Selma Art Guild set to showcase Frances Lanier’s work

Published 9:55 pm Wednesday, July 11, 2012

One of 27 paintings by Frances Lanier that will be shown in the Selma Art Guild Gallery on Sunday, July 15. Lanier was a former resident and artist in Selma who passed away in June. -- Ashley Johnson

Some members of the Selma Art Guild are taking some paintings down in their homes and digging them out of the attic. On Sunday, July 15, the Art Guild will host a tribute to the late Frances Lanier and most of the paintings brought in to the exhibit are from the homes of those in the Art Guild.

Lanier moved to Selma in the 1980s to retire from her career in graphic design in California. She partly moved to Selma because her best friend from Huntingdon College, Kathryn Tucker Windham, resided here.

Lanier passed away shortly over a month ago at the age 95, but her legacy continues and will be celebrated on Sunday.

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“Frances was such an extremely talented artist and her work has such a variety,” Art Guild treasurer Cam Guarino said. “Those of us who knew her loved her. It’s outstanding work anyone who hasn’t seen it should come and see it.”

There are 27 works in the exhibit that showcase Lanier’s different facets of style, ranging from mostly watercolor works to abstract and surreal. Guarino said she thinks she has so many different styles and types of mediums because Lanier was an artist for so long. The exhibit on Sunday will also celebrate Lanier’s birthday and the show features her oils, watercolors and woodblock prints.

“She was a tiny person, I think she was barely five feet tall, but her work is bigger than her, its huge,” Guarino said. “She has still life, landscapes, people … her work is very expressive.”

Lanier was featured in John Siegels’ book, “Facing South: Portraits of Southern Artists,” and her work is known throughout Alabama.

The reception at the Selma Art Guild Gallery will be from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Some of the works on display include a watercolor The Spirals of Selma, a portrait of a young girl done on cardboard and some watercolors of Market Day.