Jim Bray art exhibition opens September 30
Enid High School graduate Jim Bray’s art exhibition, “Vanishing Landscapes,” will open Monday, Sept. 30 and will be on display until Oct. 30 in the Marshall Building, rooms 100 and 101, at Northern Oklahoma College Enid. The exhibit is free and open to the public from 1-5 p.m. Monday through Friday when classes are in session. For group visits outside of normal exhibit hours, contact the NOC Enid administration office at (580) 548-2327 or email mary.skidmore@noc.edu.
Bray, of Joplin, Missouri has established an international reputation with his works in watercolor and collage.
One of his collage pieces, began in Japan, completed in the United States, and sold during a tour of galleries in Belgium and Germany, exemplifies his international experience. His work is also influenced by regular visits to the American Southwest, impressions from childhood in his native Oklahoma, and his interest in the “vanishing landscape” of rural America.
As a watercolor artist, Jim has signature status with the Kansas Watercolor Society and with the Oklahoma Watercolor Society, and has won numerous first place and best of show awards in national competitions. His most recent best of show award was at the Spiva membership show in Joplin, Missouri.
Having traveled extensively, Bray has also taught and exhibited in Japan and Scandinavia, where he has developed a following based at the Folkhogskola, or people’s college, in Mullsjo, Sweden. He also teaches workshops at the Folk University in Jonkoping, Sweden.
His graphic design work has repeatedly won top honors at Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) national conferences throughout the United States. Also during his career at Phillips University his design group won several sweepstakes awards in national competitions.
Currently retired, living in Joplin, Mo., Bray was head of the art department at Missouri Southern State University for 12 years, and taught courses in watercolor painting, life drawing, and typographic design. He also taught Scandinavian art history classes as part of the “Summer in Sweden Program,” which he helped initiate in 1992.
Professor Bray was formerly Art Department chair at Phillips University Enid, where he taught graphic design, serigraphy, watercolor painting and life drawing. At Phillips University he served as director of university publications for many years and conducted several student and alumni tours throughout Scandinavia, Europe, and the former Soviet Union. Also, he taught semesters in Sweden in 1977 and 1990 and, in 1989, traveled to Phillips University Japan, Ugi-Kyoto, to teach graphic design and painting to Japanese art majors.
Prior to teaching at Phillips University Bray was employed by Hallmark Cards in Kansas City as a designer/illustrator, art recruiter and art director for the Contemporary Design Studio.
A frequent judge of fine art competitions, Bray has also conducted numerous workshops in watercolor and collage techniques. A number of his works are featured in Gerald Brommer’s book, Collage Techniques, (Watson-Guptill, 1994).
His paintings and collages are currently shown in Joplin, Mo., Nashville, Tenn. and Design 701, in Jonkoping, Sweden. Bray’s work is also included in many private collections in the United States, Scandinavia, Europe and Japan.
