A.R.T 2015 - It's Just "Super"!

 September 27, 2015  Super Blood Moon Eclipse (last of the Tetrad)

photograph composite - © Bruce A. Morrison

 

Many things have been "Super" around NW Iowa recently!  The "Super" harvest, the "Super" moon; and in a week and a half a "Super" art weekend with the October 10-11, 2015 12th annual Artisans Road Trip!

Want a "glimpse" at a "Super" 12th Annual Artisans Road Trip?!  Its coming to Arts on Grand in Spencer, Iowa on Thursday - October 1st with an Artist's Reception to kick the exhibit off from 5-8 PM! The exhibit runs through the month of October.

ANOTHER "Super" glimpse - the 2015 Artisans Road Trip Exhibit will be coming to the Pearson Lakes Art Center at Okoboji, Iowa on October 8th and running through December 2015!  Get another view of a sampling from A.R.T.  An Artist's Reception will be held Thursday, October 8 from 5-7 PM.

Mark your calendars for some "SUPER" art on the 2015 Artisans Road Trip open studio tour - coming to a studio or gallery near you on Saturday/Sunday - October 10 and 11 (9Am-5PM on Saturday - 12Noon-5PM on Sunday)...there will be wonderful art, great scenery and conversation!

 

For more information on the upcoming 2015 Artisans Road Trip visit the A.R.T. web site with artists and maps for planning your weekend tours!  http://www.artisansroadtrip.com/

Make a great weekend SUPER! Hope to see you there!

2015 A.R.T. Artist Announced as Recipient of Iowa's Art EMC 2015 Corporate Purchase!

Artisans Road Trip artist Bruce Morrison's Art EMC 2015 artwork selection shown above -

top "July in the Valley", center " Along the Southeast Corner Fence Line", and bottom "Creek's Bend" all oil paintings © Bruce A. Morrison

 

As the Artisans Road Trip starts getting closer, one A.R.T. member had a bit of a last minute "distraction", but a good one!  Bruce Morrison has just been notified that he has been included in a corporate purchase by EMC Insurance Companies for the second time in a row.

 

Although it began in 2005 - 2013 was the first year that A.R.T. artist Bruce Morrison  heard about EMC Insurance's program to support the arts in Iowa...they have a program called "Art EMC" and every 2 years they put the word out to Iowa Artists that they will purchase an undeclared number of works from Iowa Artists that year for their Corporate Art Collection.  Not only that but they leave the purchasing up to the voting via their employees - which really makes it even more unique!

 

Art EMC 2013 artwork selection

"Medford Avenue Bridge" oil painting © Bruce A. Morrison

 

In 2013 Morrison submitted 3 pieces of work for consideration and the EMC employee vote honored him with the purchase of his painting "Medford Avenue Bridge" for their collection...they have since used that painting to illustrate their Art EMC program online and in their brochures.

 

This year the artwork specifications had changed slightly and Bruce only had 3 paintings available that met the criteria so he entered all 3 pieces.  During the summer he was apprised that his work had passed through each voting period but no word as to which painting might have been the vote getter...until last week when Morrison was told a decision had been made and he was one of the finalists.  

 

When Bruce asked the 2015 Art EMC Art Coordinator Caitlin Stewart Westcott which piece the EMC employees had selected she said, "Well, this is a bit unusual but - all 3!"  "We have 2,200 employees from all over the country vote on this and to have that many votes for all the work in an artist's submission is unheard of - they really like your work!" "You now have more work than any other artist in our corporation's Art EMC collection."

 

Morrison's reaction was, "I'm very happy to say the least and a bit overwhelmed!" The A.R.T. artist made delivery of the paintings in Des Moines this week and now will need to plan a return trip back to EMC in November when they will have a dedication of all the artwork that has been purchased for the EMC Corporate Art Collection through their 2015 program.

 

Thanks for stopping by the A.R.T. Blog - stayed tuned, the 2015 Artisans Road Trip is getting even closer and some A.R.T. exhibits are about to be announced!

2015 A.R.T. Artist Hank Hall Teapot Selected for Regional Exhibit at Coe College!

“Parade Ready” – a mixed media teapot by Spirit Lake artist Hank Hall – has been selected for the juried show “River to River” at Coe College, in conjunction with the third bi-annual Iowa Clay Conference at The Ceramic Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The River to River exhibit will highlight the richness and diversity of ceramic art within Iowa and across eleven other Midwest states. The show runs from September 11-October 3 at the Sinclair Galleries on the campus of Coe College with a reception on Friday, October 2, from 6-8 pm is part of the Iowa Clay Conference that weekend.

Juror for the exhibit is Bede Clarke, Professor of Art at the University of Missouri since 1992. He received his Master of Fine Arts from The University of Iowa (1990) and a BFA from Eckerd College (1982).  Bede’s work is found in public and private collections in the U.S. and abroad.  He maintains a studio in Columbia, Missouri, where he produces his ceramic art work and continues to exhibit worldwide. Currently, he is working with wheel-thrown wood-fired stoneware vessels and large wall tiles emphasizing abstract drawing and color. He is interested in making work, which “like a good meal leaves a healthy, full feeling.”

Hall’s “Parade Ready” is a combination of bold and whimsical elements. It includes a wheel-thrown and altered teapot with a mixed media lid and handle, metal wheels, and a wooden ramp base. The teapot is made of bisque-fired cone 6 stoneware, sprayed with green glitter paint on the outside and white-glazed inside.

Hall explains, “My number one goal when making teapots is to satisfy my own esthetic sense of what makes for an entertaining, inventive, and personal teapot form. If others get the same creative kick out of them as I do, it doesn’t get much better than that!”

Hall creates one-of-a-kind clay, drawing and mixed media pieces in his home studio in Spirit Lake, IA. After 34 years of teaching art in Marshalltown, Graettinger, and Spirit Lake and an additional 10 years teaching private classes and running an art business, he now focuses on developing new work. Several directions of his imaginative work include teapots with mixed media embellishments; abstract drawings started with remote-controlled cars and robots; and colorful abstract paintings. An important early influence on his art was studying under Bauhaus-trained, master potter Marguerite Wildenhain at Pond Farm Pottery in Guerneville, CA in the summers of 1973 and 1974. For more information, contact Hall at 712-330-6007.

2015 A.R.T. Artist Joanne Alberda and "Tales from a Ghost Town" Exhibit at the Pearson Lakes Art Center!

"Tales from a Ghost Town X" -  ©Joanne Alberda

"Tales from a Ghost Town" -  ©Joanne Alberda

Thursday, September 3, an exhibit by Tales from a Ghost Town,  will open at the Pearson Lakes Art Center.  An opening reception will be held from 5 to 7pm with a short presentation at 6pm.  Joanne writes. "I would especially love to share my work with my A.R.T. friends in the Lakes area."  The show will run through September and October, and will be there at the time of the Artisan's Road Trip in October. 

Contact the Pearson Lakes Art Center for more information!