Arts on ice: Arts in Harmony 2008

By Britt Aamodt
Special to the Star News

Legend has it Spanish painter Salvador Dali once showed up to an art opening dressed as a chicken. A far cry from the sophisticated black turtlenecks and jackets that popular imagination would have artists sporting to trendy downtown openings.

Neither chicken costume nor black turtleneck was in evidence Sunday, Feb. 10 as the Elk River Area Arts Alliance unveiled the opening reception of the 13th annual Arts in Harmony juried art exhibition. With outside temperatures hovering below zero, fashion statements gave way to more sensible outer wear, such as coats, ear-flap hats and boots.

Yet, at 1 p.m., as attendees began rolling in, Arts in Harmony founder David Beauvais stationed himself at the entrance of the Sherburne County Government Center to greet the first arrivals. Cold air sliced through the lobby doors. Beauvais rubbed his palms together and put on his game face.

"I don't know what the turnout will be like today," he said. "Small probably. We usually get 200 or more people. But this is the coldest it's been for a reception."

But as the first hour elapsed, more and more bodies bundled through the electric doors. Coats of every size, shape and color lined up at the refreshments table and marched along corridors that on regular business days witnessed the bustle of Government Center transactions—property tax questions, driver's license exams, county commissioner meetings.

This day, however, the corridors filled with art. All told, 217 pieces crammed the walls and perched atop pedestals, tables and anything Beauvais and his crew of volunteers could find to accommodate one of the largest shows the Arts Alliance has ever staged.

"We had 222 pieces one year. But that was at the beginning when we didn't know any better," said Beauvais. "We goofed this time. We told jurors to take out 12 more pieces when it should have been 30. Boy, were we scrambling to borrow pedestals and benches."

Attendees didn't notice. As they proceeded from one hall to another, stripping off coats, sipping plastic cups of punch, they commented on the quality of work and the number of out-of-state artists.

"The artwork is getting better all the time and we're seeing artists from a broader geographic area," said Isobel Stander, Otsego, a ceramist whose clay piece "Unity" made it into the show.

Getting into Arts in Harmony has become a bigger and better honor every year with the number of entries increasing, along with the prize money. This year, a record 668 entries came in from across Minnesota and the United States and as far away as Taiwan. The show dispersed nearly $10,000 in awards, with the $1,000 Best of Show going to California artist The Nguyen for his print "Drowning in Tableaux."

Artistic media on display ranged the gamut from oil painting and hand-modeled clay to quilting, sheet metal and even reclaimed Model A and Model T parts, as seen in Rogers artist Craig Palm's "Tool Box Monster."

Subject matter also took a variable approach, from the social commentary in St. Michael artist Jean Loy-Swanson's "Crucifixion", a meditation on nature in industrialized society, to Rogers oil painter Sue Wipf's chiaroscuro still life "In the Light", to the dreamlike serendipity of Big Lake watercolorist Judy Meyeraan's self-portrait "Double Exposure."

"It was an actual double exposure," explained Meyeraan, a retired commercial illustrator. "I photographed a bouquet of roses. And somehow or other I put the entire roll of film back in the camera when I went to take self-portraits. What I got back was this lovely film of my portrait interwoven with roses."

Other local artists included in the show are Anne Bodnar (Award of Excellence), Jody Brosko and Eleanor Johnson from Big Lake; David Beauvais, Chad Briggs, Joan Campbell, Roger Nordstrom (Purchase and Member awards), Mark Pederson, Glenn Quist, Kristin Radermacher and Marcee Thompson from Elk River; Shawn McCann, Gene Olson, Mae Spencer (Award of Excellence) and Chris Wilson from Otsego; Karen Berning (Merit Award) from St. Michael; and Kenneth Holkestad from Zimmerman.

The Elk River Friends of the Library have purchased two pastels to hang over the fireplace in the new library, bringing the total works sold by the close of opening reception to 13.
"Not bad," concluded Beauvais, for the coldest Arts in Harmony on record.

The second largest juried art show in Minnesota, next to the State Fair show, Arts in Harmony will remain on display during regular Government Center hours through March 28.

Journalist

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