Home is where you hang your art.
Our galleries provide a glimpse into that immense pool of talent our area enjoys. Each of our two collections—professional and emerging—changes six times a year, which means at least a dozen new reasons to get excited about art every year.
Rita Prahl: Views From the Heartland & Keith Lawrence
April 5 - June 7, 2024
Visit the free opening reception on Friday, April 5th 5-7pm
Rita Prahl's work dazzles the viewer with powerful emotions of the human experience. Prahl is creating a visual story, to stir the viewers imagination and to be heard. The viewer feels the warmth of the sun on a hot summers day, the coolness of a fall breeze in the middle of a forest. Her use of lights and color bring out the excitement, the thrill of paddling a canoe on the open water, giving witnessing to all that nature offers. Rita’s every brush stroke helps the viewer feel warm and exuberant, all at the same time wandering over the horizon, down the road to what awaits around the next bend. Through the use of color, light, design and mood, Rita creates a flowing composition, to leave a lasting impression on the viewer.
Rita lives and works in LeSueur Minnesota on a family farm. Prahl paints in watercolor, always pushing the medium and her abilities to new heights seeking to surprise and dazzle the viewer and occasionally herself.
https://www.ritaprahlartist.com
Keith Lawrence is a self-taught American artist living in Rochester, MN. Keith’s main focus is portraiture created in pencil or charcoal. His work was recently on display at the Rochester Art Center.
Austin Area Arts Staff
Featuring:
Terri Bergstrom
Cora Feist
Laura Helle
Kelsey Ritchie
Jenna Viehauser
June 21 - August 16, 2024
Visit the free Opening Reception and meet the artists on Friday, June 21st 5-7pm.
Eric Johnson & Sally Wightkin
September 13 - October 25, 2024
Visit the free opening reception on Friday, September 13th from 5-7pm
About Eric: I’ve been a journalist for over 27 years and have been behind the camera for a large chunk of that time, taking over the photographer position at the Huron Plainsman in South Dakota, just a few years after being hired as a sportswriter. It wasn’t until about 15 years ago or so that I started expanding what could be done in Photoshop, choosing to learn from scratch photo manipulations and digital painting, the latter of which being a relatively new thing.
Always a bit of a nerd (or a lot depending on who you ask), I love the worlds created through science fiction and fantasy, which drives most of my artistic works. I hope you enjoy the worlds I create.
About Sally: Since 2020, I have been working out of my home studio in Maple Grove, Minnesota. From 1989 to 2016 I created art and taught calligraphy classes in my home studio in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. From 2017 to 2020, I created alongside dozens of amazing artists in the Northrup King Building in Northeast Minneapolis. I am a member and current Past President of the Colleagues of Calligraphy here in Minnesota a member of the Calligraphy Guild of Pittsburgh. I continue to teach at local venues as well as online.
My original works have been exhibited and garnered various awards and recognition throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, and Minnesota and many pieces reside in private collections in the US, Canada and Australia. I am honored to have had work published in Letter Arts Review Annual Review, which is internationally recognized as the preeminent magazine for calligraphers and lettering artists and an award-winning quarterly journal.
My current work (whether readable or not) is an attempt to demonstrate the impact of hand-written words. We are bombarded with digital fonts, memes, and virtual text that, to me, makes the message less personal. There are exceptional font designers, graphic designers and typographers who are very good at getting their message across; however, I am more interested in exploring how much more impactful words and abstract calligraphic lines can be when there is evidence of their creation by the human hand.
I choose words that move me; words that reflect on my own life, my own development. It is always my hope that the words I choose – even a single word – can speak to others as well. Do the words or lines convey a meaning or conger an emotion? Do they cause the viewer to think differently? Do they open a door to an idea? Are the words comforting or challenging?
We see all too often how easy it is to type and share hateful, divisive words. It is my hope that creating and sharing words of compassion and reflection, I can touch another human’s heart in some positive, productive way.
Member’s Gallery Show
November 1 - December 31, 2024
Visit the free Opening Reception and meet the artists on Friday, November 1 5-7pm.
