YOUNGSTOWN - Youngstown’s Butler Institute of American Art is having a little fun at the expense of some of the world’s most famous and sometimes infamous works of art.

The museum is previewing a coming exhibition by artist and photographer Ed Wheeler, who has created some pieces that look like some familiar art, but each one with the added feature of old St. Nick.

Whether it’s Santa sitting in for the careworn woman in Grant Wood’s “American Gothic”, the jolly old elf standing on a clamshell in Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus”, or Santa playing poker with dogs, there will be something for nearly everyone.

There is even a parody on the Butler’s very own treasured “Snap the Whip” by Winslow Homer.

This exhibition of 34 prints of Wheeler dressed as Santa invading known paintings as the main subject, part of a group or by himself in the landscape, is Wheeler's homage to the original paintings while offering art lovers an extra fun reason to smile.

To create these images, Wheeler uses a multi-step process to completely integrate Santa into the lighting, brushstrokes, and tonal values of a particular painting while maintaining the fidelity of the original.

Wheeler selects paintings with compositions that would welcome a Santa intervention, or sometimes he just loves the painting and wants to be a part of it.

The exhibition is scheduled to open on December 13, 2020, and will be on display at The Butler’s Macintosh Gallery until February 7, 2011, 524 Wick Ave., Youngstown.

The exhibition and its programming are made possible in part through a charitable educational grant from the PNC Foundation.

Here is a link to view some examples of the works that can be seen in the exhibition: https://www.santaclassics.com/  .

 Here is a link to a creation video the artist posted on Facebook:  https://fb.watch/28NJvKQO8Q/