Athlete Turned Artist Dennis Hare Brings Works To Redlands Community Hospital Foundation "Evening with the Artists"

Dennis Hare, a former athlete turned artist, has become a powerful force in the art scene thanks to his strong and poignant pieces. Hare will be one of six artists featured during the annual “Evening with the Artists” hosted by the Redlands Community Hospital Foundation on Friday, April 19.  

“Today I believe we live in a world where art has become a slick, saccharine corporate style of beauty that desensitizes society,” says Hare. “I create art that is a direct contrast to this style.”

The foundation’s art program began in 1978 and today, the hospital exhibits a collection of more than 600 works of original art and historic photographs in the Redlands Community Art collection. 

Hare’s productive career has spanned 33 years with his early figurative work catapulting him to success in the 1980s. In 1989 he was chosen as the featured artist of the year at the legendary Charles Campbell Gallery in San Francisco and he remained with the gallery for over a decade.

Hare feels his work has a soul and beauty of things simple, imperfect, impermanent, incomplete, and unconventional. 

“It is the beauty of things humble and modest, where corrosion and age make the expression richer,” he explains. “My work is made of materials that are visibly vulnerable to the effects of weathering and human treatment.  The record of the sun, wind, rain, heat, and cold create a language of authenticity.  Rust, tarnish, stain, warping, shrinking, and cracking are my pallet. I try to be fearless when creating.”

“I know a piece is complete when I feel a deep spiritual connection with it.  It is not so much what a piece says, but how it feels,” says Hare. “I am satisfied when my work has strength of richness that beckons the senses and engages the viewer to relate and think of possibilities.”

Hare is active in California art galleries and his work can be viewed at Westbrook Galleries, Art Cube, and the Donna Seager Gallery. He has been featured in dozens of solo and group exhibitions across the country and in Mexico.

Hare joins local artists Darlene Katz, Anthony Radcliffe, Penny Fedorchak, Hanna Adler, Ray Nodrwall at the annual “Evening of the Artists” event. Katz’s artwork will be available for purchase at the Stan and Ellen Weisser Education Pavilion from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 19. Proceeds will benefit the Redlands Community Hospital Foundation’s art fund. Wine and hors d’oeuvres will be served during the evening’s elegant event. Tickets are $ 20. 

For more information on the “Evening with the Artists” event or to RSVP, please call 909-335-5540. To see a sample of Hare’s artwork, please visit www.dennishare.com.

Nikyah Thomas-Pfeiffer is marketing manager for Redlands Community Hospital.