GREENSBURG – “Judy Glore: A Life in Art” opens Friday, Aug. 1, with a wine and cheese reception 4 to 7 p.m. on Friday, August 8 at Art on the Square Gallery, 114 E. Washington Street.
The pieces on display during the exhibition tell the story of Glore’s life after a long career as an art teacher in the Greensburg Community Schools system. It’s then that she began painting in earnest, simply for the joy it brought her and her many admirers.
The Daily News often featured Glore during those years. Various reporters from the newspaper wrote about her life and works, and those stories and photos have grown to a sizeable collection in the Daily News archives.
In 2017, her brilliant watercolor flowers were featured at a Second Friday reception at the gallery; “Blooming Colors” was the exhibition’s name, and it was her chance to use her delicate touch recreating nature’s most prized jewels.
In 2018, Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch chose Glore’s “The Muse” to hang in the Indiana Statehouse for a year.
That same year, Glore took home cash and winnings for Best of Show at the Rural Alliance for the Arts Community Art Show. Her entry was an impressionistic acrylic painting called “Stylin.”
In 2019, Art on the Square Gallery hosted an introspective of Glore’s works when she shared her watercolor streets of Spain and her batik collection. She loved to travel and see the world, so she shared her watercolor images of small mining towns in Europe.
In 2022, we learned more about Glore when she was featured in her own show at Amack’s Well in Batesville.
During an interview with the Daily News at the time, she talked about her challenging childhood with her father as she discussed the various pieces in the show.
“As you take in the selections you notice they seem to be based on happy times in her life,” the article read: “Glore paints because it’s fun. And that fun comes through clearly in each piece. Glore’s subjects and her absolute mastery of how the light affects them reveal an almost magical astonishment with life. And that astonishment is present in whatever pieces she creates, be it in acrylics, oils or watercolors.”
“Getting to know the artist means realizing that her wonder and amusement with life is an intentional choice. Therein lies a lesson for us all. She remembers a time when she ran away from her father. During that time, she had an epiphany of sorts. “’I just realized that I was ruining my life with hate. I hated my father, and it was poisoning every other area of my life. It wasn’t hurting anyone but myself, but it just tore my body and my soul apart.’” It was then that she decided then to stop hating. “And I haven’t hated since,” she told the interviewer. “Now I just love people and things, and I’m happy.”
“Judy Glore: A Life in Art” marks a long career in art. And her huge collection of works has become a tribute to her enormous talent and sensibilities.
She has stepped away from the artist easel, for now. Will she return? Only she knows.
We learned in a surprising interview during the Amack’s Well show in 2022 that it’s not her work she wants to be remembered for.
“I want to be remembered as someone who was kind,” she said. “Art is something that not only resides in the mind, but in the soul. It comes in through the eyes, and sometimes that’s as far as it goes. It touches you, but not as much as a great kindness does.”
“Judy Glore: A Life in Art” is on display through the month of August. The opening reception on is 4 to 7 p.m. Aug. 8. The event is free and open to the public.
Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 2 to 6 p.m. Friday, and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
Visit the gallery at www.artonthesquaregallery.com or call 812-663-8600.
