Contemporary Ugandan Art on Display in Orinda
Ugandan artist Yusuf Ssali, now living in Walnut Creek, is exhibiting “The Summer Times,” a 45” x 57” mixed media on canvas. It is part of The Kisa Foundation USA’s exhibit featuring 2D Ugandan artwork in the Art Gallery at the Orinda Library in October.
As the trees change color and fall’s crisp air whirls around us, intriguing images from far away greet visitors in the Art Gallery at the Orinda Library. One hundred pieces of art from Uganda – a mere 9,300 miles away – are on display Oct. 3 to 30. Look for acrylics and oils on canvas, mixed media and artwork on handmade paper, all with an African feel.
Tom Herriman of Richmond, organizer of the exhibit, is the founder and Board Chair of The Kisa Foundation USA (Kisa) and Yusuf Ssali is Executive Director (KisaFoundation.org). Kisa relies on the Uganda Art Consortium (ugandart.com) to fund programs and carry out volunteer activities in Uganda. Participating artist members include Paul Kaspa Kasembeko, Hassan Mukiibi, Carol Nakazitoi, Yusuf Ssali and Mathias Tusiime.
Lamorinda Arts Council invites you to meet Herriman and Ssali in the gallery while enjoying light bites on Oct. 10 from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
“This exhibit has artwork from some of the finest artists in Africa,” said Herriman. “Half the proceeds from art sales go to the Namungoona Children’s Art Center in Kampala, Uganda (Center). These funds contribute to educational programs, college scholarships, job training and art therapy in HIV-AIDS hospitals.”
Since its opening in 2015, the Center has served 5,000 children.
Featured artist Ssali, an internationally known Ugandan artist now living in Walnut Creek, has exhibited in Europe and Africa as well as in New York, Boston, San Francisco, Oakland and Point Richmond. He is a graduate of Makerere University Art and Design School in Kampala, and is a single dad of three children ages four, seven and 16.
Nakazitoi was 16 years old when she painted “Green Skirt,” her 51- x 34-inch acrylic and fabric on canvas mixed media, and was a student at the Center since she was eight.
Kasembeko is a full-time artist whose work has been shown widely in Africa, Europe and the U.S. He is on the teaching staff at the Center and several student works are included in the show.
Tusiime, a self-taught artist, makes his own paper from grass, sugar cane and corn husks as a medium for his paintings. Not only did he receive an Apex Art fellowship in NYC in 2014, but he served as visiting artist at the University of Florida, Center for Arts in Medicine in 2018.
The Center unites artists, scholars and healthcare professionals to push boundaries to show how creativity transforms lives.
Visit the Gallery to view artwork from Saturday Oct. 3 to Friday Oct. 30 at 26 Orinda Way. Hours are Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; closed Sundays. Call 925.254.2184 for more Library information or visit ccclib.org/. For questions about the exhibit or more information, call 925.359.4490, email gallery@LamorindaArts.org, or visit LamorindaArts.org/galleries-2.
Art to Take Your Breath Away
“High Pile: Concepts in Tufting”: 20 contemporary artists who use tufting as a highly physical, structural and tactile language to convey deep cultural narratives. Through Dec. 13, at 1602 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek, bedfordgallery.org/.
Johansson Projects: Woman-owned gallery as a curatorial laboratory pairing established artists with emerging local artists, at 2300 Telegraph, Berkeley. Open Thu-Fri-Sat from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., visit johanssonprojects.com.
“Reflection”: Lamorinda Arts Alliance members whose central artistic voice relates to reflection display work through Oct. 30 at The aRt Cottage, at 2238 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Concord artscottage.blogspot.com.
