Reception: Friday, September 5, 5:00-7:00pm
Chico Art Center is honored to announce a transformative legacy gift: The Jodaitis-Walker Creative Works Center and the Peter Jodaitis Studio. This generous bequest includes the couple’s home, Peter Jodaitis’ studio, a significant body of his artwork, and funding dedicated to preserving, studying, and promoting his artwork.
To commemorate this extraordinary gift, we present an exhibition offering an intimate glimpse into Peter Jodaitis’ studio practice. Featured are a selection of works on paper, sketchbooks, sculptures and a rich archive of correspondence, spanning his prolific career from 2001 to 2016.
Peter Jodaitis (1936-2017) was a self-taught painter and sculptor whose work spans 50 years. His education at Bates College and the University of Connecticut was in economics, but his real passion was always art. After a stint in business he devoted himself full time to art, teaching himself by doing, observing and trading modeling in drawing classes for the right to sit in on them and draw from the model. He showed work on the East Coast where he was born and lived with his wife and two children, and then moved to California where he continued to draw, paint and sculpt, showing work at The Humanities Gallery at Chico State, 1078 Gallery, the studios and galleries of Daniel Donnely, and James Snidle among other venues.
Time spent in Mexico, Morocco, and France produced landscapes and related imagery, and reading produced illustrations for two novels, but his first love was the human form, itself, for him, a landscape. “The human form reflects all facets of nature; it is where we all live.” A passionate, even obsessive artist, he produced a monumental body of work, and recorded his thoughts about art, quotations from his eclectic reading, appropriated images, and his own brief sketches in hundreds of artist’s notebooks/sketchbooks. His meditations on the connections between looking and making are expressed in words, images, and above all, in the gestures of the artist.
“I only know that I need to be in my studio every day. If I weren’t able to work, I’d become a lost soul.”
A Landmark Bequest
Chico, CA – August, 2025 – The Chico Art Center is proud to present a memorial exhibition showcasing selections from Peter Jodaitis’ works. His passing on January 5, 2017, is still keenly missed in the local arts community. Titled The hand that spoke, this exhibition offers a glimpse into Peter’s studio practice, featuring a selection of works on paper, sketchbooks, sculpture and archive of his correspondence with a French friend, Sophie Fourré, that spans his prolific career from 2001 to 2016.
The exhibition includes selections, primarily from his bicycle series and nudes, demonstrating his vibrant color sensibility and command of watercolor, gouache and ink media. His hand is celebrated for his fluid, gestural compositions. Jodaitis was known for his distinctive approach to color, texture, and form, often working in series.
This special exhibition is made possible through a generous bequest from Peter’s wife, Ellen Walker, who, upon her passing, will leave the entirety of Peter’s artistic legacy – including his artwork, studio, and house to the Chico Art Center. The scope of Peter's collection is truly remarkable: Over 4,000 completed works, along with an extensive archive of sketchbooks, studies, and personal artifacts that span five decades of his creative life.
In honor of this extraordinary gift, the Chico Art Center has committed to promoting and exhibiting Peter Jodaitis’ work for generations to come. The artwork will be carefully managed, ensuring that future generations can enjoy his art.
As part of the bequest, Peter’s house and studio will also be donated intact to the Art Center. The Chico Art Center envisions transforming the property into a hub for community engagement, including guided public tours, special receptions, and the establishment of a visiting artist program. This exciting new initiative will allow visitors to experience the space where Peter lived and created, fostering an immersive connection to his life and work.
“We are deeply honored to be entrusted with Peter’s legacy,” said Cameron Kelly, Gallery Director of the Chico Art Center. “Through this bequest, we are ensuring that his artistic spirit will continue to inspire and enrich the lives of others for years to come.”
The Peter Jodaitis: The hand that spoke exhibition will be open to the public from August 16 to September 19, with an opening reception on Friday, September 5, 5-7pm. The Art Center invites all members of the community to come and celebrate the work of one of Chico’s artistic icons.
Peter’s studio will be participating in this year's Open Studios Art Tour on the weekends of October 11-12 and 18-19. You may preview the list of participating artists online at chicoosat.com, view one artwork by each artist in the gallery exhibition at Chico Art Center opening October 3rd (free admission), then purchase a guidebook for studio locations.
For more information about the exhibition or to learn more about the bequest, please contact the Chico Art Center at gallerydirectorcac@gmail.com.
