By DEBRA HAIGHT

Special to Leader Publications

BUCHANAN — Three unique artistic visions are on display this month and next at the Buchanan Art Center. People will see the religious paintings of St. Joseph resident Matt Payovich, the cultural photographs of Niles native Jennifer Watts and the sometimes-whimsical sculptures of the late Lynda Price.

An opening reception for the three exhibits is set for 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, at the center. The center is located at 117 W. Front St. and is open six days a week, offering art galleries, a gift shop and a full slate of classes for all ages.

For Payovich, much of his work is inspired by his deep religious faith as well as the influence of great artists like Rembrandt and Velasquez. People will see examples of that in this exhibit called “Between the Mud and the Stars” with paintings of three modern saints and sacred icons. Saints depicted include St. Therese, St. Bernadette and St. Gemma.

“I am recording the people and saints of our time like the masters did in their time … maybe I’m an old soul,” he said. “Religious art has such a strong tradition but it in large part doesn’t exist anymore … All my work has a spiritual aspect, that has always been my goal.”

He described his style as incorporating ethereal aspects with realism. His emphasis is also on beauty as much as any message.

“There’s something to be said for beauty in art instead of a specific message,” he said. “People still gravitate to that. It’s like going to a movie or hearing music that moves you. I want my paintings to move you inside like that.”

Payovich is a former member of the Lake Michigan College art department faculty and has shown his work at galleries throughout the area. He has also done commissioned pieces for Catholic and Congregational churches in southwest Michigan. His exhibit in the Roti Roti Gallery is his first show at the art center.

He uses a variety of mediums in his work, both in terms of paints and surfaces. His art center exhibit primarily showcases his oil paintings but he has also done watercolors. As for surfaces, he uses canvas and tiles and even less conventional ones like drawers and doors.

“I’m always looking for unusual surfaces to work with,” he said.

Watts grew up in Niles and now lives in Donna, Texas with her mother, Nancy Watts. The two began Cross-Cultural Ministries more than a decade ago with the goal of both supporting area charities and increasing people’s understanding of other cultures. Proceeds from the sale of photos in this exhibit will go to Feeding the Nations in South Bend.

The show in the Show Place Gallery is called “Viva! Tres Typos” and features several of the photographs Watts has taken in her travels through the southern United States, Mexico and Central America and other parts of the world. Watts is a fourth-generation artist and also makes paintings and jewelry, of which examples of the latter are in the center’s gift shop.

Several of the photographs were taken at a Day of the Dead celebration in San Antonio.

“This is in many ways an educational exhibit,” Nancy Watts said of her daughter’s work. “She looks below the surface levels. Day of the Dead celebrations are times when people celebrate the lives of the people they love, like Memorial Day.”

The final exhibit in the Hess Library Gallery and Showcases pays tribute to Price, a retired South Bend art teacher and longtime artist and sculptor who died May 6 after a battle with cancer. Price had a number of exhibits at the art center and was known for her unusual sculptures made of found pieces, metal, driftwood and even horse hair.

Art center education director Marie Remington knew Price as both a student and a colleague. She and others at the center worked with Price’s husband, Jeff, to make this tribute possible. The exhibit shows many of the items Price created at her Skyview Pottery studio east of Niles.

“This is a fitting farewell to a good friend,” Remington said. “She was a wonderful artist and her pieces were full of whimsy and fun. She explored everything from carousel horses to Native American themes in her work and used several different pottery processes.”

“It’s bittersweet,” Jeff Price said of the exhibit. “I watched her make a lot of these items and saw her changing interests … This exhibit will help preserve her memory and her art. She had a special fondness for this place as they also showcased her late father’s work.”