Works from the Whitewater Artists Guild is on display now through September 17 in The Gallery at Indiana University East. The Gallery, located in Whitewater Hall, is free and open to the public.

A reception will be held for the artists at 7 p.m. on September 8. Visitors are welcome to view the exhibit during gallery hours, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

The Whitewater Artists Guild began as a small group of professional artists who met at a party and started talking “art.” The conversations were so positive that they decided to meet regularly for the purpose of resource sharing, exchanging ideas, sharing techniques, critiquing, and supporting each others efforts. Today this has become the Whitewater Artists Guild.

Artists with works on exhibit include India Cruse-Griffin, painting; Marcus Davis, ceramics; Terry Hreno, painting; Julia Jensen, digital images; Ashlee Kirby, metalsmith; Diane Lebo, ceramics; Clara Whitman Parrett, ceramics; Palline Plum, drawing, photography; Carvin Rinehart, painting, ceramics; Dan Sims, stained glass; Susanna Tanner, photography; and Michele Walker, digital images.

“The arts are the soul of society. The values of a culture are best reflected in its arts.  A good work of art should express not only something about the subject, but also about the artist’s feelings and passions for the subject,” said Hreno.

Marcus Davis is a graduate of Earlham College where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Art. He studied under master potter Michael Thiedeman and in Cornwall, U.K at Wenford Bridge Pottery under Seth Cardew, son of internationally known master potter, Michael Cardew.

Julia Jensen majored in English and minored in history at Indiana University, specializing in the literatures and cultures of Medieval Europe.

“I’ve always harbored a profound mistrust of rigidity, so the ever-mutable nature of digital art suits me better than any other medium. At the same time, extensive reflection seasoned with irreverence and humor informs my work more than anything else,” Jensen said.

Palline Plum is a sculptor, poet and photographer. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Michigan and a Master of Fine Arts from Queens College in New York City.  She studied abroad at the State Graphic Institute in Vienna, Austria and the Sculpture School of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Art in Copenhagen, Denmark. She has a long showing record as a visual artist in this country and abroad and has work represented in collections of art critics and other artists. Plum has had visual work reviewed in Art in America, Art News Magazine and the New York Times. She has had poems published in a variety of journals and anthologies.

Carvin Rinehart is a graduate of IU East, Earlham College and the Herron School of Art in Indianapolis, where he majored in Visual Communication and minored in photography and art history.  He has had several solo shows and has won awards at many juried competitions. He helped found the Whitewater Artists Guild after hearing other artists expressing their need for a support group that focuses on the business side of art.

Rinehart works in three major areas of art and design – graphic images for commercial use, art photography and painting – though often their boundaries are blurred.

Dan Sims graduated from Earlham College and went on to earn his master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Botany at the University of California, Davis. Since then Sims has worked as a post-doctoral research associate in diverse areas of the country.

He moved back to Richmond in 2003 to care for his parents and found a group of like minded local artists in the Whitewater Artists Guild.

India Cruse Griffin is a life-long resident of Wayne County and an active member of the community. Cruse-Griffin graduated from Richmond High School and earned a Bachelor of Science Art Education at Ball State University. She has work in most regional public permanent collections and continues to receive numerous awards and honors for her work.  Her paintings are often part of local and national exhibitions.

Clara G. Whitman Parrett first studied ceramics at Earlham College under Steve Mickey and apprenticed with Scott Schafer of Centerville. Parrett said her interest in clay began as a child in East Lansing, Mich. “To this day, I like this kind of immediacy and hands-on approach when working with clay.  There is something in the work and exploration of technique, which engages my imagination and technological bent,” Parrett said.  “Clay forms, glazes and firing techniques, intrigue me.  There is a marvelous range of expression and history of clay.  Clay and our work with clay have such an immense and largely unspoken part of our human and geological history.  These expressions and history engage me, evoke my curiosity, and draw me to explore.”

Diane Lebo started very early to attempt to imitate her uncle, Ray Stevens, an artist and musician, who would draw cartoons to entertain her as a child. She began working in oils in high school in Winamac, Ind. As an adult, Lebo studied with Josephine Kimmell in Kendallville, Ind. Elmira Kempton, Esther Nussbaum and Betty Muhl, in Richmond. Today, she works in clay and has studied with Carolyn Sorrell and Mariella Owens.

Michele Walker earned a Bachelor in Fine Arts degree from Ball State University. She specialized in Graphic Design because it allowed her to earn a living by blending her love of technology, visual communication and creativity. In 1999, Walker left a management position in Indianapolis in order to pursue a more fulfilling way of life. She returned to Richmond in 2003 and is teaching computer graphics and working with start-up companies, not-for-profits and small local businesses.

Terry Hreno is a resident of Connersville, Ind., and a retired art teacher whose current interests include watercolor, acrylic and oil painting.  His subject matter often includes railroad and historical material. Terry has a Bachelor of Science from Ball State University and a Master of Science from Indiana University in art education. He has also studied ceramics at the University of Indianapolis.  He exhibits regionally and has won numerous awards.  He also offers classes in paintings and is available as a speaker.

Hreno’s interests also turn to more common subjects. Many of his railroad paintings are of older subjects, which have seen better days. He particularly enjoys finding the special charm and magic in ordinary homes and older buildings.

Susanna Tanner received her Bachelor of Arts degree, with an emphasis on television studio production and photojournalism, from Indiana University. She worked as a photographer for television newsrooms in Indianapolis, Kansas City, and Lexington before switching her artistic endeavors to digital photography. She has participated in group exhibitions in the local area as well as various art auctions for local businesses.

She is a graphic designer in the Office of Communications and Marketing at IU East and a member of University and College Designers Association (UCDA), Whitewater Valley Artists Consortium and former member of National Press Photographers Association.

Tanner received an Individual Artists’ Grant through the Indiana Arts Commission in 2005 and 2009.  Tanner was invited to exhibit her work during the Indiana Governor’s Art Awards held in Muncie in 2009.

For more information, call Ed Thornburg, gallery curator, at (765) 973-8605. The complete biographies for the Whitewater Artists Consortium is available online at iue.edu/gallery.