First Friday Opening Reception

Allen Halsey: “And She Was”  Kansas City is both the birthplace and the nurturing ground for Allen’s lifelong artistic journey. An innate desire for self-expression led him down various creative paths, with art studies at MU and UMKC enriching his skills. Allen’s professional endeavors flourished at Illusions Unlimited Productions, where he lent his artistic prowess to designing theater scenery, murals, and custom decor for parties and trade shows. His artistic legacy extends far and wide, with an abundance of paintings, art projects, and installations adorning the city and its surroundings. Currently, Allen delves into uncharted artistic terrain, intricately carving linework into the substrate, which he then transforms with masterful brushstrokes. Residing in Independence with his wife and two dogs, he continues to inspire and captivate with his ever-evolving artistic vision. Jana Duca: “The Story so Far” Jana Duca is a figurative painter who paints the connections between people and the world. She paints the psychological space between people, and the space between words. She enjoys the push and pull of the paint that causes the background to encroach upon the figures and take away pieces of them, or that causes the figure to dissolve and scatter into the environment describes the figures’ psychological state.Her painting process is intuitive, and while she experiments with many mediums, she primarily works in oil paint. She is influenced by artists such as Ann Gale and Stanka Kordic, and finds kinship with the artists who paint in the “Disrupted Realism” style.