FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  April 24, 2015

For More Information:
Glenville State College
Public Relations Department
(304) 462-4115

GLENVILLE, WV - Liza Brenner, an Associate Professor of Art at Glenville State College, soon will have a large mural on display in Buckhannon, West Virginia. The piece will be a much-enlarged version of one of Professor Brenner’s original artworks. This larger version, which will measure 10 feet tall by 25 feet wide, will be a lighted display on the side of a building on Traders Alley off of Main Street in the Upshur County town.

The mural is part of a project designed to bring art to public spaces called Art26201; the number being a nod to the town's zip code. Brenner says the idea for one of her paintings to be used first came about when she and Bryson VanNostrand, who is part of 'Create Buckhannon' and who serves as the main organizer for the art project, began discussing it.

In an interview with the Elkins Inter-Mountain newspaper Brenner talked about the mural's subjects – monkeys. As Brenner puts it, "Some of my other paintings were similar and focused on technology and how we're all turning into monkeys and also featured monkeys." The mural will feature a monkey riding a bike, one playing cards, and another hanging from a window with a camera.  Brenner explained, "With this one, I just wanted to do something fun. I love to ride my bike in town and I like monkeys. It's really as simple as that."

Brenner, who lives in Buckhannon, has been a professor at GSC since 2007.  She received her Masters of Fine Arts in Painting in 2004 and a Masters of Art in Art Education in 2000, both from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. In addition to her courses, she serves as the Art Gallery Director at GSC.

Brenner's art has been featured in galleries in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Georgia, and elsewhere. She was invited to participate in an exhibit celebrating West Virginia's sesquicentennial at the Huntington Museum of Art along with 17 other artists from Mountain State colleges and universities. In 2014 her ‘Liza Brenner: The Red and Blue Series’ show was featured at the West Virginia State University art gallery. Most recently she had pieces on display at the Gallery on 43rd Street in downtown Pittsburgh that were inspired from a trip to Italy where she attended a plein air workshop that focused on painting outdoors; that show wrapped up in April 2015.

Organizers say they hope to have Brenner's mural installed within the next month.

For more information about her artwork or art programs at Glenville State College, contact Brenner at Liza.Brenner@glenville.edu or (304) 462-6346.