Frances Katz exhibit opens at Horace Williams House

Like most artists, Frances Katz draws from personal experience for her work.

Unlike many of her peers, though, Katz has 89 years worth of personal experience.

Her exhibit, “Recollections: Trees, Sea, and Me,” opens Sunday at the historic Horace Williams House, located on East Rosemary Street.

Born in Wilmington, Katz has been a kindergarten teacher, a student at several universities, a wife and a mother of five.
Katz said she didn’t discover her passion for art until she took art classes at UNC-Wilmington at age 50.

She said that even though it took her longer to find her passion, her work has still evolved over her 40-plus years as an artist.

“I have learned to think through what it is I wanted to say and to experiment with different materials,” she said.

While Katz uses more traditional materials like charcoal and oil paints, she also uses experimental materials like fabric, gravel and beach plants.

She said her work is inspired by nature.

“My art is adventurous, colorful and three-dimensional,” she said.

The show is sponsored by the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill.

Ernest Dollar, executive director of the Preservation Society, said art exhibits help showcase the society’s vibrant arts program.

With a budget of $4,000 for art exhibits, the Preservation Society typically puts on eight to 10 shows a year, Dollar said.

In return for exhibiting an artist’s work, the society receives 30 percent of the artist’s sales.

Dollar said the Horace Williams House is a fresh atmosphere for an art gallery, providing a “great dichotomy” between the house’s rich history and the contemporary art pieces displayed there.

Nerys Levy, co-chairwoman of the Preservation Society’s art committee, said Katz’s exhibit is a spiritual work.

“Her work is about the forces of the earth and how they affect all of us,” she said.

She said Katz is an active, consistent and professional artist who doesn’t allow her age to define her.

Katz’s artistic inclination runs in the family. Her granddaughter, Anna Buckner, is a senior art major at UNC-CH.

Katz said it is important, as an artist, not to doubt yourself.

“If it’s something that you enjoy, keep doing it, and don’t listen to what others have to say,” she said. “Never try to make anything perfect.”

“If you’re having a really big problem with art, or anything, use the problem. The problem will help with your art and your art will help with the problem.”

Contact the Arts Editor at arts@dailytarheel.com.