Leftwich, who lives in Houston, Texas, is the chairman of the Board of Trustees at ÂÒÂ×ÉçÇø. He and his wife have been collecting the bears for many years. Their collection offers a wide variety of sizes from miniscule to life size. It also includes an array of styles and techniques, from local and hand-made to ones that have received international acclaim.

Grote, an art teacher with the Bowling Green School District, created Lewis-Grote Illustrations in Frankford in 1995.  She apprenticed at the Muny in St. Louis with the outdoor paint crew and assisted in the creation of theatrical scale scenery. She has taken on a wide variety of commissions in illustration and murals along with her full-time teaching position.  The oil paintings for her exhibition at Culver-Stockton are part of a series titled “Baby Barn Art.�

Both exhibits are free and open to the public. A reception will be from 2-5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19, with a talk by the artists at 2:30 p.m.  Gallery hours are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and by appointment.

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