WEST PLAINS, MO – The West Plains Council on the Arts (WPCA) and Ozarks Small Business Incubator (OzSBI) have partnered to bring quarterly art displays to the incubator. Local artist Nanci Harlin’s work will be featured inside OzSBI’s first floor September 25 through the end of December 2020. Visitors may view the display at the incubator during OzSBI’s business hours, anytime between 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. COVID-19 safety policies are in place.
“Images of our natural world come alive at the hand of Nanci Hardin,” WPCA Coordinator Janey Hale said. “Her works create for the viewer a sense of time and place in our world we don’t often get to see.”
A Meet-the-Artist event will be held on Thursday, October 15, from 2-4 p.m. in OzSBI’s lobby at 408 Washington Ave. in West Plains. The public is invited to attend, meet Harlin, view and discuss the pieces on display.
About the Artist
Born in the east where her love of art began, Harlin attended a Commercial art school in Boston after high school. She eventually moved to the Midwest where she returned to school and acquired her BS in Art Education from SMSU (now Missouri State University-Springfield). Harlin taught art in the public school systems in Missouri and Arizona for about 17 years, in addition to serving as judge for the Arizona Federal Junior Duck Stamp Competition, President of the Colored Pencil Society-Arizona Chapter, and serving on the Museum and Cultural Advisory Board-City of Mesa, AZ.
Harlin loves drawing animals, both wild and domestic, and also does western and some Native American themes. Her work is predominantly, but not exclusively, colored pencil. She also works in other media and has done several commission pieces. In addition, Harlin produces what is called ‘multiple originals’. These are essentially done in a numbered series. For instance, a wolf and an eagle series of 50. With the completion of each original requested by a client, pieces are signed and numbered like a print, i.e. 25/50. Purchasers each receive an original piece of artwork. They are, for the most part the same but may vary slightly, to make each piece unique.
Harlin’s artwork has received many awards in Missouri, Arkansas, and Arizona art competitions. Her freelance and published works include: Logo for Arizona Draft Horse Assn.; “Cool Dip: – Defenders of Wildlife – 4 printings of Notecards; “Canadian Cruise” – Canadian Wildlife Conservation – Duck Stamp, Manitoba 2000; “Wild Born”- Black Footed Ferret Project – Arizona Game & Fish Dept. – Prints; Cover Art – 3 years for Meadview, AZ Phone Directory; Hazelwoods – Southwest Fashion & Shirt Mfg.; and Freelance – “Print of the Year” for Furbearers Unlimited (sister organization to National Trappers Assn.)
‘My love of animals inspires me to create intimate portrayals of them,” Harlin says. “I want my viewers to sense the texture of a wolf’s fur and experience the power and intensity in the eyes of an eagle. To create a ‘sense’ of the animal rather than a mere portrait is my goal in each piece.”
For more information about the exhibit, contact OzSBI Program Administrator Brittany Simers at brittanysimers@ozsbi.com or WPCA Coordinator Janey Hale at jhale2129@gmail.com.
