Welcome to the Virtual Art Gallery at Wilder

Yusuf Ssali | April 7, 2025 - May 4, 2025

To view the current online exhibit at the Art Gallery at Wilder, click here.

The Virtual Art Gallery features Ugandan artist Yusuf Ssali.

Yusuf Ssali’s paintings and mixed media works are inspired by the riches of African culture. His work includes abstraction, images of women, animals, landscape, and more recently, urban cityscapes around the Bay Area.

Aside from the riches of Africa, Ssali’s work addresses the challenges the continent faces in the current day. His portraits present regal African women cloaked in richly patterned, traditional fabrics that amplify their power and beauty, in reaction to the pervasive patriarchal culture of his youth. With faces and postures that demand respect, the women are united by Ssali’s striking use of color and design.

As a child, Ssali was captivated by the elephants, lions, exotic birds and large game animals that were never more than a short drive away. He grew up painting native animals in plein air, joining millennia of African artists who have included depictions of familiar animals as subject matter. As a young artist he was aware of a tragic elephant massacre by poachers in Nairobi. His work now focuses on the plight of these iconic animals, giving voice to their majesty, intelligence, beauty and migrations.

Ssali began painting landscapes of his new homeland when he first experienced the architecture of cities out- side of Africa. Unlike the circular, radiating communities of his home in Uganda, western cities are linear and square, connected through the colors and lights that emanate through thousands of windows after dark.

In his abstract paintings Ssali concentrates on the balance between intentionality and spontaneity, incorporating patterns, leather, tree bark and found objects that literally leap off the canvas in brilliant color.

Yusuf Ssali was born in Kampala, Uganda. He earned an MFA in Industrial Fine Arts and Design at Makerere University. He has exhibited in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, France, Belgium, Holland, New York, Boston, Seattle, Washington DC, and the San Francisco Bay area. He emigrated to the United States in 2017 to pursue his artistic career.

His abstract work concentrates on the balance between intention and instinct, incorporating organic and found objects that seem to leap off the canvas in brilliant colors.  In his words "I gravitate towards abstraction to create visual language that transcends cultural boundaries." 

Ssali is Executive Director of Kisa Foundation USA, a 501(c)(3) charity founded in 2010. The Foundation sponsors Uganda Art Consortium. Members of the Consortium donate 50% of their sales to Kisa Foundation to finance charitable projects in Uganda including Namungoona Children’s Art Center and Mulago Hospital Art Therapy Program. Several well-known Uganda artists are members of the Consortium, including Mathias Tusiime, Kaspa Kasambeko, Hassan Mukiibi, Chaz Mbabazi and James Nsamba.

For more information about the Art Gallery at Wilder, contact Curators Bill Carmel and Elana O'Loskey via email at gallery@lamorindaarts.org or call 925.359.9940.

December 2024 In-Person & Online Exhibit

Lamorinda Arts Council presents a solo show featuring photographer John Brown. You are invited to meet the artist at a reception in his honor on Sunday, December 8th, 2:30 - 4:30 pm while enjoying light refreshments.

John Brown | "A Life Rooted in the Power of Photography"

December 8, 2024 - January 3, 2025 | Mondays - Fridays, 3:00 - 5:00 pm

Enjoy works by John Brown, whose photographs capture his varied interests. Come and see!

ARTIST RECEPTION: Sunday, December 8, 2:30 - 4:30 pm - Meet John and enjoy light refreshments!

November 2024 In-Person & Online Exhibit

Lamorinda Arts Council presents art by artist Denise Nomura. You are invited to meet the artist at a reception in her honor on Sunday,  November 3rd, 2:00 - 4:30 pm while enjoying light refreshments.

Denise Nomura | "Abstract Serenity: A Reflection of Nature's Beauty"

November 3 - December 6, 2024 | Mondays - Fridays, 3:00 - 5:00 pm

Enjoy works by artist Denise Nomura, whose artwork has evolved from meticulous representational portrayals of nature to currently expressing herself in an abstract format. "I have finally found my stride and comfort zone in abstract Impressionism,” she said. Come and see! Visit DeniseNomura.com to learn more.

ARTIST RECEPTION: Sunday, November 3, 2:00 - 4:30 pm - Meet Denise and enjoy light refreshments!

October 2024 In-Person & Online Exhibit

Lamorinda Arts Council presents art by artist Marianne McCraney. You are invited to meet the artist at a reception in her honor on Sunday,  September 15th, 2:30 - 4:30 pm while enjoying light refreshments.

