Three Valley artists—a painter, a digital artist and a fiber artist—will look at their art in the past, present and future for an exhibit Sept. 22 through Nov. 25 at the Holland Center, 34250 N 60 St., Scottsdale.
An opening reception for Nicolette Maguire Bonnstetter, Pamela Fingerhut and Laurie Fagen will be held from 2-4 p.m. Sun., Nov 3.
“We wanted to show an evolution of our work through our lives,” Maguire Bonnstetter explains. “One piece is from my time in my 20s when I was so stressed, and I want people to feel that emotion.”
She adds the exhibit will be “informative and interactive,” with questions and quotes posted on the wall, and inspirational objects places beside art pieces.
Maguire Bonnstetter got to know Fingerhut following an artists’ meeting years ago. Fagen and Maguire Bonnstetter bonded as former Iowans, who met through the Holland Center and the Sonoran Arts League. Many of Maguire Bonnstetter’s pieces include dolls, as do some of Fingerhut’s photo-based work.
“I include montage, or the technique of selecting, editing, and piecing together separate sections of digital files to form a continuous whole,” Fingerhut says. Her subjects range from dolls to tattoos to flowers to melting ice cream.
Fagen was initially invited to be part of the show to write and perform pieces about the artwork, then was invited to be part of the visual exhibit as well.
“Many of my fiber art wall quilts share the same bright colors and fun themes as Pamela and Nic work with,” Fagen adds. “We all use women in many of our artwork, so that will also be part of the show.”
Shelley Pedretti will also create ikebana, or the Japanese art of flower arrangement, for the exhibit.
Maguire Bonnstetter says the most enjoyable part of her art is the challenge. “I look at a canvas I did a long time ago, and face the challenge of creating something new, all of which includes my memories.”
Fingerhut says the “surprise at the end” is the most enjoyable for her.
Fagen adds, “I love auditioning fabrics and threads that will go into a design.”
Maguire Bonnstetter leads a regular discussion group called “Art, Coffee & Conversation with Nicolette” at the Holland Center, and was most recently in the “Celebration of Woman” art exhibit at the Phoenix Capitol Museum and the Shemer Center.
Fingerhut will have her work with photographers from all over the world in the 8th Biennale of Fine Art and Documentary Photography, now renamed the Barcelona Foto Biennale, April 3-13 and April 24-May 4 in Barcelona, Spain.
A dozen of Fagen’s fiber art pieces were part of an eight-person “Ceangal/Connections” show at the Esker Arts Centre in Tullamore, Ireland, in conjunction with the Chandler Tullamore Sister Cities organization where four artists from Arizona and four from Tullamore came together to reflect on similarities and differences between the two areas.
The show will come to Chandler in March-June 2025. Fagen is also part of the new Cave Creek Collective with her polymer clay jewelry and sculpture.
For information about the artists visit www.Nicsart.com; www.pamelafingerhut.net; and www.FagenDesigns.com.
