Craig Kausen to Speak at Colorado Springs Fine Art Center

On Saturday, December 3rd at noon, Craig Kausen, the grandson of animator and Oscar-winning director Chuck Jones, will give a special presentation in the Music Room of the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center where he will discuss his grandfather’s work.During the “Golden Age” of animation, Chuck Jones helped bring to life many of Warner Bros.’ most famous characters and created characters such as Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, Marvin Martian, Pepe le Pew, and many others. Jones also directed the 1966 television special, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. After the talk, join collector Bill Heeter in the galleries to learn more about his private collection of original animation cels and ephemera. Please RSVP for this event, as there is limited seating, by emailing boxoffice@csfineartscenter.org or calling 719.477.4310. For more information about the exhibit and the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center, click here.

Path of Pilgrimage, An Exhibition of Paintings by Joshua Smith

THE PATH OF PILGRIMAGENew Works by Joshua Smith

An Inspire Exhibition at the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity

Opens October 13th

Costa Mesa, CA, September 1, 2015: Artists are often asked where their inspiration comes from; when Orange County artist, Joshua Smith, is asked that question he is quick to respond that he relies on his dreams and his faith for inspiration. Working in a vortex of color and often on over twenty varying sizes of canvas at a time, Smith, not unlike the dreams he credits with inspiring his work, paints in a fever of remembrance, memory, mysticism, and metaphor.  

“I take my visual clues from architecture and from religion, allowing my paintings to be a reflection of art and of my faith,” says Smith, “and like a small child, I fanaticize my surroundings, the sky’s the limit.” A technically proficient oil painter, Smith, with his Masters in fine art from Hartford Art School at the University of Hartford, Connecticut, approaches his work like a metaphysical journey through some unknown reality; he believes in the omnipotence of the dream, the fantasy.

With his emphasis on landscape, his colors lay one on top of the other in a powdery mist of memory; chairs, paths, trees, butterflies, nests, and small home-like structures stand in lonely isolation, but still he imbues each canvas with the emotion of hope and of home. The paintings’ dense, fragile surfaces and areas of multi-chromatic richness recall ancient wall frescos. 

“The Center is thrilled to present this Inspire Exhibition of work by the artist, Joshua Smith,” says Craig Kausen, chairman of the board and Chuck Jones’s grandson. “His work, like that of other great artists, inspires each of us to view our world a little differently, with faith and hope; and, perhaps, to question our responsibility to the world around us.”

Opening night reception for the artist is Tuesday, October 13 from 7 to 9 PM at the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity, 3321 Hyland Ave., Suite A, in Costa Mesa at the South Coast Collection (SoCo). The reception is free and open to the public. The exhibit will close on November 30. A portion of proceeds benefit the programs of the Center, a 501(c)3 public charity.

A graduate of the Hartford Art School, University of Hartford (Connecticut) with a Masters in painting, Smith received his undergraduate degree at the Laguna College of Art & Design.  He has participated in over 30 group exhibitions and more than 25 solo exhibitions in the past 10 years. Awarded the prestigious Best New SOLO Artist at the New York International Art Expo in 2007, Smith recently exhibited at the Carousel du Louvre with the Socièté Nationale des Beaux. He has been involved in numerous projects with The Guildford Handcraft Center, taught as adjunct professor at the Hartford Art School and has been exhibition curator at the Nathan J Gallery, Farmington, Ct. Currently, he lives in Orange County with his wife and two children.

The Playful God of a Manic Valhalla

In tomorrow's New York Times, a wonderful art review by Ken Johnson of the exhibit at the Museum of the Moving Image, "What's Up, Doc? The Animation Art of Chuck Jones".

"It Takes Character" Laguna College of Art & Design Student Exhibition Reception--May 20, 2014

Last night, the Center was the epicenter for student art from Laguna College of Art & Design. Selected by the Chairs of the Animation and Illustration Departments at the college, Dave Kuhn and Michael Savas, respectively, 50 works of art were on display at the Center by 22 students, from freshmen to graduating seniors. President of the college, Jonathan Burke, was so moved by the quality of the work that he selected several works for the college's permanent collection. The students exhibiting are: Ye Htut Aung, John Bajet, Justin Bechtold, Autumn Bell, Jenny Calabro, Courtney Candelario, Melissa Chen, Gabriel Del Valle, Catherine Esquerra, Ludia Fenwick, Ashleigh Izienicki, Audrey Jung, Cheryl Kook, Jasmine Lee, Clayton Lindvall, Kristen Maslanka, Breanne Paulsen, Alex Salyer, Michael Scarberry, Sharlene Tuiasoa, Michael Wansing, and Jesse Yang. To view photos from the reception, click here!The exhibit will close June 30. The Chuck Jones Center for Creativity is located at 3321 Hyland Ave., Suite A in Costa Mesa, California.

"What's Up, Doc? The Animated Art of Chuck Jones" Exhibit Opens at LSU, Baton Rouge!

 Robin Miller, writing in Sunday's "The Advocate" (the daily newspaper in Baton Rouge, Louisiana), interviewed Craig Kausen, chairman of the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity and Chuck Jones's grandson. She begins the interview: 

"You stand among Bugs and Daffy and Porky and Pepe.

"Ah, yes, The ever-romantic Pepe Le Pew, who has been a part of your life since, well, when? Since you can remember — really remember — laughing? Since you first watched the fuse blow up in Wile E. Coyote’s face while the Roadrunner zooms by?

"Or could it be the realization that though the characters and gags haven’t changed through the years, your understanding of them has? That’s when it hits you, when you realize Chuck Jones’ Looney Tunes characters are a part of your life. No, it runs deeper than that. They’re as much a part of you as they are Craig Kausen." To read the entire article, click here.