Paintings and sculptures from two regional artists will be featured in the OSU Museum of Art starting Monday, May 11, in honor of Malinda Berry Fischer’s dedication and advocacy for the arts and her deep roots in Stillwater.

The paintings of Gene V. Dougherty cover a broad range of subjects from the African landscape to historic scenes from the Old West, while Linda Lou Warren’s paintings and clay sculptures offer glimpses into her own life and family heritage.

The works of both artists will be featured together in the Malinda Berry Fischer Gallery at the Postal Plaza, a space in the museum that has been specifically dedicated by the OSU Foundation and the museum in honor of Fischer, who is a 2012 OSU Hall of Famer. A 1960 graduate of OSU, Fischer is president of Marietta Royalty Company and chairman of Thomas N. Berry & Company.

“Skies that Bind: Paintings by Gene V. Dougherty”will highlight the work of an accomplished Oklahoma artist who characterizes his work with an open, clear and refreshing realism. Dougherty’s experience with taxidermy as a young man gave him a technical understanding of animal musculature and proportion, a sense that comes through in the realistic beauty of each animal he’s painted.

Covering a broad range of subjects such as African landscape, historic scenes of the Old West, and wild turkeys in rural Oklahoma, he brings a feeling of presence and vibrancy to his work. Dougherty’s paintings have been exhibited in Taos, Santa Fe, and many locales in and around Oklahoma. He continues to paint every day in his Tonkawa art studio. 

Skies that Bind will showcase more than 20 works by Dougherty. The exhibition is on view from May 11 through Aug. 1, with an opening reception on Thursday, May 21, from 5 - 7 p.m. The reception will include an artist talk at 6 p.m. 

“Leaves on the Family Tree: Influences and Exchanges,”which is also on view in the Malinda Berry Fischer Gallery, is a celebration of artist Linda Lou Warren’s family lineages and the qualities of fortitude and perseverance that keep life going. The paintings and clay sculptures come from Warren’s past and tell a story of her life and those who came before her and shape her identity.

Her artwork illustrates the influence of Warren’s Irish, English, and Spanish roots, including the many individuals who helped her know who she is—the doctors, lawyers, preachers, real estate and insurance entrepreneurs, New York debutants, California fruit pickers, nurturing mothers and artists. The paintings and clay pieces are the language of her heritage. 

Leaves on the Family Tree will be on view from May 11 through Aug. 1, with a reception on Thursday, July 16, from 5 - 7 p.m. The reception will include an artist talk at 6 p.m. 

Movers and Shapers: Combines, Tractors, and Swathers presents large-scale paintings and related study drawings by mid-career Los Angeles artist Karen Carson depicting the machines that work behind the scenes to keep our supermarkets stocked and silos full.

Carson has lived part-time in rural Montana for the past decade and has explored in her work new ways of dealing with the grandeur of that natural setting. Known for her fearless experimentation,  she has created various series that deal with some of the most powerful forces of nature, including forest fires, waterfalls, and windstorms. She turns here to these gigantic motorized masters of nature that have obviated much of the hands-on labor of farming. With virtuosic brushwork and vibrant color, she celebrates these hulk-like machines, relishing their lumbering bodies, wide stances, and geometric appendages. With a sly sense of humor, she humanizes their forms, sublimating their aggressive power so that they appear as friendly, almost sensual giants. 

The exhibition is organized by the Oklahoma State University Museum of Art and curated by Michael Duncan, art critic and independent curator in Los Angeles, California.

The exhibition is on view June 1 - Aug. 29. All related programming below is free and open to the public.