Released on: January 31, 2008, 4:29 am

Press Release Author: Kyle Garcia for Phoenix Gallery Topeka

Industry: Entertainment

Press Release Summary: Native Daughter, internationally renowned artist Doloris
Pederson, returns from California to settle in the land of her ancestors, to paint
the land she loves.

Press Release Body: Pederson specializes in paintings of the Smoky Hills of Kansas
and the beautiful marshes of the Cheyenne Bottoms Wetlands and Quivira Wildlife
Refuge near her home.

Pederson\'s mother came from Italy on the now famous Orphan Train that delivered
immigrant European orphans from Europe and New York to farm families in the
Midwestern states from 1854-1029. Doloris's mother was left at the headquarters of
the Orphan Train network in Concordia, Kansas and adopted by a wonderful railroad
family in Topeka, Kansas. Nearly 200,000 orphans were placed in the Midwest, in the
homes of working farmers during that time period.

Ultimately, Doloris Pederson's mother Rosa Laberto, she fell in love with a Kansas
farmer, Peter Pfiefer, and built a life and family of her own working the land.
Doloris Pederson was the youngest child of a large, farming family 16 miles north of
Hays Kansas. The artist, Pederson, has warm and wonderful memories of life on the
farm, which inspired her and her husband to buy land recently in Russell, Kansas.
She paints there today from her stately country home overlooking native grasslands
and the soft rolling Smoky Hills.

A true story of the melting pot of America, Kansas and the promise of the American
dream. One artist and her love of culture, Kansas history, family and the land bring
her back to us to view her homeland through her paintings. A must see exhibit!

Upstairs At the Phoenix Gallery: Premier of new, contemporary works by Kansas
artist, Craig Hetler.
Hetler's beautiful and intriguing abstract paintings employ multi-layers of gold and
silver leaf foil against a rich colorful landscape. Inspired by the contemporary
masters of the 20th Century, Rothko, Pollock and Diebenkorn.




Web Site: http://www.PhnxGallery.com

Contact Details: Phoenix Gallery Topeka
Location of the Event: 2900 Oakley Ave. Ste. F, Topeka, KS 66614 (Brookwood Center)
Time of the Event: 4-9 PM
Event Dates: First Friday, February 1, 2008 (Show Runs Through March 1, 2008)