By Ren Blauch ’28, staff writer
The Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery’s fall exhibition “The Agrarian Year: Paintings and Drawings of the Lebanon Valley by Michael Allen” is now open to the public.
This exhibition features paintings, drawings and studies of the southern Lebanon Valley landscape. The exhibition runs through Sunday, Dec. 13.
“We’ve known Michael Allen for a long time,” Barbara McNulty, director of the Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery, said. “On one hand he’s a great artist and on the other he has a lot of deep local connection.”
McNulty had the opportunity to visit Allen’s studio. For the past 12 years he has been painting the landscape of Lebanon Valley highlighting nature, development and the seasonal variations that Lebanon locals are quite familiar with.
Allen’s paintings and studies are done both in his studio and en plein air, meaning in the open air.
“We think it is important to tell the story of how artists work and how he works,” McNulty said. “To go from being in a location painting quickly on site and then to go back to the studio and refine and create these beautiful landscapes is just a process that you don’t see when looking at a single painting.”
This exhibition gives a glimpse into the process and work behind creating paintings through a local lens.
“The show is also about celebrating our local area,” Kristine Larison, art gallery assistant, said.
The exhibition shows a visual interpretation of the growing, harvesting and dormant seasons of Lebanon’s agricultural year.
Several lectures and other events in the coming weeks will be held at the Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery for anyone interested in the exhibition, the artist’s process and our local history. These events can be found on the LVC Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery webpage.
The gallery is open Wednesdays from 5 to 8 p.m., Thursdays and Fridays from 1 to 4:30 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
