Afternoon with the Arts: An Art Reception Featuring Artist Patrick Thomas and the Paw Paw Community Chorus

Celebrate our local art and culture scene by attending a special art reception and concert featuring artist Patrick Thomas and the Paw Paw Community Chorus. The afternoon will begin with a short concert of choral melodies with the Paw Paw Community Chorus. Following the concert, guest artist Patrick Thomas will give a retrospective presentation about the art of pastel painting. Attendees are invited to enjoy refreshments, a special meet and greet with the artist, and an artist-guided gallery tour of the exhibit “Fleeting Moments: A Retrospective Exhibition of Pastel Paintings” to conclude the afternoon.
Artist Bio: The fusion of two unlikely bedfellows, a Medical Technologist/Microbiologist and a Pastel Artist, resulted in who is known as Patrick Thomas. His artistic inclinations manifested themselves very early in his life, though dormant during his formal paramedical education. Although known as a representational pastel landscape artist, his repertoire includes ancillary subjects: flowers, beach scenes, dunes, lighthouses, barns, some wildlife, a few human figures and still lifes. Because he was an art student himself, he developed a sensitivity to his students as the instructor in his own workshops and classes. He was a Charter Member of the Kalamazoo Area Pastel Society and was inducted into the Pastel Society of America.
The Paw Paw Community Chorus, a non-audition group, was formed in 2000, with Theresa Vaughn directing the group since 2003. The membership is made up of people from Paw Paw, Decatur, Gobles, Kalamazoo, Lawrence, Lawton, and Mattawan, who volunteer their talent and time to present a variety of music at both a Spring Concert and a Christmas Concert, as well as other opportunities on occasion. The concerts are always free to the public.