Linden Gallery and Barnsite Gallery Join Forces: Both promote artwork and learning on the Door Peninsula and abroad

The Linden Gallery and the Barnsite Gallery/Kewaunee Academy of Fine Art recently announced a cooperative agreement to jointly promote and market fine art, folk art and a broad range of Asian antiques from their three independent Wisconsin galleries. This agreement will be the basis for extensive educational and cultural programming to take place at both the Kewaunee Academy and The Linden Center in China.

"We have watched the development of the Barnsite Gallery and Kewaunee Academy of Fine Art with great interest and admiration. The synergies between the Kewaunee school and our own cultural retreat in China are many," said Brian Linden, owner of Linden Galleries in Door County, Madison and China. "We will continue to present one of North America's largest collections of Asia's master Artists in wood, stone, fiber and paintings along with dynastic antiques which will be marketed by all three galleries. Our eight months of sourcing in Asia will now be greatly complemented and enhanced by Barnsite Gallery’s extensive collection of leading oil painters."

Norma Bell, Owner of the Barnsite Gallery, commented that "Barnsite Gallery, following the mission of Oil Painters of America, is dedicated to preserving representational art from domestically and internationally known artists. We welcome the opportunity to work with the Lindens and their well-known collections. Our artists will be encouraged to have paintings available for the Linden Galleries in Ellison Bay and Madison and will help lead art courses throughout Asia. Exhibitions of our teachers' and students' works will also be held in major cities throughout Asia."

As the Lindens plan to finalize the renovation of their buildings in Yunnan and open China's first cultural retreat, the Barnsite Gallery will begin actively assisting the promotion of the cultural learning opportunities at the Linden Center. Linden stated that the experience of conceptualizing, establishing, staffing and operating the Kewaunee Academy of Fine Art, prepared Bell well for assisting in the promotion of the Linden Center. The inaugural event will be three- and five-week mentored painting experiences covering three Chinese cities in April 2008.

In celebration of Linden’s tenth Anniversary in Ellison Bay and the announcement of cooperation with the Barnsite Gallery, The Linden Gallery will host demonstrations and presentations by two of Barnsite Gallery's leading artists, Scott Tallman Powers and Marci Oleszkiewicz during Labor Day weekend.

Scott will present an oil painting demonstration from 10 am – 1 pm on Saturday, September 1, 2007 with Louis Smolak, Russian born bronze sculptor.

Marci will present an oil painting demonstration from 10 am – 1 pm on Sunday, September 2, 2007 from 10 am – 1 pm, with Jacob Kodanko, seaman and ship builder. Both demonstrations will be held at the Linden Gallery.

A movie introducing the China Center and details on the jointly-hosted plein air tours of southwest China will be shown to the public on Sunday evening, September 2 at 6 pm in the Jens Jensen Center at the Clearing in Ellison Bay.

For more information contact Linden Gallery at 920.854.2487 or Barnsite Gallery at 920.388.4391.