As Spring Fades Into Summer Now is the Time to Remember: “This is Temporary”

As Spring Fades Into Summer Now Is The Time to Remember – All Things Are Temporary

Art exhibits are nothing new to the Eastern Sierra but here are a couple worth paying heed to this season.

Spring has sprung across the Eastern Sierra as every foot of elevation gain and minute of sunshine brings new and exciting wonders blooming all around.

Whether you’re going for a hike or tilling your garden the changes are everywhere and what a season it’s been already.

Snow is clear up to about 10,000 feet on almost any trail you follow and Home Street Garden Center, High Country Lumber, or Grocery Outlet are a few of the places you can go to ensure your harvest will be plentiful this year so don’t hesitate to put that green thumb to the test.

In town, Teresia Knight opened the Wild Free Spirit Art Gallery at 206 N Main Street in early May in order to showcase her incredibly unique acrylic art style. She forgoes the use of brushes in favor of metal tools in order to create more depth and texture to all that she brings to life in her work.

From local sights and scenes to visions of meditative and spiritual purpose, her gallery is sure to excite you.

She also does live paintings on Friday nights for anyone who is interested in experiencing the process of her work.

Though, to be sure, May had no shortage of exciting events and June is looking to impress.

But as the seasons shift, now is as good a time as ever to remember…

“The only lasting truth is change.” – Octavia E. Butler.

The Project Room, at 186A Willow Street, was co-founded by Bruce and Karen Licher and has hosted numerous art exhibitions over the years.

This year they’ve partnered with Jane V Hsu and Jenny Kane, longtime neighbors here in Bishop, to give voice to artists who want to push past the boundaries of our part of the world’s beloved—and maybe worthy of alternative expression—theme of landscape photography and artwork.

“This is Temporary” runs through June 28th, with a closing reception from 5:30-8:30pm, and showcases a number of artists seeking to express the truth that many of us sometimes don’t like to accept: that this too shall pass.

Featuring work from artists like Kali McKeown, Lori Michelin, Rodney Thompson, Steve White, and Zoe Wood, and many others, there is no shortage of expression.

Sage Romero performed an incredible expression of faith and heritage through dance at the opening of the exhibit as well as a persistent display of animation about the history and enduring strength of Indigenous people at the studio.

Performing live poetry of both of his own work and others who echoed, and I’m sure inspired, his voice was J. Martin Dean.

As he sat on Willow Street in a black shirt, black jeans, iconic black boots, and wrapped in a flannel blanket, everyone was immediately drawn in by his presence. A combination of cracking jokes and giving voice to the delicate nature of life and all it allows us to experience, he never missed a beat.

Truly, a wonderful and refreshing talent to behold.

There was also Squally The Trolley (@squallythetrolley on Instagram) parked nearby for people to hang out and chat. A wonderfully maintained and storied old trolley that has a character of its own. It is owned, treasured, and elevated by Erik Howes (@mister.dirt on Instagram).

In a more private and sequestered format was Bao Quoc Doan’s Bishop Tea Club offering “Ephemeral Steeps” in a small room surrounding its guests with projections of landscapes familiar in a myriad of ways but maybe shown through new perspectives.

To bring the evening to a close was Karen Atkinson of Lone Pine, there with a small scale recreation of the GLOWbal exhibit she created for the Santa Monica GLOW Festival in which “Audience members interacted with the work with using their bodies as shadows, or writing on the screen with [flashlights].”

This creates a natural, not digital, effect that uses photosensitive paint to allow for quick flashes of images over people in front of the canvas to remain as shadows for a brief period.

In the early 1990’s she also added numerous verses to the historic “First They Came” poem by Martin Niemöller, a Lutheran pastor who opposed the Nazi regime, as displayed on her projection screen.

There are not enough words in my vocabulary that could give proper credit to the work of all artists involved but as sure as the sun sets, this is one spot of brilliance you simply do not want to miss.

For more about “This is Temporary,” click here.

MGraham