Artist Grant Kniffen will demonstrate his painting techniques at the Renaud Spirit Center

Nearly every painting tells a story in Grant Kniffen’s exhibit at the Renaud Spirit Center (RSC), where his artwork is currently on display in O’Fallon’s Cultural Arts Gallery. The RSC is located at 2650 Tri Sports Circle, O’Fallon 63368. The exhibit is available for viewing through January 3 during regular business hours, free.

The public is invited to watch as Kniffen demonstrates his painting techniques in the Renaud Spirit Center lobby, free, from 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. this Thursday, December 12, and Monday, December 16. He will be available for questions from 9 a.m. – noon and 5 – 7 p.m. both days.

Kniffen’s vibrant artwork is inspired by Western themes, American history, country shindigs, and landscapes both rural and wild. He owes his expressive use of color, line, and a penchant for storytelling to childhood influences.    

“I started off, like many kids, wanting to be a comic book artist,” he said. “That evolved into a great love of the illustrators of the ‘Golden Age,’ especially N.C. Wyeth, who gave visual life to the imagination in the same way special effects do in the movies of today. I also had a great love of the American West that was stoked by the many westerns I watched as a kid. Charlie Russell and Frederic Remington were chief among influential Western artists. Finally, the regional work of Missouri’s own Thomas Hart Benton has been influential in my work. In addition to Benton’s subjects, his use of strong color, contrast, and dynamic composition still resonates with me today.”

Kniffen also employs non-traditional approaches to his favorite themes, using multiple views, expressive color, and combinations of realism and abstraction in the same painting. In addition to the exhibit at the Renaud Spirit Center, his artwork can be viewed online at www.kniffenart.com.

The artist, who lives in Dardenne Prairie, recently retired from a 29-year teaching career at Parkway North High School in Saint Louis County. He earned a B.S.E. in Art from Truman State University in 1984 and a Masters in Studio Art from Lindenwood University in 1989. In 1995, Kniffen was named “Secondary School Art Teacher of the Year” by the Missouri Art Education Association. And the Parkway School District named him the “High School Teacher of the Year” for the 1996–1997 school year.

O’Fallon’s Cultural Arts Gallery admission is free and the exhibit is available for viewing during regular business hours, which currently are: 5:15 a.m. -10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 5:15 a.m.-9 p.m. on Fridays, 7 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturdays, and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sundays. For more information, call 636-474-2732 or visit www.renaudspiritcenter.com.