Carson City artist kicks off Legislative Exhibition Gallery

Carson City artist Cynthia Brenneman’s fascination with art started at a young age and has never wavered, even as she served her country in the U.S. Navy.

“My mother loved to sew,” Brenneman said. “One of my earliest memories was standing in my crib, holding an afghan of many colors that my mother had made. I don’t sew like my mother, but I love fabric. Fabrics creep into my paintings.”

This month, Brenneman’s exhibit, “The Fabric of Life,” will open the Nevada Arts Council’s Legislative eXhibition Series inside the Nevada Legislative Building. Throughout the 2019 Legislative session, the works of six Nevada artists will be featured. Brenneman’s work will be displayed through Feb. 22.

Brenneman’s exhibit features encaustic paintings, a technique which involves the use of heated beeswax to which colored pigments are added. The resulting liquid or paste is then applied to the canvas to create the artwork.

“Encaustic painting has allowed me to complete my vision and capture my mother’s love of fabric and sewing,” she said. “I paint the everyday scenes of life around me expressed in the bold patterns of color that only encaustic paints can conjure up.”

Brenneman has a degree in fine art from Rider University In Lawrenceville, N.J. The daughter of a Navy father, she enlisted in the Navy and served a 20-year career that included assignments in Spain, California, Virginia and Florida.

She has been a professional artist for more than a decade and has received numerous awards for her paintings. She and her husband, Steve, own the 140-year-old Bliss Mansion in Carson City’s Historic District and she manages the Carson City Arts and Culture Coalition’s website. She has also served on the Board of the Capital City Arts Initiative and has managed three Arts Coalition artist projects — a 50-foot photo banner displayed in downtown Carson City, a painted parasol project with a Nevada Day Float and a painted mannequin project.

As an arts advocate, her primary goal is to involve other artists in citywide projects.

Managed by Nevada Arts Council, the Legislative eXhibition Series (LXS) Gallery space is located on the first floor across from the Caucus Deli in the Legislative Building, 401 S. Carson St., Carson City. Since 1985, LXS has displayed artwork by 140 Nevada’s visual artists during the biennial legislative session.

Other Nevada artists scheduled for exhibition during the session include:

Feb. 25-March 15: Kate O’Hara, Reno, “Botanica Obscura,” illustration

March 18-April 5: Antonio Gomez, Las Vegas, “Desambiquación del Amor,” mixed media

April 80-26: Melissa Melero, Happy Valley, “Translating Paiute,” mixed media on canvas

April 29-May 17: Lolita Develay, Las Vegas, “Facts and Figures,” painting

May 20-June 7: Patricia Wallis, Reno, “Bits and Pieces of the Silver State,” painting

The artists were recommended by a committee that includes: Mark Salinas, Arts and Culture coordinator for Carson City and Nevada Arts Council Board member; Jerry Schefcik, director and curator of the Donna Beam Fine Art (UNLV Galleries) Las Vegas, and Nevada Arts Council Board member; Ryrie Valdez, former gallery owner of Ryrie’s Art & Home in Reno and Nevada Arts Council Board member; and Roger Wilkerson, chief of the administrative division, Legislative Counsel Bureau, Carson City.