Inspired by her late mother, a Kansas art teacher who retired in West Liberty has a love for colored pencil drawing, painting on silk and acrylics and will be featured beginning Friday, July 1, at the Brick Street Gallery in downtown West Liberty.
Janet Rees, who came to West Liberty for her three grandchildren when both she and her husband Jeffrey retired from their Kansas positions, is the July feature artist for the local gallery that is operated by the West Liberty Area Arts Council.
“I like to do a lot of different things,” said Rees of her artwork, noting she plans to have 25 to 30 art pieces on display at the gallery located at 104 West Third Street.
After attending Bethany College in Lindsburg, Kansas and graduating with a bachelor’s degree in art education from the University of Kansas, Rees taught for 20 years at an alternative education high school in Topeka, Kansas, retiring in 2010.
She said following her grandchildren to Iowa was one of the best things she could do as the mother of four, leaving two of her children in Kansas to join son Reynolds Heath and daughter Dorianne Rees in West Liberty.
Not only did she get a chance to substitute teach in West Liberty, but she’s now a teacher for the Brick Street Gallery, which offers classes for adults and children while also assisting with Carol Cline’s art classes at the high school in the past and serving as an instructor for the West Liberty Area Arts Council for their Saturday morning sessions on the second floor of the gallery.
Her artwork will be on display from 5-7 p.m. Friday, July 1, and then throughout the month of July.
Rees said art caught her interest as a child, encouraged by her mother, Dorothy Spangler, to draw, paint and create just about anything, from designing her own bedroom to drawing out a prom dress, which her mother made by hand.
Unfortunately, Mrs. Spangler never got to see the success of her daughter’s accomplishments, dying in a car accident when Rees was just 18.
“I was very fortunate,” Rees said of her years with her mother’s encouragement. “My mother nurtured creativity and it just manifested itself,” she said.
She says living in West Liberty is a welcomed experience. “I love the fact there is so much opportunity for artists in this community,” she said.
Rees said local artists not only get an opportunity to show their works at the Brick Street Gallery, but also get a chance to participate in things like the upcoming annual Plien Air artist painting event in July as well as the Music in the Park series set for August at Ron De Voo Park in West Liberty when the organization brings in local entertainers in a variety of musical displays.