Art is by Bev Jackson Cotter

Bev Jackson Cotter is a member of The Albert Lea Art Center where a new and unusual approach to the upcoming Christmas season will be announced in early November.

In the Oct. 14 issue of Time magazine, Bob Iger, retiring Disney CEO, stated, “There’s never been a time when art and entertainment are as important as today. I think people are desperate for it, and I think that our place in the world is both important and something that I’m extremely proud of. … I don’t look at what we do as frivolous. I don’t look at what we do as small. I don’t look at what we do as inconsequential.”

I realize there is a huge difference between the Disney Corporation and The Albert Lea Art Center, but our purpose is the same — helping people to find a place in their lives for art and to recognize that art already has a major impact on their lives. Whether these people are 3 years old or 95, rich or poor, a doer or a viewer — it makes no difference. Whether we see art as a painting on the wall, the Neuschwanstein modeled castle at Disneyland or the logo of our favorite football team, art is a part of who we are.

In a recent conversation about the value of art in our lives, the subject came up of a scientist working in a lab. Critical thinking and creative thinking plays a significant role in their research.

Whether an engineer is working on a new design for an automobile or a designer is planning a new fashion style for the upcoming season, creative thinking is a major player.

How does ALAC fit into this picture? Our mission is to create, educate, promote and showcase the arts — in other words, to promote creative thinking, not just for the adults who meet monthly at the Socrates Café to analyze and discuss difficult topics, but for the preschool kids who show off their finger painting creations to their grandparents. Who knows? Maybe someday, one of those preschoolers, who knows their art is spectacular, will become that scientist whose creative thinking takes health care to a place unimagined by today’s population.

We don’t know just what kind of an impact ALAC will have on the future of art in our community, but we know our first year at 101 S. Broadway would have amazed the founders in 1959, the students in a Lloyd Herfindahl painting class who decided Albert Lea should have an art center.

ALAC has been at its new location for a year now. The response from the community and visitors has been phenomenal. Our attendance has more than tripled, and never before have we had so many organizations coming to us asking to collaborate on special shows and activities. We have the space and the enthusiasm to share our facility, and in doing so, we are hoping the Art Center will be recognized for the significant role it plays in Albert Lea’s cultural environment.

We would like to thank the hundreds of members who contribute annually to cover basic operating costs, the many sponsors of our various annual activities — such as the Art & Garden Tour, the granting organizations who have supported our requests for funding for educational activities, the area businesses and the law enforcement center who have collaborated on exhibitions, the community groups and individuals who have provided programs for our lecture series, the schools that have worked with us to display creative works for students from preschool through high school, the area artists and those from a thousand miles away who are willing to share their talents with our visitors, the friends who have opened their facilities for special programming, and even the Governor’s Fishing Opener visitors whose attendance numbers gave us an over-the-top weekend.

Our first year at 101 S. Broadway has had its ups and downs, including some major renovation and repair costs, but, by far, it has been an incredible experience. The response from the community has been phenomenal. I know I already said that, but it bears repeating.

We are looking forward to future happenings, and we’re happy to agree with Bob Iger in saying, “I don’t look at what we do as frivolous. …There’s never been a time when art and entertainment are as important as today.”