First Friday - Jerry & Nancy Lonergan
Join us for First Friday!
First Friday is a great way to meet new people, create connections and learn about artists. We hope to see you there!
About the artists:
Nancy Lonergan was born in Munich Germany the oldest daughter of five kids born to a family headed by an Air Force officer and pilot. She would live in eight states growing up, before taking Salina as her adopted hometown. She took art lessons in fifth grade from Sr. Leonida at Marymount College. Nancy briefly considered majoring in art before working in banking and then returning to college to earn a teaching degree. She taught for 27 years, including eleven years as an English Language Learning (ELL) professional. In the ELL classroom, she honed her drawing skills as an effective way for first generation Americans to begin to understand English.
Nancy paints with acrylics and has begun incorporating unrecyclable items (e.g., keys, ribbon, etc.) onto her canvases. She enjoys painting pictures using photographs from having grown-up in multiple states. With a sketch pad always close at hand, she has expanded her painting portfolio to include drawings from the many places and sites visited from extensive travel.
She likes details and will spend hours completing intricate pencil sketches. During the past couple of years, she has begun creating abstract works enjoying the sense of freedom provided by working in abstract painting.
Jerry Lonergan was born in Wichita, like Nancy, the oldest of five. The family moved to Salina in 6th grade, continuing a typical Beaver Cleaver existence, except for finding out he had a bit of drawing talent. He first sold his work to his pals mimicking drawings found in Mad Magazine and the “men’s” magazines his father hid in the basement. In 7th grade he learned that girls thought this talent was pretty cool, so being neither particularly fast nor exceptionally athletic, drawing became a valuable substitute.
After much flailing around he met Nancy and decided it was time to return to college and grow up. He enjoyed an interesting career as a research economist with a resume his buddies say only proves he is incapable of keeping a single job. Jerry survived uncounted boring meetings doodling and caricaturing. Upon the first of four retirements, Nancy encouraged him to take art classes at Johnson County Community College and that had a profound impact on his work
He works primarily in pastels relishing the messiness and free form of the craft. Nancy and Jerry have very distinct techniques and enjoy drawing the same thing and then seeing how different the final pieces look.