Bits & Pieces Exhibit Gallery Tour and Workshop

Bits & Pieces – Works by Harold Samtur – Gallery Tour & Workshop

Thursday, September 26 • 6-8 PM • Capp Center St. Paul • Herman J. Birnberg Fine Art Gallery

Join us for an evening of art, creation, and community. Harold will take us on a tour of his exhibit and then try your hand at making an original artwork from paint chips!

Art came later in life for Harold Samtur. After painting his rooms each a different color, he was left with a pile of paint chips – the colored cardstock samples one gets at a local hardware store. He proceeded to cut and paste them on a canvas with a special glue, and discovered a hidden talent for color and composition, despite never having taken an art class. “My motivation is to play with color, to create something pleasing to the eye, to edify, and to uplift the spirit,” states Samtur. He has expanded from the paint chip realm to Jewish-themed mandalas and traditional collage. Subjects range from Torah to environmental themes and folk-art style, horses, New Mexico, and abstract designs. Harold has won awards in Minnesota and Florida for his artwork.

Harold Samtur grew up in the 50’s and 60’s in the South Bronx. He graduated fifth in his class at the Bronx High School of Science, a public school that has graduated nine Nobel Prize winners. After pioneering an interdisciplinary program in Environmental Studies at the University of Rochester, he received a fellowship for his Masters in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Public policy work on recycling and waste reduction followed at EPA in Washington, D.C. His first glimpse of Minnesota came when he testified before its legislature and moved here in 1975 after defending a MN state law in court. Harold’s artwork reflects his commitment and dedication to upcycling and repurposing materials to create something meaningful.

For questions, please contact Robyn Awend at [email protected]