The Orphanage in Yuma will host the works of four local artists and one Loveland artist during September.
The five artists are Yuma residents Linda Chabot, Lu Lillich, Margie Chance and June Andrews. The Loveland artist is Ron Becker. The artists will display works ranging from portraits to landscapes to eclectic lamp sculptures.
Linda Chabot has enjoyed drawing, painting, and other arts, and crafts since childhood. Growing up on a farm in Morgan County, she started to hone her artistic abilities on her own when she was in high school. Linda moved to Yuma with her young family in the late 1960’s, where she continued to dabble with her artwork.
It wasn’t until the mid-1970’s that Linda took her first formal art class. Through the 70’s and 80’s she became an active member and officer in the Yuma Art Association (YAA). The YAA hosted many professional talents that helped build her skills with different media and techniques. Linda also took numerous art classes thru local colleges. She entered and excelled in many art shows throughout northeast Colorado and has sold several pieces over the years.
Luella Lillich did not develop an interest in art until after she finished high school. Her very first art study was from a drawing book by Jon Gnagy, America’s original TV art instructor. Lu has experimented with several different media and is accomplished in oil, watercolor, and pastel. She has exhibited, along with her good friends Leta Smith and Jan Jenzel, at the Yuma County Fair and other venues in Yuma, Wray, Brush, and Sterling.
Lillich has taken art lessons from Jan Jenzel of Yuma, Darrel “Skip” Elliot, a traveling artist from Taos, New Mexico, and Larry Prestwich of Sterling, among others. Lu now owns Lu’s Gallery, 701 South Buffalo Street, Yuma, CO.
Margie has been accepted in several juried shows in Sterling and Greeley. She taught for several years through the Community Education program that is held in Yuma. She is a member of the Yuma Art Association and has entered many shows in and around the Yuma area.
Margie also studied under Darrel “Skip” Elliot, from Taos, New Mexico, Rose Edin of Minnesota, Leslie Mayer of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Walt and Olive Green of Greeley.
Having a degree in art, June Andrews taught at the old North School. She has also taught classes in pastels at “Lu’s Art Coop”. June works mostly in pastels and has exhibited her work in Yuma, Wray, and Sterling.
Also on display, during the month of September, will be a selection of automotive inspired lamps by Ron Becker, Loveland resident. Ron has long been a collector with interests that range from cameras to model airplanes to John Deere toys. Two years ago he decided to start producing lamps using some of his car parts and pieces. Some of Ron’s lamps remind you of steampunk art, an art and culture movement inspired by the industrial revolution.
Becker is a member of the Vintage Motor Car Club of America (VMCCA) and has donated several of his lamps to the VMCCA to use as fundraisers. Ron figures he has created over 125 lamps since 2019 and has donated or gifted a little over 50 of those to family and friends and the VMCCA.
This impromptu art show is titled Yuma Art Association Sampler and runs from Sept. 3 through Sept. 26 at the Orphanage, 300 S. Main Street, Yuma. Hours for the exhibition are 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, 1 p.m.-4 p.m. on Sunday, closed Mondays. A meet-the-artists reception will be held Friday, Sept. 3 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
