Jim Lee and Walter Kendra

June 7 through June 30
Artists Reception June 20 from 5:30 to 8pm

Jim Lee

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was born in the Mid-west, received a B.A. from Bethany College in studio arts and a M.F.A. in printmaking from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1980. In 1978 he began making limited edition letterpress books and established a private press called Blue Moon Press. He has taught relief and intaglio printmaking, drawing and book arts at the Hartford Art School/University of Hartford, West Hartford, CT since 1982.

Since the early 1990’s, landscape has been at the core of his work. Recent work has been based on the landscape of New England and Maritime Canada. He often begins a series with pastel and pencil drawings done on-site, and from these develops his prints, primarily color reduction woodcuts. He is also very interested in the people who inhabit the locations he depicts, weaving references their history and culture into his work. Humor and a sly, satiric streak also often show up in various ways. His limited edition, hand-printed books contain his images, letterpress texts (often publishing poetry or writing by other writers), which he binds in various kinds of structures, in order to emphasize and develop the content.

Walter Kendra

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Professor Emeritus of Art and Gallery Director at Central Connecticut State University he is very active in both the New York and the New England scenes. In addition to appearing in numerous group shows throughout the United States, he has had solo exhibitions in New York, Connecticut, Virginia and North Carolina. Among his first prize awards are those in sculpture at the Beth El Temple Exhibition, West Hartford, Connecticut; in painting at the Art Museum, Pittsfield, Massachusetts; and in graphics at the Walter-Vincent Smith Museum, Springfield Massachusetts. He has had painting commissions and is represented in private and college collections in Japan, Australia, Europe and the United States. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Abingdon Square Painters in New York City and in 1970 held the Jabez Gray-Nat Koffman Scholarship while a teaching fellow at New York University. In Connecticut, Kendra is represented by Paesaggio Fine Arts in Hartford. He is president of the Maxwell Shepherd Memorial Arts Foundation and is on the Board of Trustees for the Art School of the University of Hartford.