“West, Southwest: Paintings” now through March 6 at Casper College

The works of former Casper College art instructor Earl Reed will be on display in the Mildred Zahradnicek Gallery now through March 6.

The exhibition features paintings from when Reed first visited Taos, New Mexico, in 1942. That visit inspired the series of watercolors depicting the environment, picturesque homes, and people he observed displayed in the “West, Southwest: Paintings” exhibit.

The exhibit is a companion exhibit to Ginny Butcher’s exhibit, “Our Sweet Wyoming Home: Landscape Studies and Paintings,” on display at the same time in the Casper College Alumni Association Art Gallery. “Reed’s use of color, capturing dynamic landscapes, inspired Butcher in her own work, said Valerie Innella Maiers, director of art museums and visual arts instructor.

According to Innella Maiers, Reed moved to Wyoming in 1940 and was inspired by the landscape surrounding the Tetons painting near Jackson before moving to Casper to teach. He began at Natrona County High School in 1944 and then joined the faculty as CC’s first art teacher with the opening of Casper College in the fall of 1945.

“Teaching visual art courses at Casper College until 1958, Reed continued to influence many Wyoming artists through lectures, workshops, and classes until he died in 1981,” noted Innella Maiers. In addition to Casper College, Reed’s work is now in collections at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Oakland Art Gallery, the Milwaukee Art Institute, the Taos Harwood Gallery, the Kansas City Art Institute, and the Denver Art Museum.

The exhibit is free and open to the public. The Mildred Zahradnicek Gallery is open 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Thursday and is located in the Music Building on the Casper College campus.

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