Nurture – Carter, Cunningham & Irons

Additional Information

Old Main Gallery is pleased to feature Nurture, a group exhibition featuring new work by Richie Carter, TJ Cunningham, and Morgan Irons. An Opening Reception will take place on Friday, June 7th from 6-8PM. This event is free and open to the public.

For many Montanans, environmental stewardship and conservation seem to be second nature when discussing their interaction with the landscape. As we explore new ways to nurture the land we inhabit, we often overlook the nurturing qualities the land provides for us. From the wide open skies, to the soft golden wheat fields, to the crystal clear alpine lakes, Montana provides us with not only a place to call  home but with a grandeur that far exceeds many other places. In that grandeur we find solace, joy, nutrients, and comfort. The exhibition Nurture explores these relationships. Carter, Cunningham, and Irons depict the stories of humanity, family, loss and the land through their work in the exhibition Nurture.

Richie Carter was born and raised just outside of Kalispell, Montana.  Being brought up in a rural community of Northwest Montana, he developed an early sense of adventure and creativity, as one does when the woods are your only playground.  As a child, if he didn't have a pencil or crayon in his hand, he was building or making the latest idea he could conjure up, from tree houses to paper mâché sculptures. As Carter moved through school, it soon became apparent that he had a knack for drawing and painting.  His high school art classes served as an inspiring foundation to his fascination with realism and working from direct observation. Just like many artists of the field, he quickly became infatuated with the works of the Old Masters. While obtaining his BFA in Painting from The University of Montana, he spent a year abroad in Northern France studying the language, culture, and the rich tradition of painting.  Upon graduating in 2012, Carter has established his base once again in Kalispell where he works from his studio.

TJ Cunningham grew up in the quintessential, little New England town of Cambridge, Vermont, where he spent most of his time outdoors. The small farms, wooded hills and shallow streams of his boyhood haunts were fertile with inspiration. It was the perfect place to awaken a desire to create. Cunningham pursued this desire into adulthood by studying commercial art at Pensacola Christian College. It was there that he discovered oil paint. He often describes the experience as, “love at first sight.”

Since the beginning of Cunningham’s career in fine art, he has come to focus on the landscape and spends much of his time outdoors painting from life. His work continues to grow in notoriety. In 2014 Southwest Art highlighted Cunningham as one of America’s emerging artists in their annual “21 under 31” article and has received numerous awards. Despite his focus and success, Cunningham lives a well-balanced life. He and his wife share in the joy of three beautiful children.

Primarily a self taught painter, Morgan Irons began studying painting in 2015 following her move to a rural piece of land in Montana. It was then she began studying the work of master painters and has since sought out workshops with some of the top representational painters today, including Jeremy Lipking and Joshua LaRock. A figurative painter by nature, Irons believes in painting solely what she knows best, life on the land she lives. Her paintings are narrative and timeless in theme and palette. Irons has been a featured artist in Fine Art Connoisseur's "Artists to Watch", Southwest Art Magazine’s “21 Under 31: Young Artists to Watch in 2017”, and Big Sky Journal's "Ones to Watch". She is the recipient of the 2018 Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant for emerging figurative painters. Irons continues to grow as an artist in her small cabin located outside of Bozeman, Montana.