PRESS PRESENTS
ARTISTS
Current Artist: Sara Slee Brown
On view through January 5th.
The second of four children, the oldest daughter of a doctor father and a painter mother in Ann Arbor, Michigan, I was a child of the fifties. I loved rock ‘n roll and football games. I went to college in my hometown, majored in art, and received a BFA in Painting. I married right out of college, had two children, supported my husband and his education. We ended up in Iowa City, IA where we have lived ever since and I earned my MA and MFA in Painting from the University of Iowa.
As a child, student, young wife and mother, I focused on the needs of others and doing what was expected of me. I have no rebellious streak but I do have artistic talent and a deep need to express myself with it. Over the years this need had been ignored while others had been fulfilled. I have raised two children mostly single-handedly while my husband pursued his calling in medicine. Many of the choices and promises that I made as a young woman proved to be extremely difficult to honor. The unexpected consequences of commitments and choices can be easy or difficult to handle. The unknown elements are always the most challenging to understand and resolve. Just as the kids were on their own and I began to think about creating some art, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. The treatment for this included surgery, chemotherapy and radiation for the next year. It was a difficult, scary time.
When I retired as graphic designer for the public library I began to seriously pursue my dream of a career as an artist. As an undergraduate and graduate student in painting I had been trained in traditional methods and my early work had been oil on canvas. After working as a digital graphic designer at the library, I developed methods for combining and layering digital images in my computer with the eye and sensitivity of an oil painter.
Art is the language I use to try to understand and share my journey; past, present and future.
The foundation of the work is built on the familiar: people, places or things. They represent the known. Over, around and through this foundation I add other images or fragments of images. When combined they create something different: a new perspective. The comfort of the familiar combined with the confusion of the unfamiliar is an expression of my experience in the world.
If you are an artist looking for wall space to share your work with the community, consider Press Coffee! Keep in mind we are a coffee shop first, but when 62% of Americans drink coffee every day, our space exposes your work to a wide range of people. A show typically lasts five weeks with an evening set aside for a reception, catered by us with coffee and treats, to allow a closer look and conversation.
If you are interested in partnering with us artistically, please fill out this form to receive more information.
Past Artists
From July of 2018 until the COVID-19 takeover of 2020, we opened our Coralville location to a range of local artists with mediums such as drawing, painting, photography, quilting, metalwork, and more. Learn more about each of our past artists below.
Sweet Julie Marie – Watercolor/Pen&Ink/Multimedia Collage
Dana Noble – Botanical Illustration
Elinor Krieger – Painting
Sandra Cedrins – Watercolor
Nicki Maurus – Jewelry
Patti Zwick – Quilting
Meagan Wolgast – Cross Stitch
Yuchen Liu & Family – Ink Drawings
Vera Renguelova – Encaustic
Shelly Berkowitz – Painting/Graphic Design
Karla Janette – Photography
Jordan Jasa – 35mm Film Photography & Poloroid
Nicki Maurus – Jewelry
Patti Zwick – Quilting
Candice Broersma – Illustration/Scratchboard
Erin McCain – Illustration
Rip Russell – Paint Pouring
Connie Sherman – Paper Marbling
Paula Grady – Painting
Danforth Johnson – Photography
Ford Studio – Photography/Pyrography/Drawing
Patti Zwick – Quilting
Ariane Parkes-Perret – Printmaking
Lori Fowler – Encaustic Painting
Cara Delaney – Quilting
Lexys Sillin – Painting
Julia Wolfe – Painting/Illustration
Nancy Lincoln – Painting
Cheryl Hetherington – Fluid Acrylics
Tana Blazek – Painting
Jenny Gringer – Lincocut
Bekah Ash – Painting
At our old location:
Angela Otts – Painting & Illustration
Nicki Maurus – Jewelry
Bobbie Gravitt – Photography
Rachel Elisabeth Brecht – Painting
Lauren Schuchard – Drawings
Don Hetzel – Painting
Jen Madigan – Photography
Cara Briggs Farmer – Metalworks
Justin Tedford – Photography
Jezza Rose Studios – Oil Painting
Patti Zwick – Quilting
Kacie Eckermann – Photography
Howard Hinton Jr. – Photography
Stephanie Johnson – Photography
Stacie Woodside – Photography
Diana Brayton – Alcohol Ink
Danforth Johnson – Photography
Julia Wolfe – Painting
