While serving the country when he was in the Marines, Evan Strouse took photos of his surroundings, and the Gainesville community took notice.
“I like taking pictures of easy, beautiful looking things to relax my mind,” he said.
The 24-year-old’s photos are the subject of the Art in the Sanctuary project hosted by Unity of Gainesville Church at 8801 NW 39th Ave., on display until Sunday. Strouse captured photographs of landscapes and wildlife while he was stationed in Hawaii.
After leaving the Marines in 2013 and moving to Gainesville, Strouse got in touch with the Gainesville Fine Arts Association, which was impressed with his photos and offered to sponsor him at the TIOGA Winter Art Fair. The association guided him through the process of selling and displaying his photos to the public.
Sue Henry Young, the volunteer coordinator of the Art in the Sanctuary event, saw Strouse’s art and said she thought the colors would brighten up the sanctuary.
The Art in the Sanctuary project has been held at Unity of Gainesville Church since 2011. Since then, more than 25 exhibits showing various types of art have been displayed at the church. At least 50 people view the art exhibit each week, Young wrote in an email.
“Art is important because it is an expression of the divine creative,” she said. “It allows one to view a different perspective, and perhaps, challenge or expand one’s own.”
Strouse’s photos are full of bright colors and show different perceptions of the contrasting landscapes of the ocean and mountains in Hawaii.
Strouse didn’t plan on selling or displaying his photos when he first started. He simply wanted to capture the beauty he found as a way to unwind. His main goal in showing his photos to the public is to convince people to pursue their own adventures.
“I want people to want to go out and take photos themselves,” he said. “That’s my biggest fear, is not going out and seeing the world like that.”
[A version of this story ran on page 7 on 1/22/2015 under the headline “Former marine’s photography on display at GNV church exhibit"]
