Nancy Etchart's Watercolors At The Wheatgrass Gallery

Wheatgrass Arts & Gallery presents an art show featuring the watercolors of the late Nancy Etchart. This exhibit showcases Etchart’s resilience and love of life through her art. The exhibit can be viewed at the Wheatgrass Arts and Gallery, 523 2nd Avenue South, for the months of May and June.

Dr. Nancy Etchart, a Glasgow native, health psychologist and 33-year brain cancer survivor, embraced painting in later life as a form of joyful expression and therapeutic self-discovery. As the effects of cancer treatment began to affect her physical and communication abilities, Etchart found her voice in the creation of vivid watercolors. A founding member of the Queen City Art Club, in Helena, her paintings have been exhibited in galleries, sold online and featured in events throughout the state of Montana.

Etchart was a 1977 graduate of Glasgow High School where she excelled in sports and academics. She attended Montana State University and at the end of her junior year was faced with her first brain tumor. Undaunted, she grated with a BS in zoology, moved to LA, received her master’s from Pepperdine and completed a PhD from the California School of Professional Psychology. Her professional life filled with wild California adventures and colorful friends. She immersed herself in all that LA had to offer and used those experiences to broaden her perspective on culture, art and life.

Etchart returned to Montana where she opened a private practice. It was during this period that she learned to pain from sister and artist, Paulette Etchart. Nancy, along with her sister, were co-founders of the Queen City Art Club, in Helena. For over 10 years they organized weekly painting classes for people with disabilities. The group’s work was shown annually at the Holter Museum. This class was the highlight of the week for many who participated.

Etchart’s passion for life was an astonishment. She died in 2013 at the age of 54 after three decades of doing battle with cancer. The joy of living every day defined her and she leaves us with a unique, artistic perspective: boldness in the face of the unknown, freedom through the lens of confinement, beauty in the eye of the bease.

There will be a reception during the All Class Reunion on Saturday, June 18, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Everyone is invited to attend, especially the Class of 1977.