April Guest Artist Bernie Wilkie
Presentation of his best community murals.
The first of April will begin with a visually inspiring presentation for ESAL members. Bernie Wilkie will return to update us on his latest (and he believes his best) community mural. This will be the most recent of the 85 he has done to date. His work as a visual artist centers around large-scale community murals, teaching, and studio artwork. This desire to bring inspiring art into shared spaces has been the driving force of his career. After receiving his M.F.A. in 2001, he became a Community Muralist and Teaching Artist instead of pursuing a career in academia. His vision is to continue to utilize the power of art to strengthen communities and cultivate personal and societal wellness through beauty and collaboration.
His passion for art has led him to be an active teacher with grade schools, colleges, and in therapeutic settings such as youth homes and prisons. His work with students in permanent curriculum-based murals allows the students do most of the work from design to completion as they explore with a wide range of materials — including video and movement — to help synthesize what they are learning.
He also pursues his individual studio work – a body of paintings and mixed media works (called Innerscapes) that show life, color, and energy inside traumatized physical bodies. His studio work has been featured in over 35 juried exhibitions.