KIMBLE BROMLEY’s “Innocence Destroyed”

Kimble Bromley’s “Innocence Destroyed” is currently on display at the 2019 North Dakota Human Rights Arts Festival.

One encounters many surprises in life, some good, others not so good. “Innocence Destroyed” is a painting relating to the latter. When children are hurt, we all feel the pain. The innocence of children represents a sense of freedom. It is something we cherish most about childhood. When it is taken away there is a great sadness, a loss, a pain we can all feel. “Innocence Destroyed” is a metaphor for that loss.

Visit the festival at one of its three stops in North Dakota to experience Bromley’s “Innocence Destroyed”.

Bromley, originally from Iowa, has served as a visiting artist throughout the upper Midwest, Ecuador and Mexico. He has painted abroad in Cuba, Jamaica, Ecuador, and Mexico. Since moving to North Dakota in 1996, he has completed a number of series of paintings including: several landscape series of the North Dakota plains, works inspired by a residency in Chicago, paintings using discarded billboards, a group of duck paintings and drawings inspired by judging the ND High School Duck Stamp painting competition, a series of paintings of his Minnesota pond, a more introspective personal series of paintings around the theme of Moby-Dick, flower paintings and most recently a series “Back to the Pond”, a more abstract approach to the pond paintings.

Bromley is also known for his series of billiard ball paintings he was commissioned to paint for Fargo Billiards and Gastropub, the largest pool hall in the northern hemisphere. As a result, Kim continues to receive requests for commissions for billiard ball paintings.

As professor of art at North Dakota State University, he teaches painting and drawing. One component of his studio classes involves hypnotizing his students to assist them with their creativity. Bromley’s interest in hypnosis has led him to research the significance of hypnosis on creativity. He and his co-researchers published “Hypnotic Enhancement of Creative Drawing” in the October 2007 issue of The International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. Bromley offers CREATIVITY ENHANCEMENT WORKSHOPS as a Creativity Consultant regionally, nationally and internationally.

Bromley joined North Dakota State University as Coordinator of the Department of Visual Arts in 1996. Previously, he taught at Kentucky Wesleyan College, Owensboro Community College, DePaul University and Prairie State College.

He and his wife Gretchen live in their new home, designed by Gretchen, by their pond just outside Pelican Rapids, MN. Besides his art and seeing something new on the pond everyday Bromley is an avid pool player and motorcyclist.

Bromley’s work has been inspired by environments in which he lives and has visited. His work has been exhibited regionally, nationally and internationally and supported by grants from The Arts Partnership, Lake Region Arts Council, North Dakota Council on the Arts, Kellogg Foundation, Teagle/Bell South, and Partners of the Americas.

Learn more about Bromley’s work at his website www.kimblebromley.com or on FaceBook.

The Second Annual North Dakota Human Rights Arts Festival opens Tuesday, January 8 at the Plains Art Museum in Fargo, North Dakota. The festival includes the work of thirty-five 2D, 3D, filmmakers and live performance artists from around the world.

Each artist explores human rights, civil rights or social justice issues through their respective mediums. In addition to paintings, mixed media works and photographs, a series of experimental videos will also be a part of the festival. Live performance works will take place during an artist reception scheduled throughout the festival.

For the first time, the festival will travel throughout North Dakota. The exhibition opens on January 8, 2019, at Plains Art Museum in Fargo. On February 1, the exhibition will open in Bismarck at the Bismarck Downtown Artist Cooperative. The exhibition will conclude its travel schedule in Grand Forks in March, opening March 4 at the High Plains Fair Housing Center.

Artist Receptions for Fargo and Bismarck have been scheduled. In Fargo, the reception will take place on Wednesday, January 23 from 6-8 p.m. at the Plains Art Museum. In Bismarck, the reception will take place on Friday, February 1 from 6-8 p.m. at the Bismarck Downtown Artist Cooperative. The Artist Reception for Grand Forks at the High Plains Fair Housing Center is presently being scheduled to take place in March. Additional information about all receptions will be announced in the near future.

All exhibitions and receptions are free and open to the public.

The North Dakota Human Rights Arts Festival is supported through the generosity of the Consensus Council. The Fargo portion of the exhibition is made possible by through a Community Arts Partnership Project grant through The Arts Partnership, the generosity of the City of Fargo’s Human Relations Commission, the City of Fargo’s Native American Commission and through a partnership the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition. Established in 2017, the mission of the North Dakota Human Rights Arts Festival is to educate, engage and facilitate discussion around local and word-wide human rights topics through the work of artists.

For more information about the festival, visit www.human-family.org.

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