The Johnson Center for the Arts exhibitions include nationally and internationally acclaimed artists but Alabama artists are at the heart of the Johnson Center.

“We are always excited to show the work of our Alabama artists,” said Wiley White, JCA exhibition coordinator. “Alabama can claim some of the most outstanding artists in all mediums including Gary Chapman and Terry Strickland, whose work is now on exhibit at the Johnson Center for the Arts in downtown Troy.”

Chapman’s “All Over the Place” and Strickland’s “Figuratively Speaking” exhibitions opened on March 1 and are attracting great interest among community patrons of the arts.

On Thursday, the JCA will host an artists’ reception from 6 until 8 p.m. for Chapman and Strickland who both live and work in the Birmingham area. There will be an ArtTalk featuring both artists at 6:30 p.m. Following the ArtTalk, the artists will take questions from the audience.

“The reception is a great opportunity for our community to come out and meet Gary and Terry and view their artwork, which is amazing,” White said. “Gary and Terry sent out invitations so we are expecting art patrons from the Birmingham area to be here as we recognize these outstanding Alabama artists.”

White said visiting artists are always complimentary of the Johnson Center, which they say is an outstanding space for art.

“Our last exhibition was found objects art,” White said. “These two exhibits, ‘All Over the Place’ and ‘Figuratively Speaking’ are different styles of art that balance each other. We invited the community to join us for the artists’ reception on Thursday night to show these Alabama artists’ how much we appreciate them.”

Chapman’s work was selected and published in  “Alabama Masters: Artists and their Work.” He has received grants and fellowships including a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Painting from the Southern Arts Federation, and Individual Artist Fellowships from the Alabama State Council on the Arts. The Joan Mitchell Foundation named Chapman a Legacy Artist. His work has been published in more than 20 catalogs and books. 

Strickland began devoting herself to painting full time in 2005. Her work has won numerous awards and been widely collected and published. Terry’s work, classified as Post-Contemporary Realism, is a combination of technical mastery and depth of content, in which skill and concept are held in equal regard. Strickland’s highly realistic and refined figurative paintings in oil have been shown extensively in galleries and museums throughout the United States.