Mothers Day Tea and Cookies Revisited
10 May 2011 Comments Off
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Did you miss this year’s Mothers Day Tea and Cookies? Or maybe you attended and wish we would do it again? Well, now you can relive last Saturday. We’ve made a slide show (thanks to JoAnn Z-K and her camera!).
Pour a cup of whatever’s left in your coffee pot, get some crackers from the cupboard, and enjoy:
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A new pair of earrings for spring
06 May 2011 Comments Off
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At tomorrow’s Mothers Day Tea and Cookies, instructors will help you make a pair of new earrings. Rena Mehlhoff says you can expect to learn the basics of jewelry making. “We’ll cover how to use the different tools and and materials to create simple to intermediate pieces.”
(Also, that photo in the strip above is just something from the archive. See work from one of our instructors, Dawn, here.)
Remember:
- Drop in anytime between 1 and 5 p.m. for jewelry making.
- All classes and materials are free (thanks ND Council on the Arts)
- Moms optional
Spring flowers theme for Saturday’s watercolor class
05 May 2011 Comments Off
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Charlene Jones, watercolor instructor, says she’ll be focusing her class at this Saturday’s Mothers Day Tea and Cookies on flowers. Beautiful flowers. Why? “Because it’s spring and we’re desperate for it!”
Remember …
- Classes start at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m.
- Everything is free (thanks ND Council for the Arts!)
- Moms optional
Untitled by Mark Werner wins 2011 People’s Choice
02 May 2011 Comments Off
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Mark Werner’s acrylic, Untitled, won People’s Choice Award at the close of the 2011 Annual Spring Art Show at the Mandan Art Gallery. Congratulations Mark!
We’ve been putting on Spring Art Shows for 53 years, but this was the first one in our own gallery, and we think it was a fine success. It’s not too soon to start creating your 2012 entry, you know.
Ann West
28 Apr 2011 Comments Off
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“I love gold and purple; can you tell?” says Ann West as volunteers hang her work, Trees, at the Mandan Art 53rd Annual Spring Art Show.
West is one of the veteran artists showing in this year’s exhibit. She’s traveled all over the continent taking workshops from as far away as Maine and Nova Scotia, often with the late watercolor teacher, Edgar A. Whitney.
Today, West works in art full time. When she’s not creating her own pieces, she’s teaching at Manchester House, a residential treatment facility for local children 5-13. Her class is currently working on an ambitious project to hang work in nonprofits throughout the Bismarck/Mandan area.
You can see West’s work at the Mandan Art Association Gallery through April 29.
Free Mothers Day Tea and Workshops, May 7
26 Apr 2011 Comments Off
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We’re hosting our second annual Mothers Day Tea on Saturday, May 7, at the MAA Gallery, 411 W. Main St., 1 to 5 p.m.
The event, which features tea, coffee, cookies, and art activities, is free and open to everyone—moms and non-moms alike.
“The Mothers Day Tea is a way to do something a little more special for the holiday,” said Cat McClintock, Assistant Gallery Director. “Making art while keeping company with others is a very different experience than working alone. There’s a lot of laughter and joy in it.”
Watercolor artists and Mandan Art members Charlene Jones and Mary Quintus will lead classes in watercolor at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. Rena Mehlhoff and Dawn Wetzstein will offer jewelry-making instruction throughout the event.
This event is sponsored in part by the North Dakota Council on the Arts, which is the state agency responsible for the support and development of the arts throughout North Dakota, and is funded by the state legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.
For more information, mandanart.org or call 701.751.4331.
Bird by Mary Welch
20 Apr 2011 Comments Off
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Here’s one I like a lot from the Spring Art Show, now hanging at the Mandan Art Gallery. It was submitted by Mary Welch. Nice, huh?
But is it pretty? Charlene Jones judges art show
18 Apr 2011 Comments Off
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In his book Mainstreet, author Sinclair Lewis said it was the oldest topic of conversation in the world:
“It’s art, but is it pretty?”
