Gallery Season

The Studio Gallery artists, left to right: Wendy Powalisz ~Back 40 Arts, Shirley Surges, Debra Ketchum-Jircik ~Circle of Life Studio, Amy Higgason ~ Pigeon Road Pottery, Carol Miller (front), Janice Zindel ~ Shuttle Works Studio (back), Kathleen Kimball ~ Salmagundi Arts, Toni Bergeon, and Nancy Shoop. Not pictured: Jane O'Brien and Louise Engelbrecht.

For several years now I have been a part of The Studio Gallery, located behind The Outdoorsman Restaurant in Boulder Junction. Soon, this group of eleven artists will be getting together for a day to clean, paint, and plant, then hang and display our work. The gallery is open Memorial Day weekend and running through the first week of October; this year Wednesday through Saturday, 9 AM to 4 PM. Art at the gallery includes watercolors, acrylics, collage, pottery, fiber arts, quilting, bookarts, and photography. We are looking forward to another year together.

Last fall, there was a movement to begin a new arts group, "Land O' Lakes Artisans" (LOLA), and meetings were held with many area artists/artisans attending. One of their goals was to have a gallery in which to exhibit and sell art work. This past Tuesday a group of working artists met, and after long discussion, knowing there were 20+ artists committed and supportive of this project, it was decided to open a gallery.

The new gallery will be located in a nice, bright, good-size room inside a building owned by Kathy Schuh of Forget-Me-Not Floral, downtown Land O' Lakes. On June 1st we will be there cleaning and painting, art work is to arrive June 3rd, and between June 3rd and June 14th, everything will be hung and displayed. On June 15th, Artistree Gallery will open.

The Artistree Gallery will be a venue for the work of artists and artisans within a 100 mile radius of Land O' Lakes, either full-time or seasonal residents; artwork will be juried in. The artists are also very interested in giving back to the community, including having demonstrations, classes, and other forms of sharing the arts.

So often, people sit back and wait for something to be a success before becoming involved. It is exciting to see so many artists willing to commit to this venture in these economic times. May the new Artistree Gallery be a success this summer and for many years to come.