The Hoosier State has apparently designated June as "Pastel Month." During the month, there will be openings for two new pastels-only exhibitions, one in Richmond and one in South Bend.

"Poetry and Passion: The Art of Pastels" will be showing at the Richmond Art Museum from June 8 through August 3. The show will include pastel paintings by award-winning Indiana and Ohio artists, including Donna Brinkman, David Dale, Mary Ann Davis (see her landscape at left), Thelma Frame, Charlene George, Randall Scott Harden, Pamela C. Newell, Maureen O’Hara Pesta, Donna Shortt, David Slonim, Carol Strock-Wasson, and Ray Hassard, who also wrote the show's catalog essay.

Further north, the South Bend Regional Museum of Art in South Bend, Ind., will host the show, "Pastel, Not Chalk," sponsored by the Northern Indiana Pastel Society (NIPS). The show was juried by pastel artist Richard McDaniel (featured in our August 2007 issue) and consists of pastel work by a variety of artists, including Alan Larkin (featured in the August 2006 issue) and Ron Monsma, the winner of Jack Richeson/Best of Show award in this year's Pastel 100 (featured in our April 2008 issue and online here). The opening reception will be Friday, June 6, from 5:00 to 7:30 pm, and the show will run through September 7. Mary Ann Pals' painting, Delicate Curves, at left, is just one of 35 pastel paintings to go on display.

From my estimation, it's about 200 miles (or four hours) from Richmond to South Bend, or visa versa, with a nice opportunity for a break in Indianapolis, where an exhibition of British works on paper (drawings, prints and watercolors) will be on view through July 13 at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

Mark your calendars and get there if you can!