The City of Kent Arts Commission’s Centennial Center Gallery, located at 400 W. Gowe St., is hosting the work of artists Lisa Myers Bulmash and Kathleen McIver through October 27. The show is free and open to the public, Monday through Friday8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

 Lisa Myers Bulmash is a collage and book artist who works primarily in acrylics, paper and found objects. Informally trained, Myers Bulmash began her career making handmade cards. After her father’s death in 2006, she felt compelled to take more personal risks in her creative life. Questions of identity, family relationships and the human impulse toward sanctuary now drive most of her work. She aims to nudge the viewer into recognizing shared stories.

Myers Bulmash is the winner of a 2016 Sustainable Arts Foundation grant. She has partnered with Artist Trust as a public speaker, and her work and commentary have been highlighted in five books. In November 2017, Myers Bulmash will open the first solo museum exhibit of her work at the Northwest African American Museum.

© 2014, Lisa Myers Bulmash, Janus: Value, collage portrait, 29.88 x 16.33 x 1”

 Kathleen McIver worked in the promotional and display design field, developing creative concepts for several major retail companies. She is now retired and getting back to working on her personal art. Her work has appeared in a number of juried shows and auctions, including the Pacific NW Arts and Crafts Fair, Seattle Women in Design Auction, Safeco Co., Bellevue Art Museum, Tacoma Art Museum, Allied Arts, Kent Summer Art Exhibit, Group Health Invitational, Family Services of Seattle Invitational, and Desert Montessori School Invitational in Santa Fe, NM. Kathleen also participated in the project PIGS ON PARADE, “Swine on Seattle City Streets,” benefitting Pike Place Foundation.

Kathleen’s current body of work, “SKINS & SHELLS” focuses on expressing, outer, protective coverings. Bark, or a tree’s “skin,” is essential for its health and life. Eggshells are a “skin,” protecting life within. Her goal was to express the quiet strength, tenacity, and life-saving qualities that these “skins” provide.

© 2016, Kathleen McIver, INNER STRENGHT, acrylic and attached twig and nest, 41 3/8” x 25 3/8” x 2 ¼”

Centennial Gallery shows are produced by the City of Kent Arts Commission. For more information, visit http://kentwa.gov/arts/gallery/

 

Michelle Gehlman-Teeter

Michelle Gehlman-Teeter is a writer and photographer from Kent, Washington. Michelle is a contributor to iLoveKent.net. She loves to find interesting places to go and fun things to do and share them with her readers. Click links to see her writing, photography or Facebook page.