Bert Gallery

A Panel Discussion with Ruth Dealy & Thomas Sgouros with Moderator Catherine Bert / Thursday June 19, 6:30pm at Bert Gallery

The upcoming program is a panel discussion on painter Gordon Peers (1909 -1988) from the point of view of Rhode Island School of Design colleague, Thomas Sgouros, and painting student, Ruth Dealy. Thomas Sgouros was an assistant to Peers, and then became the Department Chair of Illustration, when Gordon was Chair of the Painting Department at RISD. Ruth Dealy had Peers as a painting instructor during her student years at RISD.

There are many friends, colleagues and students in Rhode Island today, who knew Gordon Peers or were intrigued by his art. This panel provides an opportunity to discuss and document aspects of his life, work, and teaching philosophy, as well as his impact on the Rhode Island arts community.

The backdrop for the panel discussion is the current Bert Gallery exhibit, Painter Gordon Peers (1909 – 1988): Transformation During the War Years, which is on view until June 27th. The show features the work of painter and former RISD professor Gordon Peers, exhibiting important works from different stages of his life. The show highlights the stylistic range of this talented artist. Earlier works reflect Peers’ technical discipline, while the later works bring out a more mature, experimental style, always maintaining an introspective approach to the painting process.

Ruth Dealy is a graduate from Rhode Island School of Design and has lived and worked in Providence for 34 years. She is an accomplished painter, earning awards from the Rhode Island State Council for the Arts and the Pell Award for Excellence. Her landscapes reflect her honest approach to painting, as she wants, she says, “to paint directly from my eye to my hand, without the shadow of editorial opinion falling in between.”

Thomas Sgouros is internationally known for his illustrations and watercolors. He was a prominent Professor of Illustration at RISD and earned the Claiborne Pell Award for lifetime achievement in 2001 and is included in private and museum collection around the country. Despite suffering from macular degeneration for the last decade and no longer able to distinguish between colors, Tom continues to paint, primarily from memory, creating powerful canvases, full of emotional expression.