Booth Art Academy

The Booth Museum takes another look at the new line of classes available for all ages throughout the spring as part of the Booth Art Academy.

The spring semester kicks off with Drawing and Painting Animals with Henry Patton where simple drawing lessons and beginning watercolor techniques will help artists of all skill levels produce amazing animal portraits. Participants will learn the basics of composition, perspective, color theory, and other painting techniques under the instruction of artist Henry Patton.

Before becoming a painter, Henry Patton spent several years as a professional photographer, graphic designer, illustrator and Web site designer. He later used those skills to influence his work as a painter of wildlife and landscapes. He has experimented and explored several types of techniques as well as mediums to capture the essence of the wildlife he paints. His works have been exhibited in galleries all over the nation including the Chapman Friedman Gallery in Louisville, Ky.

Henry Patton’s drawing and painting animals class will begin Tuesday, January 22 and will meet for the following eight Tuesdays, ending on Tuesday, March 11 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The fee for this class is $250 for Museum members and $300 for non-members.

To register for the drawing and painting animals class or any other classes being offered, call central scheduling at 770-607-3686. Continue checking back for features on other Art Academy classes and for more information on the 2008 Art Academy, click HERE.

© Henry Patton, Surise, the Journey Begins, 30"x30" oil on canvas

Evening Lecture

The Booth Museum will host an evening lecture on Thursday, January 17th at 7:00 p.m. in the Booth Theatre. The lecture, entitled Grandeur in Western Art: Then and Now will cover the incorporation of the grandeur of the Western landscape with Native American and cowboy culture in art. These two subjects use a mix of both Romantic expression and historical observation to convey the cultures of the West.
Many artists in the Booth collection continue a rich legacy that began in the mid 1800s. Their paintings are tied to the works of artists such as Bierstadt, Moran, Remington, Russell, and others.

The session will feature Dr. Daniel E. Sachs, assistant professor of art history at Kennesaw State University.

Dr. Sachs received his bachelor of art degree in art history from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1978, specializing in Renaissance and Baroque painting and sculpture. Dr. Sachs worked as a freelance illustrator in New York after moving there in 1981. He returned to his studies in art history at Hunter College of the City University of New York in 1987, where he received his masters degree in art history, concentrating on American Watercolor Painting, in 1990. He then went on to complete is Ph.D. in art history at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, specializing in nineteenth-century American landscape painting. Today, Dr. Sachs's art historical interests include all of nineteenth- century art and culture, particularly Romanticism and the Victorian era.

Adult education programs are held at the museum on the third Thursday of each month. Presenters are artists, authors, historians, professors, entertainers, or Booth Museum professionals.

This event is free for members and included with admission for not-yet-members.
For membership information, contact us at 770-387-1300.

The Booth Museum Announces 2008 Art Academy Schedule

The Booth Museum is excited to announce the 2008 Art Academy Schedule open to both adults and children interested in learning more about various art techniques. Adult and children's classes are available and topics include, drawing and painting, fused glass techniques, woodburning, pottery, pysanky egg dyeing and much more.

Pyrography means “writing with fire” and is the traditional art of using a heated object to burn designs onto natural materials like wood or leather. Join artist Betty Tipton in this unique workshop and create beautiful projects in balsa wood. Learn the secrets of this ancient craft that had its beginnings in early Egyptian culture and is still practiced as a traditional folk art in many European countries today.

The class will be led by Betty Tipton, who graduated from the Atlanta Art Institute with a degree in advertising design and a minor in interior design. She married an army officer and traveled the world for many years while pursuing a career in interior design. After her husband retired and the couple settled in Georgia, Betty studied carving with Orchid Davis and learned both carving and wood burning techniques. The balance and harmony of nature are reflected in her beautiful carvings. Her work has been featured in the Borderlands gallery at the Booth Museum.

The woodburning class will be held Saturday and Sunday, March 1 – 2, from 9:00 a.m to 5:00 p.m. The fee for this class is $110 for Museum members and $150 for non-members. Materials needed include a quality wood burner with two tips (will be provided for a $90 additional fee).

To register for the woodburning class or any other classes being offered, call central scheduling at 770-607-3686. Continue checking back for features on other Art Academy classes and for more information on the 2008 Art Academy, click HERE.

