Monthaven Art and Cultural Center

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Don Olea: Celebrating America’s 250th Anniversary in Historic Style

The award-winning watercolorist Don Olea is well-known for his historic military art. In honor of America’s 250th anniversary, Olea has created a series of paintings depicting important scenes from the American Revolution. In this episode of MACC Talk, Olea joins host John Pitcher to discuss these works, which will be on display as part of the MACC’s 8th Annual Veterans Art Exhibition from Aug. 2 to Sept. 6, 2026. The episode is sponsored by the Charlie Daniels Journey Home Project.

 

Don Olea found inspiration for “The Occupation of Boston” after watching the TV period drama “Turn: Washington’s Spies.”

 

“The Winter Patriots” by Don Olea. The soldier to Washington’s right is William “Billy” Lee, an enslaved man who served as one of the General’s closest aides. “Billy Lee was always with Washington,” Olea says. “But in the past, he was always left out of the depictions of Washington. I corrected that oversight.”

 

“And So It Begins” by Don Olea. The watercolor depicts Massachusetts militiamen at Concord’s Old North Bridge on April 19, 1775.

 

In “Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence,” Don Olea plays off the famous painting John Trumbull first placed in the Capitol rotunda in 1826. Instead of the captured British flags Trumbull painted, Olea features the Continental Union Flag of 1776.

 

Sixteen-year-old Sybil Ludington reportedly road 40 miles on a rainy night in April 1777 to warn the Connecticut militia of a British attack.

 

Like Don Olea, MACC Talk announcer Kennedy Galpin has an affinity for drawing sports figures. The image is from her travel notebook.

 

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Robin Willis

HEALING ARTS COORDINATOR

Robin Willis is the MACC’s Healing Arts Coordinator. She also works as the Exhibition and Events Manager and Director of Outreach. Robin has a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from Clemson University with a minor in Entrepreneurship. She is a multi-discipline artist with emphasis in writing, mixed media abstract painting, alternative process photography, collage, and book arts and binding. In addition to her art practices, she holds several healing modalities certificates, such as extensive kundalini yoga teacher training and education, Reiki master, systemic family constellation facilitator, and depth psychology-based therapy trainings. As an avid learner, she explores and encourages others in their exploration in art, psyche, and our relationship to the micro and macro worlds within and around us. Influenced by John Muir’s quote, When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe, she fuses art, healing, and organization throughout her work and personal life as a creative-scientist minded person.

Kaylin Warden

Creative Design and Operations Manager

Kaylin Warden serves as the MACC’s Creative Design and Operations Manager. In this post, she oversees the organization’s graphic design work for exhibitions, events and special projects. She also coordinates the MACC’s arts outreach activities and assists with bookkeeping, among other duties. Kaylin, above all, is passionate about the arts. It comes as no surprise, then, that she is now pursuing a master’s degree in art history. When she’s not at the MACC, you can find her reading her favorite books (especially ones dealing with maritime mysteries), cooking, gardening, playing with her cat and two dogs, and cheering for the Nashville Predators.

Ruth Chase

Regional Arts Director
Ruth Chase is the Regional Arts Director of Monthaven Arts and Cultural Center, joining the team in 2023. For Ruth, the job is all about community, bringing people together to uplift and educate artists and art lovers alike. Her role at Monthaven is to strengthen the local artist community and build connections that will enrich Hendersonville and our surrounding communities through art exhibitions, art education, and opportunities for regional artists.
 
Prior to joining Monthaven, Ruth worked in the arts for over 30 years and is a multimedia artist and graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute. Her artistic practice is inquiry-based and engages in community bridge-building. She was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation from the City of Los Angeles, curated and juried exhibitions, and has taught at the Crocker Art Museum.
 
Ruth was awarded an Artist-in-Residence for Artist Activating Communities through a grant from the California Arts Council for three consecutive years. Her film Belonging screened at both the 18th Annual Nevada City Film Festival and Wild & Scenic Film Festival. She has received the Legendary Female Artist of Venice award, and she has exhibited in The Crocker Kingsley, the Museum of Northern California Art, and the Diego Rivera Gallery at the San Francisco Art Institute. Ruth also continues her work as a Curatorial Consultant and Art director for the Californian Indigenous Research Project, where she has worked with the local tribe since 2018. 
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