“Bounce” oil, oilstick and sgraffito on panel, 2022, part of the “KSx20: Persistence of Light” exhibition marking twenty years of work by artist educator Karl Stephan, at Nave Gallery, March 19 – May 1.

For twenty years Karl Stephan worked in relative obscurity. But when Nave director Susan Berstler saw Karl’s pandemic work – and heard the story – she offered him a full-gallery retrospective.

Despite every dark event from 9/11 to Katrina, Trump to Covid and now Ukraine, Karl persists in seeking and sharing joy in art-making. From “suburban surrealism” to the new expansive “color music” his work celebrates the persistence of light.

Stephan paints and teaches in his Cambridge studio, at the Museum of Fine Arts, and in various other settings. He curated the well-regarded Wall to Wall mini-series of exhibits at Nave in 2016-17. Kylie Terra Burnham is a Masters Candidate in Museum Education at Tufts University, multi-media artist, performer, choreographer and a founding member of the Queer Theater Project.

With KSx20 the non-profit Nave Gallery emerges from the pandemic to mark its eighteenth year of showing artwork and maintaining its commitment to the local community. Scheduled free upcoming programs include:

March 24: Collaborative Writer’s Workshop, led by curatorial assistant Kylie Terra Burnham. March 31: Guided Art Experience, led by artist and art educator Karl Stephan.

April 9: Live Music, performed by Robyn Xu and Nate Kim, Longy School of Music.

April 14: Online discussion with Dr. Susan Barahal, Director of Art Education at Tufts SMFA.

April 28: Artist/Curator Talk with Karl Stephan and Kylie Terra Burnham

Date TBD: Pop-up performance from “Twelfth Night” by the Queer Theater Project.

Nave Gallery: www.navegallery.org/wp/karl-stephan-persistence-of-light

KSx20 Events: www.karlstephanstudio.com/ks-20-persistence-of-light

Nave Gallery, 155 Powderhouse Blvd., Somerville