Natchez — ArtsNatchez Gallery will host a reception honoring, Ron Chapman and Salongo Lee from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at the gallery at 110 N. Union St.

The artists will will exhibit new work during the receptions.

Chapman began oil painting at age 10 and continued creating art with numerous starts and stops over the years.

He has recently returned to Chinese Brush Painting after Hurricane Katrina interrupted his exploration of the medium in 2005.

While living in his FEMA trailer, he took up colored pencils and pastels. In one pastel series, he tries to capture the stories of New Orleans Lower Ninth Ward’s historic homes that were subject to demolition after hurricane damage.

“Painting allows me to explore my imagination and try to create images that others might appreciate, while shutting out the post-Katrina recovery issues that have so dominated our lives,” he said

A couple of months before Katrina hit, he bought a house in Natchez that has served as his special place to paint and write and to live upon retirement.

Lee, a visual artist and photographer, splits his time between studios here and in Inglewood, Calif. His photographic images appear in collections across the United States, in Australia and in books about black photographers by Deborah Willis.

“Technology is just a tool,” he said. “It’s our eye and imagination that brings the final image into existence for all to see, feel and experience that moment caught in time.”

He still exhibits work in “The Art of Living Black” held in Richmond, Calif., and will be in the 2010 exhibit and art tour.

A recipient of the 2008 Mississippi Artist Fellowship in Visual Arts for Photography, he is currently working on a book project about his haiku poetry and dance images and another book project based on his Abandoned Project images, which he expects to finish in 2010.

ArtsNatchez Gallery is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information visit www.artsnatchez.org or send e-mail to artsnatchez@bellsouth.net or call 601-442-00430.