Artist Opening Reception: Sunday, November 9, 2014, 12 Noon to 1:30pm, Unitarian Universalist Church of Santa Monica, Forbes Hall. The show will run through Sunday, November 30 and is open to the public Sundays 9am – 1pm and on weekdays by appointment.

Please join us after the second service on Sunday, November 9, to meet and greet with renowned artist J Michael Walker as he presents “Angels Everywhere, Saints in Survivors.”

J Michael Walker was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas at a time, “when legalized segregation was in its clawing-in-the-dirt death throes, and…culture [was] standing on the wrong side of history.”  Having no formal artistic guidance, Walker explains, “creating art was my way to break free of the restrictions I experienced – social and class issues, cultural values, authoritarianism, a broken home – and as a consequence I never took, or took kindly to, structured or instructional art classes…so I remained largely self-taught.”

Walker experienced an artistic awakening upon visiting Mexico to spend two weeks in the northern region of Sierra Tarahumara, illustrating the first textbook in that region’s native dialect, “integrating myself into families and communities of mestizos and Tarahumaras provided perspective and understanding, and filled holes in my heart. And when I moved to Los Angeles to forge some kind of an art career, Mexico essentially ‘explained’ the city to me, its cultural roots churning beneath LA’s asphalt.”

J Michael Walker continues to use art as a way to express his feelings and observations – essentially a diary of how he sees the world. As Walker puts it, art helps him, “attempt to answer the questions that still plague me, and compensate for the wrongs I've witnessed; and…[offer] gratitude for the beauty and wonder I've been blessed to behold.”

Contact Nancy at assistant@uusm.org, 310-829-5436 ext. 102 for info or appointments.

Contact Beverly at balison@aol.com, for further info about the artist or about exhibiting on the Art Wall at UU Santa Monica.

UU Santa Monica; 1260 18^th Street (corner of 18^th and Arizona); Santa Monica 90404 map

Howard Marshall, Jr.

For over 20 years Howard Marshall, Jr. has produced sculptured figures and works on paper and canvas...while performing as a spiritual baritone singer in the Los Angeles community. He has exhibited his art in many galleries and educational institutions. He teaches art at schools and art centers throughout LA. On our gallery wall, Marshall has imaginatively taken themes and figures from African American spirituals and given them new visual expression in line drawings on paper.

— Shirlee Frank Chair, Gallery Wall Committee

Gilbert Johnquest

Gilbert Johnquest has a bachelor of fine arts in sculpture from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. He taught studio practices at Cleveland State University. Since moving to Los Angeles in 1979, he has exhibited in numerous galleries throughout the L.A. area.

Artist’s Statement: "Salvaging mystery: exploration of nature's relation to our evolutionary process, spirit and magic in art and our relations, influenced by everything—and then some."

A reception for the artist will be held on September 10 at 3 p.m. in Forbes Hall.