Pieces hang on the walls at the Kenai Art Center on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

Pieces hang on the walls at the Kenai Art Center on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

A winding path to art

Kenai Art Center’s June exhibit features an array of works by local talent Thor Evenson

The Kenai Art Center’s June exhibit features an array of works by local talent Thor Evenson, with a display dedicated to his father, Jim — one of Kenai’s most well-known artists.

Evenson’s pieces featured this month are a mixture of three-dimensional designs, abstract paintings and gray-scale drawings, among others.

“The show is mostly paintings, mostly acrylic, but a lot of mixed media and constructions with clusters of paint and stuff,” the artist said Tuesday. “So a lot of abstract stuff too.”

A larger painting of an aerial view of Snug Harbor is one of the most notable of the show, he said. It depicts a bustling cannery along the water and mountain range.

Evenson said a lot of inspiration for his art comes from the career paths he’s taken throughout his life. The artist has also been a fisherman, a professional basketball player and an architect.

Most of the elements of the show adhere to a similar theme of the Alaska outdoors.

“I was interested in boats,” he said. “I was interested in everything that was designed: trucks, cars, boats, airplanes. I was fascinated with design.”

Evenson said he started drawing at just 18 months old, and went on to major in art for his undergraduate degree, before getting his master’s in architecture.

“I work in architecture and design stuff (and) did a lot of renderings for architectural offices,” he said. “But I would say that my paintings are more like a mood thing. … I don’t really plan them out so much as I just follow what my mood is at the moment.”

The reception is open to the public from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Kenai Art Center on Thursday. Patrons are encouraged to park outside the center and on Cook Drive, not in the Peninsula Oilers Baseball Club bingo hall parking lot.

The Evenson exhibition will be on display throughout June from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.

Reach reporter Camille Botello at camille.botello@peninsulaclarion.com.

Pieces hang on the walls at the Kenai Art Center on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

Pieces hang on the walls at the Kenai Art Center on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

Thor Evenson gets an early look at his exibition at the Kenai Art Center on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

Thor Evenson gets an early look at his exibition at the Kenai Art Center on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

Thor Evenson gets an early look at his exibition at the Kenai Art Center on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

Thor Evenson gets an early look at his exibition at the Kenai Art Center on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

Thor Evenson gets an early look at his exibition at the Kenai Art Center on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

Thor Evenson gets an early look at his exibition at the Kenai Art Center on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

More in News

Homer High School sophomore Sierra Mullikin is one of the students who participated in the community walk-in on Wednesday, April 24. Communities across the state of Alaska held walk-ins in support of legislative funding for public education. (Photo by Emilie Springer)
Teachers, staff and community members ‘walk-in’ at 9 district schools

The unions representing Kenai Peninsula Borough School District staff organized a widespread,… Continue reading

Economist Sam Tappen shares insights about job and economic trends in Alaska and on the Kenai Peninsula during the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District’s Industry Outlook Forum at Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska, on Thursday, April 25, 2024. (screenshot)
Kenai Peninsula job outlook outpaces other parts of Alaska

During one of the first panels of the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development… Continue reading

Angel Patterson-Moe and Natalie Norris stand in front of one of their Red Eye Rides vehicles in Seward, Alaska, on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Seward’s Red Eye Rides marks 2 years of a ‘little idea’ to connect communities

Around two years ago, Angel Patterson-Moe drove in the middle of the… Continue reading

Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion
Oliver Trobaugh speaks to representatives of Bear Creek Volunteer Fire Department during Career Day at Seward High School in Seward on Wednesday.
Seward students explore future ambitions at Career Day

Seward High School hosted roughly two dozen Kenai Peninsula businesses Wednesday for… Continue reading

Foliage surrounds the Soldotna Police Department sign on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Ninilchik resident charged with vehicle theft arrested for eluding police

Additional charges have been brought against a Ninilchik resident arrested last month… Continue reading

U.S. Department of Justice Logo. (Graphic by Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Sterling resident charged with wire fraud involving COVID-19 relief funds

Sterling resident Kent Tompkins, 55, was arrested last week, on April 16,… Continue reading

Poster for Kenai Peninsula Trout Unlimited Fishing Gear Swap. (Courtesy Kenai Peninsula Trout Unlimited)
Trout Unlimted gear swap to return, expands to include outdoor gear

The Kenai Peninsula Chapter of Trout Unlimited will host its second annual… Continue reading

The Kasilof River is seen from the Kasilof River Recreation Area, July 30, 2019, in Kasilof, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Bait prohibited on Kasilof River from May 1 to May 15

Emergency order issued Tuesday restores bait restriction

Girl Scout Troop 210, which includes Caitlyn Eskelin, Emma Hindman, Kadie Newkirk and Lyberty Stockman, present their “Bucket Trees” to a panel of judges in the 34th Annual Caring for the Kenai Competition at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Bucket trees take top award at 34th Caring for the Kenai

A solution to help campers safely and successfully extinguish their fires won… Continue reading

Most Read