American artist Joella Jean Mahoney’s large scale paintings will be featured in a one-woman show, Passionate Vision, at the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff from September 17 through December 31, 2005. The exhibit is curated by Guest Curator Alan Petersen, Chair of Fine Arts, Coconino Community College. Her work captures the essence of the Colorado Plateau landscapes and fuses the geological, the emotional, and the spiritual soul of the region.
In this statement, Petersen shares his enthusiasm for her paintings, “Joella Jean Mahoney’s work continues a great tradition of romantic landscape painting in the Southwest. Her passionate vision is one of expansive topographic views of the land, as well as quiet interior spaces. Her style and commitment to her subject display a veracity and spiritual aspect equaled by few artists. Passionate Vision is a rare opportunity to experience the Colorado Plateau through the compelling artwork of a contemporary master.”
Museum Director Robert Breunig says, “In this exhibit, Joella Jean Mahoney is presenting an incredible body of her work. Although these works are about this region, the effect of this art is not parochial—Joella Jean Mahoney touches universal themes and provokes deep emotions. It is about the inner, visceral experience we all have when we come upon an electrifying landscape. It’s about the way we respond when we see an incredible vista, or when an unusual cloud formation floats above the land.”
“I often hear from people that my paintings give them the experience of being on this special landscape and through the paintings they become more aware of its beauty. MNA taught me about this region. That’s why it’s so meaningful to me—this exhibit—because it completes the cycle that began in 1951 when I came to Flagstaff,” states Mahoney. “It was then, that MNA revealed the power, the mystery, and the beauty of this place to me, a place that is unique throughout the world.”
Each of Mahoney’s 33 paintings will be accompanied by a personal story by the artist, revealing the artist’s inner thoughts. She states, “The color in my paintings is not an exaggeration. The Southwest is truly a land of color and color holds an emotional charge. It can be healing because it may bring up to the conscious level an awareness of feelings. The experience of beauty can also be healing, because it stimulates the feeling of wholeness.
Joella looks back
“I was from Chicago, by way of California. I saw Arizona for the first time when I stepped off the train in Flagstaff to attend college. It was dawn. The stars overhead were like lanterns, the sky was crystalline and in the distance the mountains were like cardboard cutouts. The sun came up and turned the scene into Technicolor. I saw a landscape that matched how I felt inside and I stepped into my future.”
Mahoney graduated from Arizona State College, now Northern Arizona University, in 1955 and has an M.F.A. in painting and drawing from Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California. She is Professor of Art Emerita at the University of La Verne in California. Her work has become internationally known through the Art in the Embassies Program, sponsored by the U.S. State Department and through numerous exhibits, including an annual New York show and 30- and 40-year retrospectives at the Northern Arizona University Fine Art Museum, the West Valley Art Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, the University of La Verne Art Museum, and The Kolb Studio at the Grand Canyon. Mahoney is represented by Arte-Misia Gallery in Sedona, Arizona and the Red Stone Gallery on the web.
Mahoney will be an active part of this exhibit. She will offer a series of presentations throughout the fall and will also personally lead some of the gallery tours. Mahoney is eager to interact with visitors of all ages and she will be doing some of her painting in the gallery during the time of the exhibit. Look for a schedule of these events on the Museum’s website, once the exhibit opens on September 17
An auction of her work
Mahoney is also generously offering to create a commissioned painting (up to 20 square feet on a landscape subject of the winning bidder’s choice) for a limited-time auction with a $20,000 minimum bid. The entire auction proceeds are for the benefit of the Museum of Northern Arizona. Bidding begins at the special Member’s Exhibit Preview and continues through December 16, 2005 at 5 p.m. Bids may be made at MNA’s website (www.musnaz.org) or by using a bid sheet available at the Museum’s Front Desk. The Member’s Exhibit Preview is on September 17 from 5 to 7 p.m. To attend, contact the Museum’s Membership Department at 928/774-5213, ext. 219.
About the Museum
The Museum of Northern Arizona is located three miles north of historic downtown Flagstaff on Highway 180. Its mission is to inspire a sense of love and responsibility for the beauty and diversity of the Colorado Plateau through collecting, studying, interpreting, and preserving the region’s natural and cultural heritage. The Museum is a regional repository and houses some 600,000 artifacts and other bulk collections, including MNA collections, tribal collections, and federal collections.