QU Gray Gallery to Host Deby Gilley Art Exhibition

Quincy University’s Gray Gallery, located in Brenner Library, will host an art exhibition, featuring works by Deby Gilley of Aldrich, Ark. The exhibit will feature relief prints using linocuts and woodcuts. This free exhibition will take place from November 11 through December 12 and is open to the public.

A native of the Ozarks, Gilley grew up near Mountain Grove, Ark. and found a passion for art at an early age. She earned her teaching certification from Southwest Missouri State University, and her master’s in education and art from Southwest Baptist University. She taught art for K-12 grades for 25 years in northwest Arkansas before retiring in 2006. She currently teaches design, printmaking and art history at SBU as an adjunct professor.

Depending on the complexity, prints can take a great deal of time to make. Each print begins as a sketch on tracing paper, which Gilley then traces onto either linoleum or wood. She gouges out the negative area of the image using a lino cutter and then rolls ink over the work. She presses paper to the inked matrix for a test print. If she is happy with it, she will make a reproduction of the image and decide on the number of prints to make. Even though each print is technically the same, because they are hand done and not consistent, they are each considered an original work of art.  She enjoys creating images that reflect her Ozark heritage, as well as specific people who have touched her life and still-life scenes.

Gilley’s prints have been displayed in several galleries and juried art shows. Her works have been included in the Prints USA and MOAK shows at the Springfield Art Museum, the MO 50 Fine Art Exhibition at the Missouri State Fair, as well as Best of Missouri Hands and Silver Dollar City exhibits. Her works have been featured in Missouri Life magazine, and in 2011 one of her prints was among entries in the 2011 Irene Rosenweig Biennial Exhibit in Pine Bluff, Ark.

The Gray Gallery is open Monday – Thursday, 8:30 a.m. – 11 p.m.; Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.; Saturday, Closed; Sunday, 5 p.m. – 11 p.m.

For more information, contact Gray Gallery curator, Robert Mejer at mejerbob@quincy.edu.

Founded in 1860 by Franciscan friars, Quincy University (www.quincy.edu) is a Catholic, co-educational, residential university offering undergraduate, graduate, and adult education programs that integrate liberal arts, active learning, practical experience, and Franciscan values. Quincy University’s intercollegiate sports are members of the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Valley Conference for men and women. For more information, please contact the Quincy University Office of Community Relations by calling (217) 228-5275.