Meet artists at Whitefish Gallery Nights receptions

Stroll through downtown Whitefish and meet this month’s featured artists at Whitefish Gallery Nights June 7.

The event takes place from 6 to 9 p.m. in several Whitefish art galleries.

This month’s featured artists include paintings by Barb Schwartz Karst at Jest Gallery, 305 E. Second St.; ceramics by Stephanie Seguin at Stumptown Art Studio, 145 Central Ave.; drawings by Deb Stika at the Purple Pomegranate, 222 Central Ave.; and abstract paintings by Cherlyn Wilcox at the Walking Man Frame Shop and Gallery, 305 Baker Ave.

Schwartz Karst is a Missoula-based artist whose most recent series, “Montana Rust Belt: Abandoned Industries,” demonstrates her connection to the state she was born and raised in. The paintings highlight the machinery used decades ago in Montana’s early labor movement.

Schwartz Karst’s work has been sold internationally and exhibited in museums and galleries in New York City and Montana. She was also recently accepted into the Missoula Art Museum’s 2012 Triennial.

Seguin’s show, “Altering Forms and Space,” explores the way ceramics are displayed and the alteration of ceramic forms that are used in daily life. Items that are normally hidden away in cupboards are displayed in a fashion suitable for a gallery setting.

Seguin graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in ceramics in 2009 and has since worked her way through several studios, gaining experience and exploring new styles. This summer she will assist at La Meridiana International School for the Ceramic Arts in Tuscany, Italy.

Stika, who is heading up the mosaic workshops for Stumptown Art Studio’s Windows on Whitefish project, also works in other media. She recently released 15 whimsical drawings of the town, which, in addition to another set of drawings of Whitefish, are on sale at the Purple Pomegranate.

Stika’s new renderings include the O’Shaughnessy Center, the train depot, Central School and the VFW.

Wilcox’s show, “Above and Beyond,” presents a selection of colorful abstract landscapes as seen from the window of an airplane. The Bozeman-based artist’s focus on geography and land from a distance explores our relationship with the world.

For a complete list of participating galleries and additional information, visit www.whitefishgallerynights.org.