REALLY…
Mary Anne Arntzen, Renee Hanan Plata, Meg Howton
September 10-26, 2026
Opening Reception: Thursday, September 10, 5-7 pm
Artist Talk: Saturday, September 26, 3 pm
Mary Anne Arntzen (b. Riverside, CA) is a painter based in Birmingham, AL. Her work explores the narrative potential of abstraction through layered compositions that reference architecture, textiles, and cartoons. Arntzen holds an MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art and a BFA in Painting from Boston University. She is a recipient of the Bethesda Painting Prize and the Maryland State Arts Council’s Individual Artist Award in Painting. Arntzen has attended residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild, and the Wassaic Project. From 2013 to 2020, she served on the advisory committee for ICA Baltimore, curating three exhibitions.
Renee Hanan Plata is an abstract painter and multidisciplinary artist. She uses repetition of geometric objects to explore the intersection of beauty, humor, and imperfection. Hanan Plata lived and worked in New York for 20 years, and she currently maintains an active studio in Birmingham, AL. Her recent exhibitions include Hal Bromm Gallery (New York, NY), Room 412 (Birmingham, AL), and street installations in both New York City and Birmingham. She recently received The Warhol Foundation’s Verdant Fund Grant and was nominated for the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Grant. Hanan Plata earned her BFA from the Atlanta College of Art (Atlanta, GA), was awarded a fellowship at Yale University (New Haven, CT), and received her MFA from Tyler School of Art and Temple University (Philadelphia, PA, and Rome, IT).
Meg Howton is a mixed-media artist with a background in ceramics. Her work challenges conventional notions of beauty through unconventional means, employing both found and crafted materials to create sculptures that evoke comfort and explore visually tactile experiences. The interplay of color and texture in Howton’s sculptures achieves a harmonious visual coherence that draws viewers into a compelling sensory experience. Howton holds a BFA in Ceramics and Photography from the University of Alabama and completed a post-baccalaureate program at the University of Florida before earning her MFA in Ceramics from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. Currently based in Tuscaloosa, Howton serves as an Instructor of Ceramics at The University of Alabama.