theresa herrera:
pictoral contemplation

FIRST WEDNESDAY opening: june 1, from 6 - 9pm

ARTICULATE ARTIST TALK: SUNDAY, june 5, AT 4PM.

normal gallery hours: TUe - SUn, 12PM - 6PM

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Theresa Herrera is a visual artist who’s work is influenced by her faith, her lineage, and her own personal journey through life. Painting for her is an act of contemplation, a time to focus in on the divine and the challenging moments. She anchors her imagery with repeating symbols, like labyrinths, shields, and vessels. Each of these icons have specific meaning that informs the viewer, in an abstracted way, what the content of the work is about. Her intention is to invite the viewer to experience the ethereal and find comfort there.

The past few years have been difficult for Herrera. Multiple severe weather events, tangled with the death of her husband sent her creative life in a blur.

“I was told by family and friends not to make any major decisions in my life for a year. That seemed like a long time to me. I did not realize how long the mourning of the death of my husband would actually last. I felt like I could not focus on the present moment, reflect on the past, or envision the future. It was a sort of Limbo.” - Herrera

On New Year’s Eve, 2021, she set out her brushes and paints and let go of the strife she’d experienced in the past year, and opened herself up to allow her artwork to lead her to peace again. Now, having taken that leap of faith, she is back to the canvas, creating work that inspires her, and reminds her why she makes art in the first place.

Herrera served as an Adjunct Professor of art at several college campuses in Southern California before moving to Louisiana and instructing numerous students in the Gifted and Talented Art Program for the St. Charles Parish Public Schools in Louisiana, where she retired in 2013. Herrera was awarded visual artist fellowships from the Louisiana Division of the Arts to research Mayan art in Guatemala, as well as to archive her art. Her painting: “Re-walking the Quinto Sol Labyrinth” was on display in the fall of 2021 in an exhibit titled: “The Emotional Brain,” curated by Laura Richens at the Carroll Gallery, Tulane University. More recently, she was invited to exhibit in May 2022 at the Windgate Museum of Art in Hendricks College, Arkansas

Learn more about Theresa Herrera

This exhibition is presented alongside the latest works from Mary Ann Caffery, Rob Lamb Carpenter, & Brian Kelly. All works from these artists are on view, free of charge, during normal gallery hours (12 - 6 p.m., Tue - Sun) from May 30th - June 30th.