Marianne McCraney | "Presence: Portraits of Seniors"

October 7 - November 1, 2024 | Mondays - Fridays, 3:00 - 5:00 pm

Enjoy works by artist Marianne McCraney, whose expressive portraits reveal seniors doing things they love – reading, walking, working in the tool shed, visiting a friend, and more. Come and see!

ARTIST RECEPTION: Sunday, October 7, 2:30 - 4:30 pm - Meet Marianne and enjoy light refreshments!

September 2024 In-Person & Online Exhibit

The Lamorinda Arts Council presents art by artist Joy Chew. You are invited to meet the artist at a reception in her honor on Sunday,  September 15th, 2:30 - 4:30 pm while enjoying light refreshments.

Joy Chew | "Whiskers and Zen"

September 8 - October 4, 2024 | Mondays - Fridays, 3:00 - 5:00 pm

Enjoy works by artist Joy Chew, showing delightful depictions of adorable animals finding their zen.

ARTIST RECEPTION: Sunday, September 15, 2:30 - 4:30 pm - Meet Joy Chew and enjoy light refreshments!

August 2024 In-Person & Online Exhibit

The Lamorinda Arts Council presents more oil paintings by Leslie Golden. You are invited to meet the artist at a reception in her honor on Sunday, July 7th, 2:30 - 4:30 pm while enjoying light refreshments.

Lois Reynolds Mead | "On the Table"

August 4 - September 6, 2024 | Mondays - Fridays, 3:00 - 5:00 pm

Enjoy works by longtime LAC Board Member Lois Reynolds Mead, showing 20 of her acrylic collages that capture moments of her life in the images.

ARTIST RECEPTION: Sunday, August 4, 2:30 - 4:30 pm - meet Lois and enjoy light refreshments!

July 2024 In-Person & Online Exhibit

The Lamorinda Arts Council presents more oil paintings by Leslie Golden. You are invited to meet the artist at a reception in her honor on Sunday, July 7th, 2:30 - 4:30 pm while enjoying light refreshments.

Leslie Golden | "Close to Home"

July 7th - August 2, 2024 | Mondays - Fridays, 3:00 - 5:00 pm

A solo show featuring beautiful floral paintings, and lovely landscape vignettes of scenes close to the artist’s home. The show also features Golden’s “Laura’s Lantern inspired by John Singer Sargent,” a painting echoing the bespoke dresses and rarefied lighting at dusk in Sargent’s work. Don't miss it!

May 2024 In-Person & Online Exhibit

The Lamorinda Arts Council presents the work of Ania Lesela. You are invited to meet the artist at a reception in her honor on Sunday, May 5th, 2:30 - 4:30 pm while enjoying light refreshments.

Ania Lesela | Contemplations

May 5th - June 2nd, 2024 | Mondays - Fridays, 3:00 - 5:00 pm (Closed May 27 for Memorial Day)

A lifelong artist, Ania Lesela has been working in acrylic and mixed media for four years. Lesela says, “As a physician and neuroscientist, part of my creative process involves my brain taking bits of ambiguous information and constructing a comprehensible whole. My creative endeavors and scientific work are synergistic. I enjoy exploring the boundary between the physical and spiritual, and how emotions color our experiences.” For more about Lesela’s artwork visit https://www.instagram.com/anialesela/.

April 2024 In-Person & Online Exhibit

The Lamorinda Arts Council presents the work of Lance Jackson and Barbara Lind. You are invited to meet the artists at a reception in their honor on Sunday, April 7th, 2:30 - 4:30 pm while enjoying light refreshments.

Lance Jackson & Barbara Lind |Artistic License - A Couple of Artists Married to Art 

April 7 - May 5th, 2024 | Mondays - Fridays, 3:00 - 5:00 pm

Jackson draws inspiration from traditional news media, echoing his career in media illustration and digital design. His acrylic painting “Five Ents” pulls us into J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy world of Middle-earth where “Ents” closely resemble trees. They look like giant sentient beings that appeared in “The Lord of the Rings” as ancient shepherds of the forest and allies of the free peoples of Middle-earth during the War of the Ring. Today we call them environmental activists as these Ents attended a 2018 Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco.

Barbara Lind has touched many art forms in her creative life: drawing with pencil, charcoal, pastels, ink; painting with watercolors and oils; and calligraphy for the immediacy of that art form.  “The silver lining in the pandemic for me was the wealth of artistic resources online. I took Zoom classes with great teachers and artists and was exposed to many different painting styles,” she said. Look for her “Calla Lily” watercolor, a welcome harbinger of spring in local gardens.