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.
Ashley Voortman & John Durfey
June 13 - August 20, 2025
About the artists:
“Hi, I’m Ashley Voortman aka Peculiarly Ashley and I’ve been making art for over 15 years. I’ve tried many forms of art through the years including painting, drawing, sculpting, graphic design, screen printing, felting, sewing, jewelry making, animation (and even that one time I tried knitting. Never again…) Lately I’ve landed somewhere between content creation and sculpting. You might know me as the teapot/circle window/octopus lady.
Shockingly, over 2 million people have decided to follow me on TikTok, Youtube, Instagram, and Facebook to watch my sassy artsy adventures. I know, I was surprised too! But I’m just so grateful to have them along, laughing and creating art with me!"
John Durfey is the artist who worked on the 1990’s restoration of the Historic Paramount Theatre. He holds a BFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and has had exhibitions and commission work throughout the state, country, and internationally. Durfy spent over 800 hours during the late 90’s uncovering and replicating the original 1929 designs that lay underneath many layers of paint. His process included research, carefully uncovering the original designs, creating stencils for each color and pattern, creating samples on paper, verifying colors, and repainting the lobby and theatre details.
Durfy’s samples and stencils are on display along with other photos from the Paramount’s rich history. John and his wife Lois will be doing an artist talk on Wed Aug 20th from 5-7pm.
Lydia Hansen & Ark
September 12 - October 31, 2025
About the Artists:
Lydia Hansen has been practicing crochet and fiber art in Southeast Minnesota for 14 years. Her work focuses on exploration of texture and color through art that invites audience interaction through touch. She’s particularly interested in how 3D qualities of crochet can be used to mimic shapes and patterns found in nature. She frequently takes inspiration from painting, woodworking, and collage to challenge conventional ideas of what crochet can be.
Exhibition statement:
There is one rule in the Sensory Sculpture Garden which must be followed at all times: Please Touch The Art!
This highly interactive fiber art series combines modern crochet techniques into an immersive art experience. A blend of fiber, techniques, and textures are used across the sculpture garden with a singular goal: art for our hands.
The sculpture garden is inspired by our tactile experiences of the world. Kinetic (hands-on) learning is essential to social, emotional, and physical development in children. Opportunities to engage with this part of our human experience vanish as we age, but tactile processing is vital to adults too, especially for kinetic learners, the visually impaired, and neurodivergent folks. The sculptures are created with these people in mind, giving them permission to engage without censoring themselves. They also invite neurotypical adults to experience art and the world in a more embodied and curious way.
Ark is an emerging multimedia artist living in rural south-central Minnesota. The singer/songwriter and live painter is devoted to uplifting marginalized artists in rural communities. Her work is inspired by the exploration of one’s inner landscape and centered around the process of transmuting pain into personal power through art and A.R.T therapy techniques such as automatic drawing, somatic journaling, and utilizing imagination to create new narratives of self. Ark’s visual work and vocal performance is fruit born from this healing journey. She is in pursuit of a master’s degree in art therapy with intent to encourage self-expression as a catalyst for self-empowerment in other bipoc artists.
Annual Members Show
November 7 - December 31, 2025
The ArtWorks Center is open Tues-Fri 10-5 and Sat 10-3Previous shows from 2014-2025 here.