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MTC ART GALLERY

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and Cafe Metro present:

Ira Watkins
Recent Work

Cafe Metro
101 8th Street, Oakland

February 1 - March 15, 2000

7:30 am to 3:00 pm weekdays
Ira WatkinsAbout Ira Watkins

A self-taught artist, Ira Watkins has been sketching, drawing and painting off and on for more than 30 years, going professional in the 1980s. He divides his time between teaching art at the Richmond-based National Institute of Art and Disabilities, and his home studio in Oakland, where he works with a number of media, including oils, acrylics and pastels. His works have been exhibited in numerous gallery spaces around the Bay Area. In 1995, he was commissioned by the San Francisco Arts Commission to paint three scenes for the Market Street Public Art Program; these images were turned into oversized posters that were displayed in kiosks all along Market Street. Ira often portrays the people and atmosphere of rural Texas in the middle of the last century, where he spent the early part of his life and still has deep roots. Just as often, however, he captures the scenes and characters of contemporary urban America. In Watkins' own words, "My pictures reflect how I interpret history and tell a story."

For more information, contact Brenda Kahn, MTC Public Information, at 510.817.5773

Ira Watkins, 254.412.2552
Click on a picture to see a larger version
© 1998 Ira Watkins. Use permitted only with express prior written permission.