Art on the Walls opens at Clark Fork Valley Hospital

The latest installment in the “Art on the Walls” series at the Clark Fork Valley Hospital was unveiled on Thursday featuring the talents of area artists. A wide variety of styles and mediums graced the walls down the hall from the main entrance to the hospital.

Photography of tropical beaches and pristine waters by Andrew Gonzalez mingled with intricately detailed pastels of wildlife by Mary McClenahan on the walls of the hallway. Woodcarvings by John Meckler perched next to richly textured acrylics of nature scenes by Kenton Pies.

Oil based water lilies by Valerie Curtiss blended together amongst the prolific work of Rachel Gonzalez. The photography of Rodney Helterline displayed such detail the image appeared to be nearly three-dimensional.

“Spring Flowers” by Judy Horton was a satisfying contrast to the stark graphite “Soldier and Daughter” by art student Sadee Miller.

Accompanying the art show was musical entertainment provided by Sydne Connolly’s piano students and John Meckler and friends playing handcrafted instruments.

Plains resident and featured wood carving artist John Meckler said he taught himself how to carve the intricate patterns. Meckler said he has been carving wood for over 30 years.

“I thought it looked cool so I picked up a book and taught myself. You have to have an extremely sharp knife. One piece can take as long as 10 to 12 hours to complete. The pattern is what takes the longest to make,” said Meckler.

The Art on the Walls at CFVH is the brainchild of founder Gayle Keeney. During a stay at the hospital for pneumonia, Keeney wondered why there was no art on the hallway wall. Two weeks later, Keeney’s vision came to fruition as the first exhibit opened in October, 2007.