Artist Information

• Pegasus News video interview of artist

About the Artist

Hot Springs artist Chris McHenry painting from artist's boat on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

While studying fine art at the University of New Orleans I became familiar with the work of pop artist James Rosenquist. His bold, seemingly simple style appealed to me. I studied his work, discovered that he had once painted billboards, and without consciously thinking about it decided to follow in his footsteps.

One day while walking down Canal Street I looked up and saw a scaffold hanging from an enormous billboard atop a 5 or 6 story building and on it walking back and forth like there was no tomorrow were two painters in the middle of painting a woman's cheek for a liquor advertisement. It looked very impressive and absolutely fascinating. A week later I was working with these same painters at an outdoor advertising company in New Orleans. I loved the idea of painting huge images of famous people's faces, Coke bottles, cars, whiskey bottles and other pictures on signs 14 feet high by 48 feet wide sometimes 30 to 100 feet above the ground while motorists and pedestrians hurried by below.

My career as a pictorial billboard artist first took me to Dallas (read more about McHenry's billboard painting in American Artist magazine's feature article about the artist in their November 2006 issue). Where I worked as a billboard artist, mural painter, scenic painter, and digitally as a computer artist. When I first started pursuing my fine art career full-time I focused on realistically rendered cityscapes of Dallas, Texas and Hot Springs, Arkansas. Gradually my interests expanded from architectural images to landscapes.

Recently I outfitted my rowboat for painting and am currently working on a series of plein air watercolor paintings of Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Additional information about my paintings may be seen in the October/November 2009 issue of International Artist magazine in the feature article:"Turning watercolors into oils," pages 68-77.

Resume

EDUCATION

Multimedia Design / Associates Degree, Richland College, Dallas, TX
Fine Art, University of New Orleans, .New Orleans, LA.
Architecture, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA

HONORS AND AWARDS

2021 Best of Show, Arts & the Park - Art Springs 2021 festival, Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas
May, 2021.
2008 Grand Prize Winner-Seascapes, Rivers, and Lakes, International Artist magazine,
June/July, 2008.
2007 May 2007 Artist-in-Residence, Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas.
2006 Second Prize Winner-Landscapes, International Artist magazine, February/March, 2007.
1991 Arts For the Parks, Top 100 paintings, National Park Academy of the Arts, Jackson, Wyoming.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2007 "Plein Air Paintings of Hot Springs" Hot Springs National Park's Fordyce Visitor's Center, Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas.
2006 "White Rock Lake: Painted Points and Panoramas-oil paintings by Chris McHenry." White Rock Lake Museum / Bath House Cultural Center, Dallas, Texas.

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS / EVENTS

2021 "Arkadelphia Festival of the Arts". Downtown Arkadelphia, Arkansas , October 15, 2021 & October 16, 2021.
2021 "52nd Annual Hot Springs Arts and Crafts Fair". Garland County Fairgrounds, Hot Springs, Arkansas , October 1, 2021 through October 3, 2021.
2021 "Arts & the Park - Art Springs 2021". Hill Wheatley Plaza, Downtown Hot Springs, Arkansas , May 1, 2021 through May 2, 2021.
2008 "Beauty and the Brush 2008", Garvan Woodland Gardens' invitational plein air painting event, Hot Springs, Arkansas.
2007 May 2007 Artist-in-Residence, Hot Springs National Park Hot Springs, Arkansas.
2005 "The Four Seasons, Contemporary Landscapes and Sculpture." Sherry French Gallery, New York, New York.
2004 "Mainly Maine,Landscape Paintings from Maine and Beyond," Sherry French Gallery, New York, New York.
2004 "Gallery and Invited Artists," Sherry French Gallery, New York, New York.
2004 "White Rock, Trees and Other Natural Forms," Marie Park, Private Dealer, Dallas, Texas.
2003 Outside the Lines 3 Exhibition, Bath House Cutural Center, juried exhibition, Dallas, Texas.
2000 "As Bees in Honey Drown", (theatre) Scenic designer for Southern Methodist University production, Dallas, Texas.
1994 ARTEXAS International '94, Dallas Convention Center, Dallas, Texas.
1993 Fort Worth Annual Gallery Night, Artenergies, Fort Worth, Texas.
1993 ARTEXAS International '93, Dallas Convention Center, Dallas, Texas.
1993 Salute to ARTEXAS International '93, Neiman Marcus, Dallas, Texas.
1993 Recent Works by Gallery Artists, Herr-Chambliss Fine Arts, Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas.
1992 New Works by Gallery Artists, Artenergies, Fort Worth, Texas.
1992 Recent Works, Herr-Chambliss Fine Arts, Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas.
1991 Photo/Photo-Real, Marie Park, Private Dealer, Dallas, Texas.
1991 Arts For the Parks, Top 100 paintings for the 1991 competition, National Park Academy of the Arts, Jackson, Wyoming.
1991 Herr-Chambliss Fine Arts, Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas.
1990 Cityscapes/Landscapes, Exhibit Gallery, Dallas, Texas.

