This summer, our intern, Miles jumped into the gallery with both feet in May and hasn't looked back since! Miles grew up in the Des Moines metro area and will be starting his second year studying art and music at Luther College in Decorah, IA at the end of August.
He has been a valuable asset this summer as we have navigated several overlapping projects and changed exhibitions twice. On his first day at the gallery, we showed Miles how to properly hang artwork for an exhibition, and he proceeded to install the entire Annual Landscape Show on his own (except for getting help to lift a few large paintings, of course)!
While installing our current show, Miles became familiar with works by Laura Berman & Jeanine Coupe Ryding, so we asked him to choose his favorite works in the exhibition and talk about why they struck a chord with him.
In Jeanine’s latest series, In The Woods, her works feature a wide variety of trees. Jeanine’s solo exhibition, In The Woods premiered at Iowa State University’s Christian Peterson Art Museum in January 2025 and ran through July before heading to Olson-Larsen Galleries to be in the gallery’s summer show, Painted and Printed. The piece I’m most interested in by Jeanine, Ledger, is meant to address the millions of trees lost to logging and wildfires each year. Jeanine painted this piece on Amate Bark Paper, once used by early Mayan and Nahua people to keep records, codices and ledgers. Contained within the larger composition of Ledger are several smaller groups of painted parallel tree trunks, representing the trees that used to reside there.
Ledger evokes feelings of reflection within me. Looking at the painting makes me reflect on the person I have become and the people who have come and gone in the process. The small paintings within are the memories I carry around of the people who are no longer in my life, good or bad. The memory of the trees will be there forever, whether they still stand or not. Just like all the trees that populate this painting, everyone who has been in my life is just as important to me. The memories I have of them will be with me forever and helped shape the person I am today.
After reading more about Laura’s process and meaning behind her “Ravel” series, I have a deeper appreciation for these lithographs. As a printmaker myself, learning more about her collaborative work with Flatbed Press in Texas was very interesting. Everything that went into making these prints expanded my idea of what can be done with printmaking and that I can work alongside others to bring my ideas to life.
Laura started with multiple transparencies that would eventually become a series of multi-layered lithographic prints. Together, Laura and Flatbed hand-mixed ink for each color and combined all of the layers that would make up the final pieces. Laura’s “Ravel” series reflects on the relationships individuals build within communities and how those relationships provide connections far and wide.
This project demonstrates how important it is to seek new connections. Utilizing her connection with Flatbed Press, Laura was able to expand on her abilities and ideas through the help and expertise of others. Building connections within various communities is especially important for people in creative fields in order to share their work with a wider audience. In addition, artists can continue to learn from these different communities, just as Laura did with Flatbed Press. I am always filled with so much joy when I can be a community connector to help achieve a common goal. You never know what creative ideas people have until you ask!
Painted and Printed is on display August 1st through September 20th, 2025
Join us for the closing reception on September 12th from 5-7pm
and artist talk September 13th from 1:30-2:30pm
The exhibition is also available online anytime!