Not an easy question to answer. That’s why we enlisted Charlene Jones to judge our Spring Art Show.
She’s been teaching art since the 1960s and has shown work throughout the region. Her exhibits have appeared at the Running Gallery, Concordia College, Moorhead, MN; West Bend Gallery of Fine Arts, Wisconsin; AAUW Art Exhibition, Wahpeton, ND; Red River Art Center, Moorhead, MN.
She currently serves as Vice President for the MAA and teaches art at the North Dakota Youth Correctional Facility.
But even for Jones picking the prettiest work was daunting. As we were hanging entries in late March, Jones muttered nervously, “This isn’t going to be easy.”
Okay, maybe Jones wasn’t looking for the prettiest pictures and statues. (And of course, Sinclair Lewis wasn’t entirely unironic when he asked the question in the first place.) In fact, she was looking for visual interest, composition, balance, use of color, and all those things people who devote their lives to art see in a canvas or a sculpture.
By the time we had our reception on April 1, Jones had picked Best of Show, Gallery, and Creativity award winners. I checked with her again. “So, was judging the show difficult?”
She smiled and said, “I’m happy with my choices.”
Still, if you want to participate in the world’s oldest conversation, come down to the gallery and vote for your favorite work–prettiest, most graceful, most meaningful, whatever you like. We’ll award the People’s Choice when the show ends April 29.
Winners of 2011 Spring Art Show announced
09 Apr 2011 Comments Off
The winners of the 2011 Spring Art Show were announced April 1, 2011 at the Mandan Art Gallery.
Best of Show was awarded to Morgen Quintus, a student at Mandan High. Her work depicts each of her sisters looking in a different direction but with a similar color scheme. Morgen says the work symbolizes their differences and ties at the same time.
- Best of Show by Morgen Quintus
The Gallery Award went to Bobbi Lee for her View from White Buttes painting.
- View from White Buttes by Bobbi Lee
The Creativity Award went to Chip Liebel for her work Court Yard Cacklers.
- Court Yard Cacklers by Chip Liebel
The People’s Choice Award will be determined at the end of April based on ballots from gallery visitors.
Judging Art
05 Dec 2010 Comments Off
On Thursday, Jeannine L. Saabye judged the Mandan Art Association Gallery Miniature Show. Saabye, associate professor of humanities and gallery director at University of Mary in Bismarck, picked winners for Best of Show, Gallery, and Most Creative awards.
It’s difficult and sometimes politically dicey to judge any kind of creative endeavor, and especially to talk publicly about how one chooses one work over another. So, I was grateful that Saabye was willing to speak openly about her criteria, her personal tastes, and why the two don’t always draw her to the same work of art.
Saabye said she looked at three criteria when judging the Miniature Show:
1. Composition. Saabye pointed out that her winners all showed excellent composition. For example, attention to background as well as foreground. In the case of the Gallery Award winner, an abstract, she pointed out how a number of diverse elements and media blended seamlessly to create a cohesive piece.
2. Mastery of tools and materials. The Best of Show artist had undeniably expert control, creating smooth color and warm light with just colored pencils.
3. Invitation to see. The third criterion was a bit more subjective. Saabye said she looked for a quality in all of her winners that invited her to see beyond the frame…the light source, what else might be going on in the space not drawn.
While those three criteria drove the judging, Saabye added a couple other conversational notes that might be interesting to artists:
- Personal versus objective favorites. Saabye noted there were other pieces that appealed to her, in some cases quite a lot, though they didn’t meet her judging criteria as well as the winners. She pointed out a work by Dakota Noot that she described as an example. “This one is just so fun,” she said.
- Originality. There were other works that Saabye said were beautiful and executed nicely. However, they weren’t as unique as the winners.
To see the Miniatures that Saabye chose, and to vote for the People’s Choice award, visit the Mandan Art Association Gallery during business hours this week. Or join us Dec. 10, 5-7 p.m. for our annual Evening of Wine, Cheese, and Art event.
Winner of Creativity Award at MAA Minature Show, Eye Contact by Paul Noot
