Young Arts Ambassadors bring spring to Orinda Art gallery
Scarlett Harmssen is a fourth grade artist at Sleepy Hollow Elementary School in Orinda. The blossoms in her painting “Bouquet” are a feast of springtime blooms on display in the Arts Ambassadors exhibit at the Art Gallery in the Orinda Library.
Orinda Library Art Gallery: Arts Ambassadors Exhibit Harkens Springtime
The Lamorinda Arts Council (LAC) welcomes artwork from Orinda elementary and middle school student artists to the Art Gallery at the Orinda Library from April 8 to April 30.
The public is invited to a reception on April 17 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. that will include the Orinda Intermediate School Jazz Band performing on the terrace from 4:30 to 5 p.m. and a choral performance in the Library Auditorium from 5 to 5:30 p.m.
Del Rey, Glorietta, Sleepy Hollow and Wagner Ranch elementary school student artists are participating, as well as students from Orinda Intermediate School. Janet Robinson, organizer of the event, said, “Parents and students are looking forward to the showcase of arts and music at the Arts Ambassadors reception.”
Robinson, also an educator from Sleepy Hollow, acknowledges the following OUSD educators for their contributions to making the event possible: from Wagner and Del Rey, Belinda Adams-Walker; from Glorietta, Tim Christenson; and from Orinda Intermediate School, Sean Ferguson, Greg Mazmanian, David Morritt and Leslie Millstone.
At press time, the following music educators involved in the show include Christina Holling, Ron Pickett and Lizzy Asarnow.
Executive Director Emily Allen of Orinda Network for Education said every attending student artist receives a Lamorinda Arts Council Arts Ambassadors ribbon. Ali Kozoll and Tracy Wellons of the LAC, along with curators Maggie Boscoe and Pam Stefl Toki, were instrumental in organizing and funding the exhibit and event.
Visit the Gallery at 26 Orinda Way, Mon. – Thu., 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Fri. – Sat., 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. and April 23. Call 925.254.2184 for more library information or visit ccclib.org/. Email gallery@lamorindaart.org for more information or questions, visit lamorindaarts.org/galleries-2 or call 925.359.4490.
The saturated colors of Yusuf Ssali’s composition in this 58” x 42” acrylic on canvas painting complement the calligraphic marks of cultural notes stirring in the pathos of ancient voices. “You Took Me to the Edge of Love” calls forth these voices. Visit this debut exhibit in the Virtual Art Gallery at Wilder, https://lamorindaarts.org/online-galleries/.
Wilder Virtual Art Gallery Reopens
The Lamorinda Arts Council is pleased to announce the Virtual Art Gallery’s reopening at Wilder, featuring Ugandan artist Yusuf Ssali. His abstract work concentrates on the balance between intention and instinct, incorporating organic and found objects that seem to leap off the canvas in brilliant colors.
As a young artist from Kampala, Ssali painted native animals in plein air. When he traveled outside of Uganda, he discovered that unlike the circular, radiating communities of his homeland, western cities are linear and square, connected through the colors and lights that emanate through thousands of windows after dark.
He earned an MFA in industrial fine arts and design at Makerere University in Kampala. He has exhibited in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, France, Belgium, Holland, New York, Boston, Seattle and the Bay Area, where he has lived since 2017.
“I gravitate towards abstraction to create visual language that transcends cultural boundaries,” said Ssali.
Ssali is a member of the Uganda Consortium, where artists tithe 50% of their sales to support the Namungoona Children’s Art Center and the Mulago Hospital Art Therapy Program. View his art on Instagram @Yusufssali79.
Visit the Virtual Art Gallery at Wilder online at lamorindaarts.org/online-galleries. For information visit lamorindaarts.org/galleries-2, email info@LamorindaArts.org or call 925.359.9940.
