Tom Prochaska and Christy Wyckoff: In the Footsteps of Charles Heaney

For immediate release: April 21, 2015
Media contact: Andrea Foust
Membership and Public Relations Manager
Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University | 503-370-6867
Public contact: 503-370-6855 | museum-art@willamette.edu

Tom Prochaska and Christy Wyckoff: In the Footsteps of Charles Heaney

SALEM, Ore. — A new exhibition, "Tom Prochaska and Christy Wyckoff: In the Footsteps of Charles Heaney," opens May 9 and continues through July 19 in the Print Study Gallery at Willamette University’s Hallie Ford Museum of Art.

In September of 2014 Oregon artists Tom Prochaska and Christy Wyckoff set out to follow in the footsteps of artist Charles Heaney (1897-1981), who was a significant mid-20th century Oregon artist known for his paintings and prints inspired by the landscape and settlements of Central, Eastern, and Southern Oregon as well as Nevada.

The exhibition features approximately 30 drawings created by the artists’ during their recent road trip as they traveled and camped at various places identified in Heaney’s work. The exhibition also includes comparative works by Heaney, drawn from the permanent collection of the Hallie Ford Museum of Art.

“Although Heaney was on our minds as we worked at sites connected to him,” Wyckoff explains, “we primarily responded in our individual ways to the landscape in front of us rather than making ‘art about art.’”

Prochaska and Wyckoff will present a free illustrated talk about their project on June 14, at 2:00 p.m. in the Roger Hull Lecture Hall at the museum.

This exhibition has been organized by Professor Emeritus of Art History and Senior Faculty Curator, Roger Hull. Financial support for the exhibition has been provided by grants from the City of Salem’s Transient Occupancy Tax funds, the Oregon Arts Commission and a Career Opportunity Grant from the Oregon Arts Commission.

About the artists

Tom Prochaska is a painter, printmaker, and sculptor who earned his Master of Fine Arts degree at the Pratt Institute and taught at the Pacific Northwest College of Art from 1988 until his retirement in 2013. He has exhibited throughout the United States and abroad.

Christy Wyckoff earned his MFA degree at the University of Washington and taught for 33 years at the Pacific Northwest College of Art, retiring in 2012. A printmaker, he has exhibited widely and was represented in the Tacoma Art Museum’s 2014 survey "Ink This! Contemporary Prints in the Northwest." He is the recent recipient of a Career Opportunity Grant from the Oregon Arts Commission in support of a number of projects including his involvement with "In the Footsteps of Charles Heaney."

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About the Hallie Ford Museum of Art
Oregon's third largest art museum features works by Pacific Northwest and Native American artists, and includes a diverse collection of traditional European, American and Asian art, as well as artifacts that date from antiquity. Frequently changing exhibitions include lectures, special events, tours, artist demonstrations and educational opportunities for children and adults.

The museum is located at 700 State St. in Salem. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. The galleries are closed on Monday. General admission is $6, $4 for seniors and $3 for students 18 and older. Students 17 and under and children are admitted free. Admission is free for everyone on Tuesdays. For more information call 503-370-6855 or visit willamette.edu/go/hfma.