Starting the new year

For the Albert Lea Art Center, the best way to start out the year is with an art show.

The All-Member Show will run from Jan. 25 to March 25 and will feature art of various mediums from members of the Art Center.

Tom Mullen, who has been with the Art Center for two years and who has art in the show, said the art varies greatly every year.

So far this year there have been photography, oil paintings and watercolor paintings submitted. Usually there are about 30 members that participate, Mullen said.

So far there are over 15 members participating, according to Art Center office manager Joyce Purdy. There are some new members participating this year, including William Olson from Owatonna. Some of the art he has in the All-Member Show are from his America series.

There is also art from familiar faces such as Marty Shepard, Beth Tostenson, Bev Jackson Cotter, Mullen and Steve Tubbs, among others.

Mullen said the All-Member Show is something the Art Center looks forward to and he said it is a good way to start out the new year.

Without gallery shows, artists can sometimes have trouble finding inspiration, Mullen said. Having a show to work toward every year is a way for artists to use their current abilities and to improve their craft.

Sometimes, Mullen said, familiar artists submit art that features a new subject or technique they are working on.

“We just don’t know what’s going to end up,” he said.

Membership at the Art Center is open to anybody, Mullen said, not just artists. Purdy said there are about 220 people and businesses who are members.

Mullen said most of the members are not artists, but art supporters.

The All-Member Show runs from Jan. 25 to March 25. The open house will be from 1 to 3 p.m. Jan. 25 and the show will be open during normal Art center hours, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

 

If you go

What: All-Member Show

When: Jan. 25-March 25, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday

Open house: 1-3 p.m. Jan. 25

Where: Albert Lea Art Center, 226 W. Clark St.