MAKING PICTURES Art Exhibit Opens October 19 at Beck Center

Beck Center for the Arts will present Making Pictures, an exhibition by Olwen O'Herlihy Dowling on display October 19 through November 19 in the Jean Bulicek Galleria at Beck Center. Guests are invited to attend an artist's reception on Friday, October 19 from 6 to 9 pm to meet Ms. Dowling and discuss her work. The reception and exhibit are free and open to the public. For gallery hours, call Beck Center Customer Services at 216.521.2540, ext. 10. Beck Center is located at 17801 Detroit Avenue in Lakewood. Free onsite parking is available.

The Making Pictures exhibit includes works by Dowling in oils, watercolors and intaglio copper etching. The title for the exhibit was inspired by her father Dan O'Herlihy a Hollywood actor who made motion pictures in the 1950s. O'Herlihy was always drawing pictures, primarily in ink and pen, of people and places in Ireland evoking memories of his past. This influenced Dowling to express herself through drawing and painting.

Born in Dublin, Ireland, Dowling immigrated with her family to the United States in 1947. She was raised in Malibu, California and later attendEd Smith College in Massachusetts. Dowling graduated from Smith with a major in Studio Art and a minor in Biology. "This work has allowed me to explore and combine my interest in the natural world with my art." explained Dowling. She now splits her time living and working in the west of Ireland and in North Chester, Massachusetts where she paints landscapes of the Berkshire Mountains and the surrounding rivers and lakes.

Dowling's paintings are in private collections throughout the United States and Europe. In recent years, she has exhibited at The James Joyce Gallery and The Hallward Gallery in Dublin, Ireland; National Arts Club New York with the National Society of Etchers; Springfield Museum, Smith College Alumnae Gallery, Sanford Gallery, Hosmer Gallery, and The Watkins Gallery in Northampton, Massachusetts.

For over two decades, Dowling worked in the professional theater. She has designed scenery for numerous theatrical productions, and has been producer, managing director, production manager, and stage manager for large and small professional theaters, as well as director of The Northampton Center for the Arts.

Dowling has a special Cleveland connection. She worked here in theater and lived on the west side of Cleveland for almost ten years. Her husband, actor and director Vincent Dowling served as Artistic and Producing Director of the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival, now known as Great Lakes Theater, from 1976 to 1984. "This exhibition and the return to Cleveland hold a very special place in my heart," said Dowling "I am truly delighted to be exhibiting at Beck Center where there are so many wonderful memories for me."

For more information about the artist and a calendar of upcoming art exhibits at Beck Center for the Arts, visit beckcenter.org.