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For local artist Lynn Schwartz, her love for art began with painting. Beginning at a young age, she would rub grass and purple iris against paper to create art.
“Art has always been in place for me,” Schwartz said. “I was always encouraged by my art teachers who put me in art contests.”
Schwartz has moved on to more commonly used mediums, like oil and acrylic paints, in the creation of her “Meaningful Image” exhibit in the Malinda Berry Fischer gallery at the OSU Foundation.
The show is up for viewers. The exhibit will be open to the public Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Dec. 31.
The 22-piece exhibit opened Oct. 5 and almost immediately sold five pieces. Twenty percent of the profit will be donated to the Doel Reed Center for the Arts.
The Doel Reed Center for the Arts, named after OSU’s first art professor, supports students with majors from studio art to architecture in a cross-disciplinary study in Taos, N.M., at the family’s estate. Since 2006, more than 60 students have participated in the program, according to the Doel Reed Center for the Arts newsletter.
“I thought about what a great opportunity this would be for students,” Schwartz said. “It was natural for me to want to contribute and it was really a matter of heart.”
Schwartz was raised in Oklahoma City, where she graduated from Harding High School in 1960.
After she graduated, her parents encouraged her to attend Pine Manor in Wellesley, Mass., where she earned a bachelor of liberal arts.
Next she traveled to Europe for three months with a group of Stanford students where she saw many of the paintings she studied during her time at Pine Manor.
Schwartz returned to attend the University of Oklahoma where she attained her fine arts degree.
Schwartz said all her education emphasized non-objective art but the style was not practical.
“I knew non-objective art was not fully understood and did not sell paintings, so I moved toward realism,” she said. “But in all my paintings you can find objects in abstract.”
Schwartz has painted locations across the country. One of the pieces in the collection, “Cimarron Canyon”, was created near Philmont, N.M., where she pulled off the highway and was inspired to paint. She said the “Meaningful Image” title gave her the freedom to paint anywhere.
“Nature can transport you from the busy world,” Schwartz said. “I hope I can bring this kind of beauty to the viewers.”
The “Meaningful Images” exhibit features primarily oil paintings of Payne County, which she felt was natural because she grew up in the area and she also wanted the paintings to reflect the area of the gallery they are displayed she said.
“Even though we live in a modern city, we can drive 10 minutes and see beautiful rural landscape,” Schwartz said.
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