Join us for a Saturday of Family Fun!

The Booth Museum has a Saturday of events planned for cowboys and girls of all ages. Join us on Saturday, January 12th for Children’s Saturday, and for museum members, a Meet the Artist Reception and an Evening Lecture entitled Grandeur in Western Art: Then and Now.

Children’s Saturday, a workshop held for children monthly, will begin at 10:00 a.m. and last until noon. Come learn about the art of horses with If Picasso was a Cowboy- Horse Artwork and Horse Trivia day featuring the work of artist George Gogas. Children may also gather for storytelling with “What’s the Most Beautiful Thing you know about Horses?” where they will discover interesting facts about horses and create an art project to take home.

Children's Saturday is an educational program for children ages 4 to 12 and their parents, and is usually offered the second Saturday of each month. Programs relate to the Museum's permanent and traveling collection and focus on teaching children about the American West through art, literature, entertainment, teaching and hands-on activities. A nominal fee for materials is charged.

Members are invited to view four new exhibitions and meet the artists. New exhibits include, 21st Century Regionalists: Art of the New West; Dancing Ground of the Sun: New Mexico Paintings by Lynne Friedman; As Mother Earth Spins, She Speaks: Pueblo Pottery by Alvina Yepa; and Letter Paintings: Illustrated Envelopes and Letters by Al Napoletano.

At 7:00 pm, 21st Century Regionalists guest curator James Burns will lead a discussion of the exhibition with visiting artists in the Booth Theatre. Refreshments will be served in the café.

Like Father, Like Son

Beginning in January, come see the exhibit “Like Father, Like Son: The Western Art of Paul and Chris Calle,” held in the Booth Museum’s Theatre Lobby Gallery from January 8 to March 30. This exhibition includes more than 20 works of art by famed Western artist Paul Calle and his talented son Chris.

Paul’s depictions of mountain men in both oil and pencil are highly prized by collectors. His depictions of explorers of new frontiers extend from high elevations to space travel. He is a celebrated visual historian whose award-winning illustrations have chronicled America’s heritage. As a master painter and draftsman, he has documented the exploration of space in NASA’s fine art program and in 1969, he was commissioned by the United States Postal Service to create a stamp honoring the moon landing. Two paintings commemorating the 25th anniversary of this event are also among his 37 memorable stamp designs. His work has been exhibited nationally and abroad at the National Gallery of Art, the National Air and Space Museum, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and in museums in Russia and Poland. Two books have been written about him and his work: The Pencil and Paul Calle: An Artist’s Journey.

Chris has followed in his father’s footsteps by drawing mountain men, but has also made a name for himself as a designer of postage stamps with more than 200 stamps in circulation. He became interested in wildlife at a very early age and often went with his father to observe and sketch nature. Early on in his career, he decided to begin a series of original lithographs on endangered species that was prompted by his concern for the environment and the unfortunate destiny of the many species disappearing from the earth. Chris's wildlife art is exhibited widely and has done many assignments for the National Wildlife Federation, Reader's Digest, and NASA. Following in his father’s footsteps, Chris designed the stamp design for the 20th Anniversary of the first landing on the moon. He and his father also worked together on the 25th Anniversary of the Moon Landing stamp design.

In addition to work by each artist, collaborative projects will also be on display.
The Calles will serve as the Featured Artists for the 5th Annual Southeastern Cowboy Gathering, March 6 – 9, and will provide the keynote lecture on the evening of March 6.

© Paul Calle, Beyond the Ridge, oil on canvas, 2003, 30.25 x 47.5"

What's New in the Borderlands Gallery

Come see what the Borderlands Gallery has to offer!

The Borderlands Gallery, located on the lower level of the Booth Museum, houses a variety of exhibitions by Southern and Eastern artists whose work reflects the American West. This 800 square foot gallery is hosting three exciting exhibits for you to explore from now until February.

Letter Paintings: Illustrated Envelopes and Letters by Al Napoletano

For more than 10 years artist Al Napoletano and collector Bill Zigrang have traded letters and small gifts. Many of the envelopes and letters sent by Napoletano have included small drawings or paintings, done in a style similar to the famous letters of artist Charlie Russell. This exhibition showcases more than 20 examples drawn from Zigrang’s private collection.

