Governor's Gallery
Gwen Suthers
Painter, Sculptor & Teacher
November 8 thru December 31, 2004
For
most of her 91 years, Gwen Suthers has been drawing, painting and promoting
art in western Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle. Every Friday she teaches
painting and sculpture in Arnett at the Western Art Center, also known
as the Little Red Schoolhouse. Artists come from Woodward, Gage, Shattuck
and towns and ranches beyond to learn from her and share their artwork.
Suthers makes sure The Western Art Center is open for all those who
wish to study and paint.
“Painting is an understanding of the order and beauty of the universe and it is a way of recording historical events and every day life,” explained Suthers. As a painter, sculptor, pianist, unofficial teacher and arts advocate, she has worked most of her life encouraging novice and veteran artists alike and sparked cultural life for many.
She was born on her grandfather’s farm in Ellis County, the
daughter of Jim and Arva Robinson and her first painting in the first
grade was crayon entitled “Little Tuppins.” After the family
moved to Arnett so that Suthers could attend school, she furthered
her education as a student at Oklahoma A & M College. She married
her high school sweetheart, William Heward Suthers, and they are the
parents of five children.
In 1951, Suthers began studying art with Dord Fitz. The next year, Fitz, Suthers and several other beginning artists, began renovating the abandoned Beum country schoolhouse and the Western Art Center was born.
The Dord Fitz Gallery was established in Amarillo and an organization
known as the Area Arts Foundation made it possible for students, including
Suthers, to study with famous artists who came to the Gallery. For
many years Suthers served as secretary of the organization which helped
students to travel across the country to study great art collections.
She studied under other renowned artists Elaine DeKooning, Louise Nevelson,
Charlie Bunnell and local artists Stefan Kramer, Mack Stewart, Len
Slesick, Gene Hartsell, and many others.
Her talent has been showcased in numerous exhibits including the Burr
Gallery, New York City; Taos Gallery, New Mexico; Fitz Gallery, Amarillo;
The Stage Gallery, Oklahoma City; Western Art Center, Arnett; Plains
Indians and Pioneers Museum, Woodward; as well as exhibits in Perryton,
Canadian, and Lipscomb, Texas; Seiling, Enid, Cheyenne, Mangum and
Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Governor Frank Keating presented her with a Community Service Award at the 2001 Governor’s Arts Awards. She was named Artist of the Year for the Sage Brush Painters in Canadian, Texas in 2003. She has served on the Board of Directors for the Plains Indians and Pioneers Museum in Woodward and the Amarillo Arts Foundation
Sponsored by the Oklahoma Arts Council. For more information contact Scott Cowan or Karen Sharp at 405.521.2931 or scott@arts.ok.gov
Past Governor's Gallery Exhibits