and two pups where she sews toys and quilts for her four adorable grandchildren: Benjamin, Ryder, Cadence and Caleb.

Quiltlove

Quiltlove donated administrative, operational, and financial support to the Project during its fundraising phase.  Quiltlove is a Moraga-based, woman-owned business that makes community quilts for individuals facing difficult diagnoses, celebrating special milestones and going through other life events.  For more information: https://givequiltlove.com/our-story/

Exhibition Statement

My exhibition the “Spirits of Babylon” is my take on the humanistic and sociological aspects of the Covid lockdowns. The paintings give an expanded view of the human condition — our profound need to communicate and to have deep emotional and physical connections.

All that was laid bare by the fact that we had to wear masks and undergo the oxymoronic requirement to be “socially distant.” We suddenly lived in a world where it was very difficult to understand literally what we were saying to each other while wearing masks and standing far apart.

So many conflicts throughout history have been caused by miscommunication that can lead to interpersonal or even national disagreements.

And during the shutdowns hundreds of millions of us were physically separated from friends and loved ones, undercutting what is one of the more important aspects of being emotionally and psychologically healthy. That’s why the characters have a physical barrier they are trying to overcome with the lightning bolts that shoot out of their hands.

In “Let Us Go Then You And I,” we see a surrealistic staircase with an energy flow above it that almost, but not quite, unites the characters adorned with spiritual robes.

Surrealism has had a big impact on my work as exemplified by “Featuring Anaximander and the Mystery Achievements,” which takes its cue from the ancient Greek philosopher Anaximander and harkens back to early Earth as humans were trying to build civilizations. That’s where the Babylon in the exhibit’s title comes from.

In “The End of Forever,” we find the Babylon spirits standing on rocks in the ocean, meant to connote time immemorial, and their lightning bolts take on an ethereal element with the giant fireball.

Artist Biography

My art is an extension of my focus on the spiritual and metaphysical aspects of life. Though deeply spiritual in nature, I also have a fondness for satirical subjects that underscore my view of the nature of human existence that often is a form of divine comedy.

A former touring musician, I am a huge fan of contemporary hard rock because so many songs in this genre are highly motivational. I often name my paintings or inscribe them with song titles or quotations from meaningful lyrics that reflect my belief in always moving forward no matter what life throws your way.

What started as a job in high school and college selling and custom mixing house paint has become an artistic achievement. My color story is unique and is a source of enthusiasm for collectors who admire how deeply saturated my canvases are. To give the works a 3D look, I usually paint the sides and then finish the acrylic canvases with a bold, high-gloss varnish for an extra vibrant look that is a signature part of my art practice.