Join us for our First Friday event!

Opening reception on Friday, September 2nd from 5:30pm – 9pm!

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This exhibition features mixed media photo collages by Valerie Haring and oil-painted portraits by John Oehm!

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Valerie Haring – Oehm was born in El Dorado KS. She grew up in the country near the Walnut River where she had the luxury to explore nature and her dad’s old car collection. She earned her AA from Butler CC, her BSE in Art Education from Emporia State University, and her MA in Art Education from Wichita State University.

Throughout her educational journey, she studied with many of the preeminent college art professors in Kansas. She was the director of the Erman B. White gallery, Chair of the Butler CC Art Department, and currently serves as the Interim Dean of Fine Arts and Communication at BCC.

Valerie has an arts education rooted in naturalism and traditional materials. Over the span of her career, she has explored conceptual subject matter, and allowed the materials she works with to yield to the concept, all the while leaning on the formal elements and principles of design.

“Drawing from observation is like an exhilarating physical workout when one relies on muscle memory to carry one to the finish line. Working non-representationally, or conceptually, is like hiking into unknown territory; looking for something to latch onto and transform.” – Haring

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John Oehm – a native Nebraskan moved to Wichita in 1977, after completing his undergraduate degree in painting from the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Oehm earned his MFA in painting from Wichita State University in 1981.

For the next 11 years, Oehm taught at WSU, the Wichita Center for the Arts, and in his private studio in downtown Wichita. He joined the art faculty of Butler Community College in 1992.

Since retiring from Butler CC in 2017, Oehm has worked full-time as a portrait painter. His portrait work can be found in collections throughout the Midwest and Southwest United States. In 2021 Oehm and Valerie Haring were married. They currently live in Bel Aire, Kansas.

“My work reflects a lifelong interest in a tradition of figure and portrait painting that includes the likes of Rembrandt, Titian, Alberto Giacometti, Lucian Freud, and Jenny Saville. Each of these painters demonstrates a fascination with the illusion of forms in light and space. If it were possible, I would only paint from life.” – Oehm

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“HARING OEHM” | Exhibition runs September 2nd through September 24th!