Mills featured at Poplar Bluff museum

Editor's note: Due to the threat of bad weather the opening reception has been postponed.

An opening reception will be held from 1-4 p.m. Sunday, March 10, at the Margaret Harwell Art Museum for “Mills of South Missouri, Paintings by Dave Carter.”

The March exhibit focuses on oil paintings that capture a by-gone way-of-life that was a key to life in the region until recent history, according to organizers. These structures embody the marriage of industry and nature, where water power was channeled for hydro energy to grind the grains of area farmers’ harvests, said Steve Whitworth, director of the MHAM.

“Dave has traveled all over the state, seeking out these existing mills and capturing their beauty in oil on canvas,” said Whitworth.

Carter will speak at 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Refreshments will be served.

The artist received a bachelor’s degree in Studio Art from Northeast Missouri State University (now Truman State University) in Kirksville, with concentrations in painting, ceramics and photography.

In an artist’s statement, Carter quotes Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, saying, “Nature is a revelation of God; Art is a revelation of man.” He feels it describes the two paths of his artwork, traditional paintings of landscapes that are comforting to the spirit and abstracted works to stimulate the soul, according to a profile from the Missouri Artisans Association.

As a visual artist, Carter says his job is to react and respond to any and all aspects of existence as it appears materially, as it is experienced rationally/intuitively, and as it is discerned metaphysically.

“As a culture, we need all of them to maintain a balance of familiar expectations, exploratory comprehension and adventurous surprise,” Carter said.

He currently lives in Cape Girardeau, and was the featured artist/speaker for Capital Arts in Jefferson City in 2018.

The museum is open from noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 1-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Additional funding is provided by the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency.