Press Room

Local Artists' 'Pathways' Lead To Unknown Destinations

By: Nikki Vroman, Brookings Arts Council Staff

When Brookings artists Tracy Bezesky and Donna Lee Bartholow were chosen to do an exhibit together at the Brookings Community Cultural Center, they immediately noticed some similarities in their work.

Pathways leading to unknown destinations were a common theme in both artists’ paintings and so a title for their show somewhat created itself. Their exhibition entitled "Following Passages" will be on display at 524 4th St., through June 22 A reception and gallery talk for them will be on June 1, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Bezesky and Bartholow both have a lifetime of experience and said they have gone through struggles to be where they are today. They get their inspiration from simple things in life. Tracy declares "Painting gives me a sense of purpose. It’s something I have to do."

Born in Washington, DC, and raised in New Jersey, Donna Lee attended Art College in Philadelphia and lived in Houston before moving to South Dakota, where she has lived for the past 30 years. Donna describes her career saying, “My goal as a visual artist is to evoke in others, who view my works, an appreciation of the beauty in the diversity of life here in the Heartland of America!” She has received several awards, her most recent being a 4th place prize in the VISTA International Landscape Art 2007 competition and has taught art classes and given private painting lessons in every place she has lived. She prides herself in watching her students discover their creative talents. She and her husband have also worked together to create and design their own studio called the B’s Nest

Bezesky, born and raised in South Dakota, is a self taught artist. As she left South Dakota, she got her start working as a graphic artist painting billboards for various advertising companies. For 15 years she worked various jobs including graphic design, multimedia design and animation before returning to South Dakota to be closer to family, where she began painting with the Plein Air Artist Group. Painting on location, known as Plein Air painting, is what inspired her to paint landscape. Noticing that paths were a common factor in many of her paintings, she thinks of those passages as metaphors for life. "They will wind, divide, climb and drop, not knowing just what’s around the bend."

Their exhibit can be viewed Tuesday through Saturday, Noon to 5 p.m. For more information call (605) 692-4177 or log on to www.brookingsartscouncil.org.

To see more of Bartholow and Bezesky's work online, go to www.tracybezesky.com or www.bsnestgallery.com.