WAVA's exhibit entitled, "Inspired Visions" in Gallery I & Bill Lord's exhibit entitled, "Prairie Rose"

   Williston Area Visual Artists “Inspired Visions” & Bill Lord’s “Prairie Rose” exhibits at the James in July

Stop into the James during the month of July to view WAVA’s (Williston Area Visual Artists) exhibit entitled, “Inspired Visions” in Gallery I and Bill Lord’s exhibit entitled, “Prairie Rose” in Gallery II. Both exhibits are on display throughout the month of July. WAVA’s exhibit is filled with different artist’s work from area artists who work with different mediums and Bill Lord’s exhibit is his Photography works. There will not be an Artist Reception for the month of July per the artists’ request. Gallery admission is always free and open to the public. Gallery hours are Mondays through Thursdays, 9am-2pm and Fridays, 1-5pm.

WAVA(Williston Area Visual Artists) Mission Statement:

The purpose of the Williston Area Visual Artists(WAVA) is to provide a nurturing and supportive environment by which artists feel inspired and encouraged to pursue the arts in carious mediums. The organization does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, handicap, nationality or any other ethnic origin, in the processes of administration or any of its action or functions.

WAVA’s Member Challenge to reproduce a 12” x 12” piece of artwork in the member’s own medium and style. When all finished, it was assembled to complete one piece of art(picture shown here). Inspiration from “Melody of the Night” by Leonid Afremov

Bill Lord’s Artist Statement/Bio on “Prairie Rose”:

“I’ve Spent my entire life in NE Montana but I was born in Williston, because Plentywood was between doctors at the time. I was the neighborhood kid with the camera when I was growing up. I took over the family ranch in 1972 and farmed ad ranched until 2015 when my son took over. Rose was my Ranching partner from 1979 until we retired. I bought my first of many SLR’s in 1973 and have been photographing the ranch, the prairie, and the people of the area ever since. I’ve used many cameras, SLR’s and point and shoots(pocket cameras)and many types of film. A lot of my portraits were done with point and shoots (my favorite was the Leica Mini-Lux) because i carried one most of the time, The prairie was hard to put on film, then I started taking photos of Rose and she turned the prairie into a true thing of beauty. She was the artist and i just did the mechanics. I especially loved the Black and Whites because because the were so forgiving. I now shoot digital and love it but for me the photos taken with film had a feeling that’s hard to get with the digital. The oil boom in the Williston Basin was, and still is, a wonderful opportunity for photography.

A piece from Bill Lord’s exhibit, “Prairie Rose”