EXHIBITS ROUNDUP: Exploring the world from the gallery wall

click to enlarge EXHIBITS ROUNDUP: Exploring the world from the gallery wall
August Frank/Inland 360
Jill Kyong talks about her piece “The Ascension” made of acrylic on panel, maple and poplar Monday at the Lewis-Clark State College Center for Arts & History in Lewiston.

Winter weather can force even the most intrepid nature appreciator indoors after a while, but there’s plenty to explore in the great indoors. Here’s a sampling of what’s available locally in the delightfully indoor realm of art galleries:


A Moscow artist’s reflections on gun violence, political division and the peace afforded by nature are among the works on display at Lewis-Clark State College’s Center for Arts & History, 415 Main St. in Lewiston.

The exhibition “Jill Kyong: But Where I am Now,” continues through March 8 in the second floor galleries, with an opening reception slated for 4-6 p.m. Feb. 2 and a talk by Kyong from 9-10:15 a.m. Feb. 15.

The collection, primarily constructed from wood, includes several pieces containing smooth wooden “stones” that can be repositioned by the viewer. Kyong arranged the stones so they’
click to enlarge EXHIBITS ROUNDUP: Exploring the world from the gallery wall
August Frank/Inland 360
Kyong’s piece “The Tree that Binds” made of acrylic on birch, alder and poplar branch is pictured at the Lewis-Clark State College Center for Arts and History in Lewiston.
re touching each other in “Under the Same Sun (for Uvalde),” created in the wake of the Texas school shooting in which 19 students and two teachers died. That element of closeness represents how “we’re all connected,” she said.

She expects viewers will see other narratives in her artwork, she said, and have different ideas about where the stones belong.

“I always think it’s interesting to see what other people get pulled toward,” she said.

Kyong, who was born in South Korea and adopted by a family in northern Minnesota, moved to Moscow in 2018. Her work, including the current exhibit, is influenced by the beauty of the Pacific Northwest, she said.

That includes using mathematical proportions found in nature to create balance in the pieces and sometimes incorporating found objects, like a stick she found on a hike that anchors a work inspired by lichen.

The center’s regular gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays; and noon to 4 p.m. on select Saturdays. It’s also open by appointment.

More information about Kyong’s exhibit is at lcsc.edu/cah. All the pieces are available for sale through the artist, who can be contacted through her website at jillkyong.com.

Center for Arts & History visitors can catch the last days of another exhibit, “Timber Culture,” on display through Saturday on the main floor. It’s a traveling exhibit about the cultural heritage of multicultural logging communities, on loan from the Maxville Heritage Interactive Center in Maxville, Ore.

The exhibition “Honest Portrayal” at the Third Street Gallery inside Moscow City Ha
click to enlarge EXHIBITS ROUNDUP: Exploring the world from the gallery wall
Jason Oliveria's "Made For" is one of the portraits by more than 50 artists on display at Moscow's Third Street Gallery.
ll, 206 E. Third St., includes works by more than 50 artists from the Palouse region.

Community members were invited to submit artwork that “explores the possibilities of portraiture,” and Megan Cherry, arts manager for the city of Moscow, said local artists came through in a big way.

“As a collective group, they created such a great show,” Cherry said. “It always renews my faith in Moscow’s artists when I see how excited people are about these shows, and I just love that.”

The exhibit “presents portraits with a wide range of fidelity to the visible world,” according to a Moscow Arts Commission news release. “While open to artworks that achieve a likeness of form, the exhibition also includes artworks that convey a true likeness of spirit.”

“Honest Portrayal” can be viewed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday through April 5.

More information about the Third Street Gallery is at www.ci.moscow.id.us/230/Third-Street-Gallery.

click to enlarge EXHIBITS ROUNDUP: Exploring the world from the gallery wall
Nancy Bowman's "Stuck in the Middle" is on display at the Third Street Gallery.

Other exhibitions on display in the region include two shows at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art Washington State University,1535 NE Wilson Road, Pullman. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and closed for university holidays and breaks. More information is at museum.wsu.edu/exhibit.

“Jeffrey Gibson: They Teach Love,” through March 9, is a multimedia show of work by Gibson, an artist who “synthesizes the cultural and artistic traditions of his Cherokee and Choctaw heritage with the visual languages of Modernism and themes from contemporary popular and queer culture.”

“Here in a Homemade Forest,” through March 2, is inspired by WSU’s 2023-24 common reading book, “Braiding Sweetgrass,” by Robin Wall Kimmerer.

And Valley Art Center’s annual Black and White Show continues through Feb. 1 at 842 Sixth St. in Clarkston. The monochromatic and black and white artworks in a variety of media can be viewed at the gallery 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday.

More exhibits and other arts events are in the calendar.