Arts and Culture | Local

Tucson J to showcase local women’s multimedia art

‘Mimbres Totem,’ stoneware clay by Julie Szerina Stein (Courtesy Julie Szerina Stein)

Artists from the Many Hands Courtyard and the Tucson Artist Cooperative are joining for a show, “Groovin’ Together,” at the Tucson Jewish Community Center Fine Arts Gallery from April 21-May 30, with a reception on April 23 from 3-5 p.m.

‘Jewish Symbols Triptych,’ upcycled paper by Anne Lowe (Courtesy Anne Lowe)

Two local Jewish artists are among the 10 women featured in the show: Julie Szerina Stein and Anne Lowe.

Stein, a native Tucsonan, uses various media to tell stories of Jewish ritual and everyday life. She began taking clay classes at the Tucson Museum of Art when she was in junior high and studied art and anthropology at the University of Arizona. Later she moved to Israel, where she studied Hebrew at Ben Gurion University and drawing with a private teacher. She then studied clay at Mesa Community College and received her BFA from Arizona State University. Her clay work appears in the Lark 500 book series, the Jewish Museum in New York, Spertus Museum in Chicago, Tucson Museum of Art and the Silver City Clay Festival, where she won first place in the 2016 international sculpture competition. Her paintings adorn educational books, greeting cards and Passover Haggadahs.

Lowe calls her art “paper therapy.” In addition to the iris folding paper design and double embossed gold cloisonné Southwest pieces she will exhibit at the J, she does creative Hebrew calligraphy artwork. She teaches card making classes at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Northwest office. She served as coordinator of Northwest Jewish Connections from 2006-2010 and director of the Northwest Division from 2010-2016. Originally from Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Lowe has called Tucson home for the last 12 years.

The other artists in the show are Patricia Ackor, an interior designer and weaver who also works in oils, watercolors and pastel/color pencils; Lynn East-Itkin, who currently works in gourd art, fabric painting and basket weaving; Marnie Ehlers, an award-winning jewelry artist and goldsmith; Jeanne Fellow, creator of Inspired Artscapes (color paper wall sculptures) and LumenArts (table lamps and wall lights with LED bulbs) using acrylic inks on watercolor paper; Cynthia Haas, who has a background in interior and furniture design and fine arts; Susan Morse, artist, weaver and upcycler; Christina Plange, who works in oil and acrylic paints; and Dotty Woody, an award-winning artist who has moved from oil painting, pastel, etching and clay to wearable art, which includes bead weaving, paper and fine silver jewelry.

For more information, call 299-3000.