Wild Grove Gallery Artist  -  Gretchen Olberding

Gretchen is a lifelong resident of Nebraska who loves its wide open landscapes, fabulous sky effects,
fresh clean air and incredible wildlife.

                    "I'm fortunate to have such beauty around me on a constant basis.  This land has a forlorn,  isolated,
                     yet soothing, beauty that is reflected in my paintings.  I strive to create the variety and dynamics of the
                     skies we experience here.
                     My glass art also retains the organic quality of nature.  That something so beautiful as glass can
                     come out of something so basic as sand is like a metaphor for our own Sand Hills of Nebraska. "

Gretchen was educated at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, earning her Bachelor's and Master's Degrees  in History  with a minor in Political Science and dual matriculating in Teacher's College.  She began a middle school teaching career  in Lincoln, NE. ; then  also taught high school at a private school  in Gainesville, Florida.

An interest in the arts developed and she studied with many Nebraska and National Artists.  Obtaining
graduate hours at the University of Nebraska-Kearney led to an elementary art teaching career for ten years.
Her evolving interests have led her to a variety of mediums which she shares with students in her continuing
Art Camps.  She & her husband have renovated an old 1904 Barn on their property, and the new "Art Loft"
serves as a learning sanctuary for the creative arts in the community.

She was fortunate to have been  selected as one of the Grant Recipients/Participants in the Nebraska Arts Council's "Open Studio" Project where Nebraska artists were taught how to design their own web site in order to get their art "out to the world."  This web site is a result of that endeavor.

She enjoys the good life in Nebraska with her husband, two sons and their wives, one labrador and a cat. She is the artist/owner of Wild Grove Gallery / Studio  at their home in the country.
:
 Gretchen's artistic creations can be found at:

Prairie Winds Art Center, Grand Island, NE
Columbus Art Gallery, Columbus, NE
University Place Art Center, Lincoln, NE
McCook Artists Guild, McCook, NE
Kearney Art in the Park, Kearney, NE  (Summer )
Rockbrook Art Fair,  Omaha, NE        (Fall )
Art on the Farm, Neil Farms, Cozad, NE  (Fall )
Countryside Village Art Fair, Omaha, NE
         (June 3-4,  2000) 87th & Pacific Streets.
Member:  Association of Nebraska Art Clubs
                 GROW Nebraska Artisans Group

Email:  oding@micrord.com
 
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