Karen Wray Gallery, owner Karen Wray, will be featured 8:30 p.m. Sunday, 4 p.m. Tuesday and 8 p.m. Thursday on Inside Arts. Courtesy photo
COMMUNITY News:
The Los Alamos Museum of Art continues its series, Inside Arts, with an interview of local gallery owner Karen Wray.
The interview airs 8:30 p.m. Sunday, 4 p.m. Tuesday and 8 p.m. Thursday.
Artist, teacher, promoter and gallery owner – Wray wears all these hats. She opened her first gallery in Los Alamos in 2008 realizing the town needed, “someplace where our most experienced artists can show their art”.
Four locations later, she settled her gallery, the Karen Wray Gallery, at 1247 Central Ave., which seems to be a great fit.
Wray describes herself as an artist who is “absolutely joyous” when immersed in the process of painting. Her landscapes are filled with dramatic light and shadow patterns, which capture people’s attention and her detail work keeps them looking. Her current focus is a series of cloud paintings.
As a teacher, Wray said she works to instill a love of painting in her students.
“Painting is very personal,” she said. “You are putting yourself out there in the public … we need to be kind with each other.”
She said one of her axioms is, “if you don’t make mistakes you’re not learning anything.”
As a promoter, Wray said, “The main driving interest in this town is science and we need to make art a little bit important … art is as important as family photos, if you look at civilization, history is usually in the arts and artifacts and we must make the younger generation understand that.”
Wray and her staff are always welcoming.
“You don’t need to buy anything, just come in for a visit and to see the art and make it a habit,” Wray said.
The gallery is open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
Inside Arts airs weekly on PAC 8, 8:30 p.m. Sundays, 4 p.m. Tuesdays and 8 p.m. Thursdays. For more information, contact Jean Gindreau at PAC 8 at 662.7228 or pac8@losalamos.com or Ruth Tatter at LAMOA at 662.5496 or at rjtatter@gmail.com.
