November 02, 2019

Maquoketa Art Experience / North Gallery 

Letters to My Ancestors: The Watercolors of Tara Moorman

Learn how a girl from Kansas rescued her family photos from an old steamer trunk and turned them into a series of inspiring watercolor paintings and book in honor of her family.

WHERE: 

Maquoketa Art Experience North Gallery

124 S. Main St

Maquoketa, Iowa                          

WHEN: November 2-December 23, 2018

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May 31, 2017

Love, Loss and the Keeping of Secrets Infuse Moorman’s Ethereal Family Portraits

Little Village Magazine, By Rob Cline 

When you step into the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art’s second-floor gallery filled with Tara Moorman’s watercolors, the first thing you might notice is that these paintings seem to emanate light. What might be less obvious is that the paintings are themselves emanations from the past.

The exhibit, which officially opens with a Thursday, June 1 reception at the museum, is called Letters to My Ancestors — but it might be more accurately titled Conversations with My Ancestors. The artist will tell you, somewhat reluctantly but wholly in earnest, that she is in contact with many of the subjects in these paintings.

May 19, 2017

Culture Crawl 254 “It’s Much Easier to Paint Subjects Who Don’t Need a Bathroom Break”

KCCK, Dennis Green: Cultural Crawl 254

While cleaning out her mother’s house, artist Tara Moorman discovered a trove of family photos, some dating back to the 1870s. This inspired her to paint a series of watercolors depicting those family members at the time the photos were taken. “Letters To My Ancestors” is on exhibit now through August at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art. There will be an opening reception where you can meet Tara and learn more about the project on June 1.

Details at www.crma.org.

May 14, 2017

Watercolor Artist Exhibits Family Portraits at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art

Cedar Rapids Gazette, By Liz Zabel 

CEDAR RAPIDS — While cleaning out her mother’s home after she died in 2013, Tara Moorman opened an old trunk to find a collection of family photos dating to the late 1800s.

Moorman, a watercolor artist based in Cedar Rapids, was inspired to bring the black-and-white and sepia-toned photos “back to life.”

May 13, 2023

Recent Exhibition: LETTERS TO MY ANCESTORS: The Watercolors and Writings of Tara Moorman

The Cedar Rapids Museum of Art 

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Cedar Rapids-based artist Tara Moorman has long been known for her exquisite watercolor paintings. This exhibition displays a new series, inspired by old photographs of Moorman’s relatives found at her mother’s home. Moorman describes her ancestors with Garrison Keillor’s phrase, “all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.” Using the photos as inspiration for her paintings allowed Moorman to have a conversation of sorts with her ancestors and momentarily step into their world.