21st Century Regionalists: the Art of the Next West September 20, 2010

Regionalism - a popular mid-20th century art movement underscoring how region influences identity - has been declared dead. Likewise Western art, though thriving in popularity has often thought to be a static genre; new art had to mimic the old in order be accepted. But in the new millennium, the definition of Western art has been examined, contested and expanded beyond its once-static geographical and philosophical boundaries. Indeed "the West has become more mythology, than location or history. Artists of both traditional and contemporary sympathies are exploring the new facets of Western art. In so doing, they have created a new west: the next west. The work of 12 extraordinary living artists will comprise this exhibition. They are: Trish Booth, David DeVary, Carrie Fell, Alvin Gill-Tapia, Woody Gwyn, Mark Knudsen, Ed Mell, Howard Post, Doug Smith, Gary Ernest Smith, Michael Swearingin, Jim Vogel