In a culture accustomed to polished final products, the messier, more vital work of artistic invention often gets left on the studio floor.  Beginning November 13, the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts confronts that gap with Studies: From Thought to Form. Bringing together a formidable roster of twelve regional and international artists—spanning classical draftsmanship, modernist abstraction, satire, and figurative bronze—the show places preliminary sketches, compositional drafts, and technical maquettes alongside completed works to chart the precise trajectory from initial spark to finished object.  Studies operates as a kind of visual forensic exercise, laying bare the false starts, structural anxieties, and sudden breakthroughs that guide an artist’s hands before a work ever meets a gallery wall.

“We so often encounter art only in its finished, immaculate state,” says curator, Kris Swanson. “Studies: From Thought to Form invites the viewer straight into the working studio, revealing the rigorous internal dialogue and quiet labor required to bridge the gap between an idea and its material reality.”

The exhibition presents a study in contrasts, showcasing how vastly different traditions treat the discipline of preparation:

• Will Bullas — Pairing formidable technical skill with sharp-witted humor, the Vietnam veteran and Brooks Institute alumnus (under Ray Strong) demonstrates how meticulous drafts lay the groundwork for narrative satire.
• Richard Greathouse — An American painter who has exhibited with the Florence Academy of Art and Haynes Galleries, Greathouse’s preparatory studies record a stark, visceral confrontation with the natural world.
• Sarah Healey — Raised on Big Sur’s Partington Ridge and educated at London’s Sir John Cass Institute, Healey uses mixed-media studies to map the unseen forces of her native terrain—fence lines, animal paths, air, and temperature.
• Chris Leib — Trained at UC Berkeley and the Academy of Art, Leib’s detailed classical studies underpin surreal, darkly humorous compositions featuring astronauts and bonobos.
• Clair Livingston — Contributes refined fine art studies that bridge conceptual experimentation and precise execution.
• Susan Manchester — A draftswoman and printmaker who studied under Giorgio Morandi in Florence and Gordon Cook at SFAI, Manchester’s exquisite observational drawings of feathers and flora—held in collections including the Smithsonian—serve as quiet meditations on impermanence.
• Alicia Ponzio — A Florence Academy of Art graduate and former instructor, Ponzio’s preliminary plasters and bronzes capture the delicate mechanics of human emotion and fluid form.
• Katrina Pura — Drawing on her rural ranching heritage and Florence Academy training, Pura’s graphite and watercolor studies capture the light and structure of California’s Central Coast.
• Kirstine Reiner Hansen — The Danish painter merges Old Master rigors with abstract disruption, using preparatory layers inspired by vintage cinema and fashion portraiture to construct her figures.
• Kris Swanson — Offers process-driven studies that examine the mechanics of form and spatial logic.
• Joaquin Turner — Contributes light-focused plein air studies that capture the fleeting, atmospheric shifts of the local landscape.
• Per Elof Nilsson Ricklund — The painter brings classical European technique and intense observational rigor to preliminary studies of the human figure and surrounding terrain.

An artist’s reception will be held Friday, November 13th from 5-7pm. The event is free and open to the public. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 4pm or by appointment.