The Dalles Art Center to feature Gary Harvey

The Dalles Arts Center, located at 220 E. Fourth St. No. 2206 in The Dalles, will host Harvey’s first ever show May 4-27. A free opening reception will be held on May 4 from 5-7 p.m.

“I imagine that one day in the future, alongside artists such as Hershfield Morris or James Castle, William Gary Harvey will be known as an important, self-taught American artist who worked in obscurity until neighbors discovered his work,” said Sally Johnson, interim executive director for The Dalles Art Center.

The show will include works on paper and canvas as well as small sculptures made of found objects. Harvey’s works range from abstract expressionism, influenced by the themes and artists (e.g., Guy Anderson, Kenneth Callahan and Mark Tobey) of the Northwest School modernist movement to more figurative self-portraits and whimsical sculptures.

Harvey’s family arrived in Wasco County around 1860. He attended grade school in Wamic and high school at South Wasco County High School in Maupin. After his parents divorced, he moved to Tacoma, Wash., where he attended community college. He enrolled at the University of Hawaii, pursuing a degree in biology until a motorcycle accident necessitated his return home.

Harvey began painting watercolors and created figurative works in addition to abstract paintings.

He had keen insight for beauty and creativity, and seeing the abstract in things, for instance finding forgotten objects like antique nails, with which he would create sculptures, according to an art center press release.

“It never would have dawned on me that I would ever do something like this. To make art. I just didn’t think like that. But here I am ... All I could think about was art. It was a wonderful time. But it also was totally human consuming,” Harvey said in 2021.

McClure, Harvey’s friend, Wasco County rancher and curator of the show, said, “Gary lived his life as an artist. Everything he created, from the fences he built to the paintings and sculptures was considered and done with an eye for beauty. While he saw the world through the eyes of an artist, he did not call himself an artist. When I first saw his work … the depth and variety of medium, I was in awe.”

“Harvey relished living in nature in Wasco County, building fences, and accompanied by his dogs, including Sophie, his beloved last dog,” said an art center press release. “A prolific gardener, he grew heirloom tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, and zucchini. He was a keen observer of birds and other animals, including the human animal. A voracious reader, his books ranged from history to art, literature, and criticism. He read The New York Times, The Economist, The New Yorker, and the New York Review of Books cover to cover daily.”

Harvey died on June 26, 2021, at Mid-Columbia Medical Center. His spirit remains in Wasco County and in these works of art, said the press release.

“The Dalles Art Center is thrilled to present Gary’s work and to support Tim and Lee’s commitment to make his work available to the public,” Johnson said. “This show exemplifies our mission to be a connecting hub to inspire and engage with art and to celebrate artists from a diversity of backgrounds and experience.”

In addition to the exhibit, an event, “Gary Harvey: A Life” a talk with Tim McClure and Lee Weinstein, is scheduled for Friday, May 12 at 7 p.m. Johnson will interview the two, who will share personal stories, anecdotes and insights into Harvey’s work and life.

“This will be a special event and not to be missed and attendees will receive a special gift,” said a press release.

Tickets for the event are available at www.thedallesartcenter.org.

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Housed in the Carnegie Library dedicated in 1910 and on the National Register of Historic Places, The Dalles Art Center “is a connecting hub to inspire and engage with art because a connected community thrives together,” said a press release. “We serve the communities of The Dalles, Wasco County and the Columbia Gorge with opportunities for artists to develop their practice and display their work. Through public art, art classes for adults and students and performance we connect people to creativity and the positive outcomes for personal growth and connection provided through creative expression.”

For more information about Call to Artists and The Dalles Art Center, call 541-296-4759 oremail director@thedallesartcenter.or.