On the Town: Art show honors Betsy Lueke

While the creation of art — a painting, statue, song, performance or literary work — is a gratifying accomplishment for the creator, it is only by means of sharing one’s work with others that art receives the breath and life it needs to stimulate emotions, evoke questions, provide understanding, encourage positive change and inspire hope.

Betsy Lueke was born in Globe, Arizona on August 17, 1919. When she took her final breath in Burbank on July 31, 2011, she passed with the gratifying knowledge that she had made great strides in giving artists and their creations that needed breath of life to thrive and be shared to impact the lives of Burbankers for generations to come.

This past Friday, artist Claude Hulce, who worked with Lueke to establish the Burbank Creative Arts Center Gallery, honored her memory by exhibiting an array of his paintings and clay works going back to the venue’s 1972 opening. Presented under the title: “Claude Hulce – A Retrospective in Memory of Betsy Lueke,” the exhibit, which will run through September 27, debuted at an opening-night reception that included hundreds of local artists, gallery supporters, Lueke’s family members, friends and those she touched during her 37-year career as a recreation supervisor with the Burbank Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department.

Among Lueke’s family members in attendance were daughter Linda Oseransky, son Kelley Lueke, son-in-law Gary Oseransky, daughter-in-law Kendra Lueke, grandchildren Jamie Lueke Tseng and Brady Griffin, and great grandchildren Lauren, Colin and Owen Griffin.

Others on hand to tip their hats to Lueke and enjoy the exhibit of more than 100 pottery pieces and 35 abstract paintings created by Hulce were Jenny Griffin, Betty Jo Nash, Terry and Pam Scott, Jerry Ash, Jeff and Teri Stein, Carol Finkle, Duke Dixon, Mary Jo Watkins, the notable pottery artist and instructor Michael Hirsh and his wife, Karen, Hulce’s daughter, Kimbra Fossen, his granddaughter, Dakota Fossen, and the director of the Burbank Creative Arts Center Gallery, Frances Santistevan.

The Burbank Creative Arts Center Gallery is located in George Izay Park, 1100 West Clark Avenue. For more information on the current show and upcoming exhibits, call (818) 238-5397.

DAVID LAURELL can be reached by e-mail dlaurell@aol.com or (818) 563-1007.