March 3 – March 30, 2012
Palmetto Art Center
“Hocus-Pocus,” is how Helen Romeike-Wisniewski describes her work. “Now you see it, now you don’t,” she explains in her artist statement. “We get glimpses of what’s out there or glimpses of what’s within…” The richness of both her inner and outer life are evident in this stunning exhibition spanning six decades of her journey to self knowledge through painting.
Helen Romeike-Wisniewski’s roots on Anna Maria Island run deep. Her parents, German immigrants, built the 1950s island home where she currently resides and still spends time creating. Her life, much like her canvas, is rich in experiences. Helen grew up in a family that followed her father’s petroleum engineering work assignments. During her married life, Helen continued to move often, this time following her then-husband’s military assignments. In the years after, Romeike-Wisniewski’s independent streak became as vibrant as the colors reflected in many of her paintings.
Helen Romeike-Wisniewski received her Masters of Fine Arts from the University of South Florida in 1978. She has exhibited across the country. And her work serves as inspiration to both academic and local art circles familiar with its distinctive understandings, sensitivity and interpretations. The paintings selected for this exhibit span a period from the 1950s through the present.
Among those inspired by Romeike-Wisniewski is Virginia Bradley, professor of art from the University of Delaware. “Art and Society are in crisis,” she says. “We are no longer bound, or led, by the ethics of a moral society or established religion. We are left with personal choices so that we need guides to show, by their dedication and personal sacrifice, how to reach the deeper parts of ourselves. This is the path chosen by Helen Romeike Wisniewski, who shows us a way through by her example and allows us to reach levels of understanding through her paintings and approach to living. She has been the guide for my artistic practice and life for the past thirty- three years. I am extremely fortunate to have Helen as a mentor, friend and colleague.”
The exhibition at Palmetto Art Center, located at 907 5th Street West in historic downtown Palmetto, will continue throughout the month of March and can be viewed during regular PAC gallery hours: Monday through Friday from noon-2PM (Closed Wednesdays). For more information or directions, visit PalmettoArtCenter.com or call (941) 518-2109.