RRUUC supports art as an important component of the life of members, friends, and the broader local community. Art is an expression of the human spirit. Art often touches viewers in a deep and significant way and can provide experience of mystery and wonder, which is one source of insight for Unitarian Universalists.

The Fine Arts Committee usually organizes art exhibits at RRUUC for the benefit of area artists and the appreciation of those using the Fellowship Hall.

“Light, Shadow and Texture” on display March 14 – April 28, 2024

Richard Levine, born in Newark, NJ, is a painter and photographer whose professional career has spanned more than 30 years in the graphic arts working for prominent design firms and corporate clients. A graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson Univ., he later studied oil painting for four years with artists Alan Turner and Andrew Lattimore and photography with Gary Winogrand. Additional studies were at Cooper Union and The School of Visual Arts, NYC. Extensive travel throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia have formed the foundation for his personal work. “I’m interested in exploring the harmonious effects of light, texture, shape, and color, and presenting these qualities in ways that evoke memory and spirit.”

Richard has exhibited widely on the East Coast from Virginia to Maine in both solo and group shows. In 2005 he won a NY State Certificate of Merit for his exhibit: India, A Traveler’s Reflections. He has done photo documentary work in the refugee camps of Darfur with the International Medical Corps and in Mississippi with Mississippi State Univ. and The Annie E. Casey Foundation. In June 2016, he won the 2nd place prize in the Bethesda Painting Awards, a juried competiition sponsored by the Trawick Foundation. He is a 2017/18 recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant. His work is held in both private and public collections and he currently teaches painting at the Falls Church Artspace.

About his work, Richard says:

“My love of travel and exploration spark the inspiration, both spiritual and visual, that I derive from experiencing new landscapes, people, and culture, which in turn invigorates my work and challenges me to both portray and understand our world. I like to paint and photograph in places where the weather, the traditions, and the geography still dominate; where these elements identify and characterize a locale. Where I can still connect to what has gone before and one feels an authentic ‘sense of place.’

“I find myself especially drawn to the vernacular architecture of rural New England and Nova Scotia The simple, clean geometry of farm barns with their angles and planes, weathered texture, and shadows elicit a strong response in me. They represent a connection to tradition, a timeless bonding with the land. These structures are rapidly disappearing from the American landscape, so, in a way, to paint them is to also document and preserve their presence.”