by Kelly Rogge
Ruthie Ingram will be the featured artist at Kansas City Kansas Community College’s The Gallery starting next month.
The exhibit and art sale, “Drawing You Closer,” is free and open for public viewing from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday-Thursday beginning March 10.
An opening reception from 4 to 7:30 p.m. March 6 is also free and open to the public. The exhibit closes March 27. If individuals would like to view the exhibit during alternate times, an appointment can be made. The Gallery is in lower Jewell building on the KCKCC Main Campus, 7250 State Ave.
Ingram is a life-long resident of Kansas City, Kan., and currently takes classes at KCKCC.
She is a self-taught artist who began her career as an illustrator while still in high school in Kansas City, Kan. She worked for years as an illustrator, designer and art director at area advertising and publishing companies and has done work for companies such as Hallmark, Anheuser-Busch and Nabisco.
Her works are collected nationwide, and several of her original oil paintings are part of the Miller Brewing Company corporate collection.
Ingram was awarded “Best of Show” and “Best of Drawing” at the 2009 American Royal Western Art Show and has been featured at competitions and galleries in Kansas, Missouri and at the “Journeys Through Cancer: Art of Healing and Hope” juried art exhibition, in Towson, Md.
Ingram works primarily in pastel and graphite and occasionally in oil. Her style has developed to feature paintings inspired by 19th century photography.
“Combining art with history, I endeavor to create art which captures the culture and character of noble people,” said Ingram. “It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words, but my goal is to create a work of art to inspire a thousand words – paintings that will reveal more than the subjects rendered, suggesting a story and a history.”
Kelly Rogge is the public information supervisor at Kansas City Kansas Community College.