Press Release

Newportant People: Watercolors by William Heydt

Thursday, December 10, 2009

January 9 - April 4, 2010
NEWPORT, RI: Artist William Heydt sees Newport in bright kaleidoscopic colors - as a city filled with vitality and dynamism. In 2004, the Newport Art Museum exhibited a series of Heydt's watercolors depicting some of the area's most vibrant personalities and places. Heydt is winding down the series, and this winter you can see all of the completed works at the Newport Art Museum in "Newportant People: Watercolors by William Heydt" opening on January 9, 2010 and running through April 4. The Museum hosts a reception for its winter exhibitions on Friday, February 5 from 5 - 7 pm, 76 Bellevue Avenue in Newport.

Bill Heydt's paintings are alive with the same vibrancy he sees in the people, streets and locales of Newport. This series of watercolors is a nod to some of the people who add character and vitality to the Newport scene. More than just portraits, Heydt's pictures capture an essence of the city that tourists don't see: Dr. Orest Zaklynsky, surgeon on a busy ward at Newport Hospital; or the Kilroy Family at One Pelham East before the St. Patrick's Day crush. Whether his subjects are in front of a landmark - Capt. Dave McCurdy and the Rose Island Lighthouse Foundation staff - or behind a desk - Bill Vareika "at home" in his gallery, William Vareika Fine Arts Ltd - Heydt weaves their daily lives into the vivid fabric of life in Newport.

Heydt's paintings possess tremendous energy. His colors are bold, clear and bright and he lays them down on paper with swift confidence. His images retain an immediacy that escapes artists with more cautious styles. Shapes and lines at the edges of his pictures bend and warp as though Heydt were looking at his subjects in the reflection of a curved mirror. These subtle distortions and swirling brushstrokes keep the viewer's eyes moving over the images. Indeed, the pictures themselves seem to be in constant motion.

Originally from New York, Heydt earned a BFA and later an MFA in painting and printmaking from the Rhode Island School of Design. Between degree programs, he studied printmaking in Paris under the renowned Stanley William Hayter at Atelier 17. Heydt taught at the Massachusetts College of Art until 1983. Later, he studied and pursued photography in New York City. Heydt has painted and photographed people and places in Europe, the Near East, the Caribbean and South America. Bill Heydt now lives in Newport, RI with his wife and three children.

Also on the Newport Art Museum Winter Exhibition Schedule:

The Newport Annual Members' Juried Exhibition
February 6 - May 24, 2010
The foremost exhibition of regional contemporary art returns to the Newport Art Museum in February. Monica Ramirez-Montagut, Curator of The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield Connecticut, will serve as juror. Each year, the Museum receives hundreds of entries to the "Newport Annual" in a multitude of media including painting, watercolor, prints, drawings, pastels, three-dimensional, photography, video and mixed media. Visit www.newportartmuseum.org to view the "Call for Entries."

Windows to our Soul: Portraits in Charcoal by Brenda Levasseur
January 16 - March 28, 2010
Brenda Levasseur's sensitive portrayals of friends, family and famous people will hang in the Wright Gallery this winter. Levasseur's large charcoal drawing Windows to Our Soul won Best-in-Show at the 2008 Newport Annual and will make a return appearance in this exhibition.

About the Newport Art Museum: The Newport Art Museum's collections and exhibitions focus on the visual artists of Newport and southeastern New England, reflecting both the rich heritage of the past and the lively art scene of the present. The Museum also offers art classes and camps, concerts, talks, trips, and special events throughout the year. The Newport Art Museum is fully accredited by the American Association of Museums and receives support from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts. The Newport Art Museum is situated in Newport's Old Quarter at 76 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island. Admission: $10 adults; $8 seniors; $6 Military and students with valid ID; Museum members and children under 5: no charge. By donation Saturday from 10 am to noon. Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 10 am - 4 pm, Sun 12 - 4 pm. Open most major holiday Mondays. Check website for details. To learn more visit www.NewportArtMuseum.org or call (401) 848-8200.

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