By Helen Ofield, Lemon Grove Historical Society
May 31, 2021 (Lemon Grove) - “Art is a voyage of discovery and there is no telling what one might bring home from such a journey.” With those words, Kathleen Strzelecki brings her art to the Lemon Grove Library.
"An American Family" is a wonderful exhibit of 17 paintings drawn from the artist’s experience. Spanning the period from 1957-2013, the exhibit contains a series of autobiographical portraits of the artist’s diverse family, a group touched by tragedy, joy and the mundane of everyday life in rural and urban settings.
The portraits’ emotional intensity, backed by dream-like settings and subtle play of light, is heightened by the use of fabric, paper and photographic collage. In revealing the inner life of her subjects, Strzelecki avoids the merely pretty and works in a large format to create arresting portraits of real people and relationships.
The collection is on view through July 23, 2021 in the library’s Ernie Anastos Great Room on the following schedule:
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Strzelecki is a scholarship graduate of the Chouinard Art Institute and is the Artist-in-Residence at the Lemon Grove Historical Society. Her parents, Vernon and Margaret Allen, were protegés of Frank Lloyd Wright.
Strzelecki’s work is in public and private collections throughout the United States. Among her many awards is a 2014 Governor’s Historic Preservation Award and the Congress of History Ben Dixon Award for painting the epic Lemon Grove History Mural commissioned by the historical society and on permanent display at 3308 Main Street, Lemon Grove.
This event is co-sponsored by the Lemon Grove Historical Society and Lemon Grove Library SDCL.
The library is located at 3001 School Lane.