MAGAZINE ARTICLES

Christina Hughes Babb, "Launch," pages 12-13, Advocate magazine December 2009
"Turning watercolors into oils," pages 68-77. International Artist magazine, October/November 2009.
"Grand Prize Winner- Seascapes, Rivers, and Lakes," cover and pages 1 and 4-6. International Artist magazine,
June/July 2008.
"Chris McHenry Selected as May Artist-in-Residence for Hot Springs National Park,"The Springs Magazine, May, 2007.
"Second Prize Winner-Landscapes,"International Artist magazine, February/March, 2007.
M. Stephen Doherty, "Using Contrasts to Make Landscapes More Believable,"American Artist magazine, November, 2006.

NEWSPAPER ARTICLES / PHOTOS / PUBLICATIONS / WEB ARTICLES / BLOGS

J.R. Compton, "Art Here Lately," Dallas Arts Revue, April 2010.
Courtney Jordan, Editor, Artist Daily Blog, February 28, 2010.
Mike Bullock , John P. Meyer, "Video interview: Dallas neighborhood artist Chris McHenry", Pegasus News., web article, October 11, 2008.
Hot Springs National Park Business Plan, fiscal year 2007, photos pp.27,40,41.
"Bulbs, boats, and brushstrokes," The Sentinel-Record, p.5B, March 28, 2008.
"Hot Springs National Park accepts applications for '08 Artist-in-Residence "The Sentinel-Record, p.6B, October 12, 2007.
"" Mountain View' National Park Artist-in-Residence McHenry completes panoramic piece,"The Sentinel-Record, p.7B, October 1, 2007.
"May Artist-in-Residence discovers new vantage points in HS National Park," The Sentinel-Record, June 1, 2007.
"Artistic Expression," The Sentinel-Record, May 20, 2007.
"Resident artist paints in the park, rain or shine," The Sentinel-Record, May 9, 2007.
"Spa Native next artist-in-residence," The Sentinel-Record, April 29, 2007.
"Seven artists chosen for HSNP residence program," The Sentinel-Record, March 29, 2007.
"The Art of Health Care," Report to the Community, St. Joseph's Mercy Health Center, Hot Springs, Arkansas, 2007.
John Lovett, "American Artist magazine features Hot Springs native," The Sentinel-Record, October 15, 2006.
"Landscape artist captures White Rock Lake's mystique," The Dallas Morning News, Neighbors-White Rock,M Streets,Lakewood, September 30, 2006.
Bath House Celebrates its 25th Anniversary," The Dallas Morning News, September 16, 2006.
Mary Monigold, "Lake Life," Dallas Observer, November 11, 2004.
Jim Mahoney, "A Beautiful Day to Brush up on his Painting," The Dallas Morning News, September 9, 2003.
Bud Kenny, "Art Doctors to the Rescue," Arkansas Arts Chronicle, Summer 1995.
" Dallas Artist Finishes HS High School Painting," The Sentinel-Record, May 9, 1993.
Stephen Steed, "Medicinal Art," Hot Springs Arts Chronicle, February 10, 1993.
"A Moment in Time," The Sentinel-Record, July 18, 1992.
"Four artist's work displayed tonight at Herr-Chambliss," The Sentinel-Record, July 2, 1992.
"Main Street," The Sentinel-Record, October 20, 1991.
Rebecca Donner, "Painting of Bathhouse Row to Join Park Service Exhibit," The Sentinel-Record, July 23, 1991.
"Bathhouse Visitor Center Added to Gallery Walk, " La Villa News, April 3, 1991.
Susan Pierce, "Works by Arkansans at Hot Springs Gallery," Arkansas Democrat, February 10, 1991.
"Hometown Artist Returns," The Sentinel-Record, February 7, 1991.

TALKS / LECTURES / DEMONSTRATIONS

ArtTalk "Dallas artist Chris McHenry is guest speaker for the Visual Art League," Oct. 2, 2007. VAL Gallery, Lewisville, Texas.
"Gallery Talk with painter Chris McHenry," The Bath House Cultural Center presents an Art Night with For the Love of the Lake. September 9, 2006. Bath House Cultural Center’s 25th Anniversary Celebration. Dallas, Texas.

INTERVIEWS

Mike Bullock , John P. Meyer, "Video interview: Dallas neighborhood artist Chris McHenry", Pegasus News., October 11, 2008.
"Arts in the Parks," KBMB Radio, April 4, 1991, Hot Springs, Arkansas.
"21st Hot Springs Gallery Walk," KBMB Radio, February 7, 1991, Hot Springs, Arkansas.

CATALOGS

Art in America, 2009 Guide, Brant Art Publications, Inc., New York, New York, 2009.
Art in America, 2007-2008 Annual Guide to Museums, Galleries & Artists, Brant Art Publications, Inc., New York, New York, 2007.
Art in America, 2006-2007 Guide to Museums,Galleries, Artists, Brant Publications, New York, New York, 2006.
Art in America, 2004 Guide to Museums,Galleries, Artists, Brant Publications, New York, New York, 2004.
Art in America, 91/92 Guide to Museums,Galleries, Artists, Brant Publications, New York, New York, 1992.
ARTexas International '93,The Dallas Art Dealers and The 500, Inc., Dallas, Texas, 1993.
Arts for the Parks 1991, National Park Academy of the Arts, Jackson, Wyoming, 1991.

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