Organized by the Grace Hudson Museum, this show explores the art and friendships linking three artists over 35 years. Grace Carpenter and Edward Espey, were students together at art school in San Francisco and romantically intertwined. Later, Espey moved to Portland, Oregon, and established himself as a landscape painter. In Portland, he developed a friendship with Grafton Taylor Brown, another landscape painter and the first significant African American artist on the West Coast. Brown had also spent time in San Francisco, as an artist and as a successful lithographer..
The exhibition was curated by Karen Holmes, Curator of Exhibitions and Carpenter Family Historian at the Grace Hudson Museum, and Mark Humpal, owner of Mark Humpal Fine Art, Portland, Oregon and an Espey scholar, with assistance from Robert Chandler, a collector/historian/writer in the Bay Area who is an authority on Brown. The art work in the show comes from the Grace Hudson Museum collections, as well as loans from Mark Humpal Fine Art, the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, and various private collectors.
Artful Liaisons is made possible by the generosity of Ivy Kanoeaulani Richardson, the Thornhill Family Foundation, and the Sun House Guild.
Click on the following links for articles about the exhibition:
Santa Rosa Press-Democrat — December 9, 2018
Ukiah Daily Journal — October 22, 2018
Artful Liaisons Programs:
October 19 from 5:00 to 8:00 PM — Members-Only Preview
Active members are invited to celebrate the opening of Artful Liaisons. The Gift Shop will be open and Members receive a one-night 20% discount on purchases. Welcome and brief remarks at 6:00 PM. Refreshments will be served.
October 27 at 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM — Curator Tour of Artful Liaisons. Join Karen Holmes, exhibition curator, for one of two exclusive tours of Artful Liaisons. Each tour limited to 20 people. Make your reservations at (707) 467-2836 or at info@gracehudsonmuseum.org. Free with Museum admission.
Saturday, January 26, 2:00 PM — The Making of Artful Liaisons. Learn about the artists of Artful Liaisons and how the exhibition came together in this panel discussion featuring exhibit curators Karen Holmes (Grace Hudson Museum) and Mark Humpal (Mark Humpal Fine Art). With Robert Chandler (historian and Grafton Tyler Brown authority). Moderated by David Burton, GHM director. Book signings to follow. Free with Museum admission.
Saturday, February 2 to Sunday February 3 — Ukiah High Art Exhibition. Come discover the next Carpenter, Espey, and Brown when the Museum hosts a pop-up exhibition featuring paintings by the current class of advanced art students at Ukiah High School. Under the direction of Ukiah High art instructor Rose Easterbrook, the show will focus on landscapes. Pop-up exhibition free both days, donations welcome.
Wednesday, February 13, 6:00 PM — Poetry of Love, Friendship, and Creativity. Poets Armand Brint, Judy Halebsky, and Theresa Whitehill explore the emotions and passions found in Artful Liaisons, through individual and collaborative readings of their own work and the poems of others. Free; donations welcome.