Opening reception is Sept. 17 for new Museum exhibit

The paintings of Lucinda Mason and Margaret Wall-Romana will be on display at the North Dakota Museum of Art beginning Sept. 17. Margaret Wall-Romana will be present to speak about her work during the artist reception and gallery talk on Saturday, Sept. 17, at 5 p.m. The exhibition continues through Oct. 23.

Wall-Romana makes exquisite, beautiful, and romantic paintings of a sort seldom seen in contemporary art and most often relegated to greeting-card clichés. Rooted in both botanical art and abstracted painting, she integrates vines and leaves and grasses, imagined and real flowers, an occasional fallen feather or crumpled bird into veils of soft color that melt into abstraction. Originally from the San Francisco Bay area, the artist moved to Minneapolis six years ago.

Lucinda Mason’s final paintings, made before she died in 2007 at age 33, were inspired by astronomical phenomena such as star nurseries and nebula. These monumental abstract paintings also suggest images from the garden and the natural world. Mason was born in northern Vermont. She received her bachelor’s degree from Bennington College (1998) and her MFA from Montreal’s Concordia University (2005).

The North Dakota Museum of Art is located on Centennial Drive; hours are weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and weekends from 1 to 5 p.m. The Museum Shop is open during these hours. There is no general admission; however there is a suggested donation of $5 from adults and change from children. The Museum Café is open for lunch weekdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information call 701-777-4195 or visit www.ndmoa.com.