Archive: Artists Selected for 2022

Nancy Lamb is a sculptor and painter of great versatility who blends aspects of whimsy, wit, and sophistication to create divers forms of art which never fail to delight and challenge.  Most notable are her recent oil paintings, which depict every aspect of social interaction, telling snapshot tales of interpersonal intrigue which entice the viewer to partake in the events so vividly portrayed—who are these people?  What do they mean to each other?  What do they tell us about the human condition?  Her characters, though nameless, haunt one after first acquaintance; they are our friends, our neighbors, our families, ourselves, thrust under the microscope in a way which rather brings to mind what Martians might see when they look at us.  As Ezra Pound once challenged writers to "make it new", never perhaps has a modern artist done so for that most ordinary of subjects—man. -Jeffrey Jackson

Anne Kelly Lewis, ISA AM is a Fort Worth native and has been a patron of the arts since her early years. Anne is an Accredited Member of the International Society of Appraisers and a practicing appraiser and owner of Fine Art Appraisal LLC since 2012. After graduating from the College of Charleston with a degree in Arts management she moved to Dallas and was gallery director, art appraiser, and then auction director the American and Texas regional fine art gallery, David Dike Fine Art for over 11 years. Anne has been involved in the appraisal field serving as President of the Foundation for Appraisal Education and the North Texas Chapter of ISA, both at which she planned educational seminars for appraisers and supports the field. She returned to Fort Worth in early 2020 with her family.

I am predominantly a ceramic artist who makes wheel thrown vessels, handmade tiles and tile mosaics using a variety of methods.  My original designs have evolved over forty years as a full-time artist. I continue to explore new glaze techniques, form and color.  I attended the Pretoria Art School at the College for Advanced Technology in Pretoria South Africa and The University of Texas at Arlington where I focused on ceramics and sculpture.  After returning to Texas, I became a full-time ceramic artist selling as well as exhibiting my ceramics throughout the Southwest. I also started teaching throwing and Raku firing workshops. In time I developed a strong signature technique for my contemporary ceramics.  Most of my vessels are thrown on the potter’s wheel. When working with my new Crystalline glazes I use white percaline clay and zinc-based glazes. I actually grow crystals in my glazes using ridiculously complicated firing schedules.  I have created several outdoor ceramic mosaic murals in Fort Worth, Texas. My latest Public Art project was designing 12 panels for the Iron Horse Station for TexRail at the North Richland Hill Station, installed March of 2022.  September 2014, I designed and installed a 233’ recycled glass tile mosaic reflecting the natural prairie grasses and flowers native to Grand Prairie Texas. This was a public art project for the City of Grand Prairie funded in part by a National Endowment for the Arts grant.  Along with my husband glass artist Raymond Rains and our dog Barney Summers I own and operate Cliff House Studio and Gallery in Fort Worth, Texas.

Peeler Howell is one of our Prize Judges this year! Peeler Howell is a third generation Fort Worthian. He graduated from Trinity Valley School after 13 years, and then earned degrees in philosophy and history at TCU. After a Masters of Liberal Arts study at TCU, Peeler worked for the Texas House of Representatives as a district director for four years before a career in political consulting doing social media data analysis. In 2017 he became the gallery manager at William Campbell Contemporary Art. He and JW Wilson established Fort Worth Contemporary Art Partners in March of 2020. As the president of Fort Worth Contemporary Art Partners, he and the other partners purchased the gallery in December of 2020. In addition to the existing gallery space, the partners are opening a second gallery space on Foch Street. He and his wife Trish have three delightful children, Christopher, Nolan, and Evie, a jovial Labrador, Elinor, and a surly cat, Tonto.  

Lauren Saba attended Northwestern University from 1995 through 1997 as a Theater Major, and graduated from U.T.A.  in 2001 with a degree in Art History and a double minor in Painting and Spanish. While at U.T.A. she studied under and was the personal assistant to artist and curator Benito Huerta. She credits him as her first true mentor. In 1998, she began exhibiting her  own artwork and it was here that her network to fine artists began. Between 2000 and 2004, Childs co-founded The United Voice Collective (UVC) in DFW for music, fashion, writing, architecture, and contemporary art. She served as Vice President and exhibited  as a featured artist for the organization. From 2003 to 2012 she owned and operated Sandscapes, a luxury refinishing company specializing in Faubois, Metallic Leafing, Furniture Restoration, and Verre Eglomise. Her clientele included primarily luxury corporations  and high-net-worth and high-profile individuals. Childs was trained by several European Masters, while also training directly under the CEO and head product developer and chemist Ray Sanders, of Faux Effects International. She was an instructor in Addison,  TX and Vero Beach, FL from 2008-2010. During this time she received the distinct honor of being inducted into The International Salon. The Salon is now recognized as the most important and significant gathering of decorative painters in the world, and includes  only around 100 artists selected globally. In 2014, Saba and J.W. Wilson founded Fort Works Art as a pop-up gallery and event space at Shipping & Receiving in Fort Worth’s Southside. In 2016, Fort Works Art opened as a brick-and-mortar gallery in Fort Worth’s  Cultural District. Showcasing some of the most important emerging contemporary artists internationally, she has taken the gallery to Miami’s Art Basel, and New York City during Armory Week to exhibit Fort Works Art. Childs has curated over 70 exhibitions and  worked with over 1000 artists. Also in 2016, she began Gallery of Dreams, a nonprofit organization with a mission to support local artists and youth residing in the Metroplex. Her own artwork has shown in Texas, Brooklyn, New York City, and Miami during Art  Basel at SCOPE. She has been a juror for exhibitions at galleries, community centers, schools, and art fairs. Childs is a benefactor of local artists and arts organizations, and has provided instrumental support to the growing art scene in Fort Worth, TX for  over 20 years.

S. Janelle Montgomery is an art historian and curator living in Fort Worth, Texas. She grew up in North Texas before moving to Chicago, where she received a BA in Politics, Economics, Rhetoric, and Law and an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago. Later, she returned to school to study art history, graduating with an MA from TCU in 2017. Ms. Montgomery has taught Art History at TCU and the University of North Texas. She has also served in curatorial roles at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, the Amon Carter Museum, and the Kimbell Art Museum. She is currently a Gentling Fellow at the Amon Carter Museum of America Art.