Imagine seven artists spending eight to ten days together traveling with their sketchbooks in hand from place to place on a beautiful Greek island in the Aegean Sea. They travel from beaches to forests to mountain villages to harbor side cafes. They visit museums and historical sites, a monastery on a hilltop and a cave that goes deep underground to connect one side of the island to another, as well as a burned out hillside that tells quite a story. They view the plight of refugees close up and they see the effects of global warming in ways that are powerful and that can’t be ignored. Then imagine the artwork that would emerge as a result of this journey from seven different artists with seven completely different points of view. This is what will be on display in the Speck Gallery of the Harrison Center during February, and it promises to be a fascinating exhibit. As one of the seven artists who experienced this trip, I can tell you that the experience of being in Samos last October has permanently changed me as an artist, and I believe that the same is true of the other artists who were part of this journey.

As most journeys do, this one began with a dream. Artist Christos Koutsouras, (you should google him!) who at one time taught at the University of Indianapolis, has had a life long dream of creating an art school on his home island of Samos. He enrolled his former student and soul friend, Quincy Owens, in his dream and the first trip of artists from the Harrison Center were assembled to travel to Samos to vision what a School of Art might look like in this place.

Samos Alpha is a show of work in response to the experiences of this journey by artists Quincy Owens, Aaron Dodd, Nikki Owens, Kate Oberreich, Elizabeth Smith, Lorie Lee Andrews, and of course Christos himself. The fact that each of us creates in different mediums and from very different points of view makes for a very diverse and exciting show. The Speck Gallery was overflowing with artwork as we met to see the results of three months of work since the time when we were all together in Christos’ studio in Samos, and not all of our creations were able to fit in the space. However, the paintings, sculptures and prints that have been assembled for the show create a fascinating view of this place where the Samos School of Critical Thinking is coming to fruition today. (You can find it on Facebook and Instagram!)

The show opens on First Friday, February 7 from 6:00 to 9:00 pm and will be up throughout the month.