Al Martin Napoletano, a native of San Francisco Calif., is an illustrator who’s talents have have contributed much to our knowledge, images and interpretations of the Old West down through the years.

As Mother Earth Spins, She Speaks: Pueblo Pottery by Alvina Yepa


This exhibit features pottery by Alvina Yepa, who hails from the Jemez Pueblo, just west of the Rio Grande in northern New Mexico. She employs traditional coiling and firing methods to create pottery that ranges from simple melon bowls to elaborately polished and engraved wedding vases. Known for its symmetry and fluidity, Yepa’s work reflects the centuries-old traditions of the Jemez people.

Alvina Yepa was born in 1954 and grew up at Jemez Pueblo. Her mother, Felipita Yepa, taught her pottery, using traditional methods of forming and firing the local clays. Known for her redware with intricate sgraffito designs, Alvina has been an active potter since about 1982. She has exhibited and won awards at shows including Santa Fe Indian Market, the Eight Northern Indian Pueblo Show and the Heard Museum Indian Fair and Market.

Please join us for a meet the artist reception with Alvina Yepa on Saturday, January 12, 2008, from 5-9 p.m.

Dancing Ground of the Sun: Paintings of New Mexico by Lynne Friedman


This exhibit features vibrant Southwestern landscapes by artist Lynne Friedman. Utilizing vivid color and rich texture, Friedman saturates her canvases with the light and warmth of the desert sun. Her use of intense colors creates emotionally charged paintings full of vivacity and expressiveness.

Artist Statement:
Friedman seeks the dramatic and poetic grandeur of nature in paintings inspired by the Hudson Valley and such varied terrains such as the Arizona desert, coast of Cornwall, England and the High Sierras. Her process incorporates exacting essence from a location by seeking to explore its emotive properties, personal responses and exploring the formal concerns of light, color, and the tactility of paint.

Please join us for a meet the artist reception with Lynne Friedman on Satuday, January 12, 2008, from 5-9 p.m.For more information on the work of Lynne Friedman, visit http://www.mountaincloud.com/.

© Alvina Yepa, Flat pot with sgraffito design
© Lynne Friedman, Wild River I , oil on panel, 8 x 10"

Come See 21st Century Regionalists: Art of the New West

The Booth Museum invites you to see our newest temporary exhibition“21st Century Regionalists: Art of the New West” which will be on display until April 13. The exhibition features 70 pieces of art by more than a dozen of today’s most well known Western artists who use a variety of mediums and artistic styles to portray the modern West of today.

“21st Century Regionalists: Art of the New West” is the Booth Museum’s first invitational art exhibition. After requesting and reviewing the portfolios of nearly 100 artists, 14 men and women were chosen to be featured in the exhibition. The artists include sculptors Rebecca Tobey, Mark Yale Harris and Josh Tobey, as well as painters Trish Booth, Josh Elliott, Woody Gwyn, Elaine Holien, Tricia Higgins Hurt, Louisa McElwain, Howard Post, Ed Sandoval, Doug Smith, Gary Earnest Smith, and Jim Vogel.

The artists highlighted in the exhibition have their roots in regionalist tradition, but also have created their own distinctive works using a modernistic style. Like the regionalists of the mid-20th century, they celebrate rural life, ordinary people, and simplicity.

“The exhibit is organized around a central theme, it questions who is a Western artist, what is Western art, and what do the terms regionalism and contemporary mean for us today,” said Booth Museum Executive Director Seth Hopkins. “It highlights artists whose work has its roots in the Regionalist traditions of the 1930s but also employ a contemporary style.”

For more information on the “21st Century Regionalists: Art of the New West” exhibit, please contact the Booth Museum at 770-387-1300 or visit http://www.boothmuseum.org/.

© Gary Ernest Smith, Tractor with Purple Barn, oil on linen, 2006, 24x36"

© Howard Post, Outbound, oil on canvas, 2006, 18x36"

© Josh Elliott, Wilsall Highrise, oil on canvas, 2007, 24x30"