Local Artists Featured in the Gallery at Mat-Su College

This upcoming academic year is going to be a busy one for the Gallery at Mat-Su College. Exciting artists with ties to Alaska will be presenting their unique creations to students, and everyone is invited!

The Gallery at Mat-Su College is overseen by the campus's Fine Art Professor, Michelle Mishaan. She says, "Since moving to Alaska two years ago, I have awakened to a new depth of experience—one grounded in lived presence and an active engagement with the now." She is using that experience to inform her own art, as well as her plans for the Gallery.

Ken Harris is a local artist who could not escape the pull of his Alaskan roots. His mother was from Chignik, and his father was from California. He was raised in Northern California, where he became interested in watercolor in his early teen years. He studied art at community colleges in California and has continued a lifelong study of drawing and painting on his own.

Ken and his wife, Connie, now call the Matanuska Valley home—but for Ken, it is also his inspiration. These days, much of his work focuses on landscapes and wildflowers of Alaska and scenes of the Valley.

Ken's solo watercolor opening will be held on November 7th in campus room FSM 200 from 4 pm to 6 pm.

Fueled by a deep love of the arts, Diane Paoletti began her journey learning from the European Old Masters, but on her own time. She studied their techniques and methods and now shares what she has learned. Since 2011, Diane has taught oil painting in her studio in Palmer, Alaska. She believes it is her privilege to teach the means of making art, not the ends, hoping to give students the skills they need to express their own creative ideas.

Diane's solo show opening will be held on February 6th in campus room FSM 200 from 4 pm to 6 pm.

Rarefied Light is Alaska's largest annual fine art photography exhibition, and it will be returning to the gallery at Mat-Su College. It is being curated this year by Stephanie Johnson, a globally recognized leader and mentor of Intentional Camera Movement (ICM) and creative photography.

Rarefied Light 2025 opens on March 20th in campus room FSM 200 from 4 pm to 6 pm.

More openings are being planned, and details will be shared when available. Coming this September, look for the Portrait Society of Alaska's opening. Then in April and May, Mat-Su College students will steal the spotlight with back-to-back openings.

All openings at the Gallery at Mat-Su College are free and open to the public. Professor Mishaan says, "Art is a conversation—between artist, viewer, and context—and every viewer brings something unique to that exchange." She recommends attendees ask themselves four simple questions when at an opening:

What emotions or thoughts does the work provoke in you?How does the artist use materials, composition, and space to communicate meaning?What cultural, historical, or personal references might be embedded in the work?Can you find connections between the artwork and your own life or environment?

For more information on art or other subjects taught at Mat-Su College, please visit www.matsu.alaska.edu.