December 17th, 2019
Eleven visual artist works will be on display in January at the 10th Annual Artist Grantee Exhibition funded by the Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council, Waseca and the McKnight Foundation. The group exhibition will be held at the Waseca Arts Center and will feature twenty Artist Grantees. The Prairie Lakes Arts Council has a 27-year history of funding individual artists with grants using funding provided by the McKnight Foundation and has awarded over 375 artist grants since 1992.
“We are pleased to have the exhibition at the Waseca Arts Center for the second year and it’s been great to work with Andrew Breck, Executive Director of the art center to coordinate the exhibit”, noted Brenda Byron, PLRAC Executive Director. The exhibition will be on display through February 6th and gallery hours are Tuesday-Friday 11 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturday 10 to 1 p.m.
“What’s unique about the exhibit is that other artists can be inspired by a local artists journey in their career, learn about how they used their artist grant from Prairie Lakes to achieve their career goals and see the final product of that endeavor”, noted Brenda Byron, PLRAC Executive Director. About 31 pieces of art work will be displayed in the exhibit and the eleven Visual Artists include: Kimberly Baerg, Waterville; Betsy Byers, St. Peter; Shelley Caldwell, Delavan; Judith Forster, St. Peter; Jane Horton, Mankato; Rachel James, St. Peter; Andrew Judkins, North Mankato; Mika Laidlaw, Mankato; Todd Shanafelt, Mankato; Mary Walchuk, Elysian; and Reed White, North Mankato.
An opening reception will be held on Sunday, January 12th for the public to attend from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. “For the grants they’ve received, the artists have already had to do a public presentation,” Byron said. “But this will give the artists a chance to present together and we’ll be able to feature our writers, musicians and performers.” The program starts at 1:15 p.m. with the visual artists discussing their work, and three Literary Artists will read from their work: Ronda Redmond, Richard Robins and Jack Williams. Shoemaker Pegeen Rozeske, New Ulm will talk about her work and dancer Melissa Rolnick, St. Peter will talk about her dance project. Also, Andrea Gehrke of New Ulm will perform Music at 2:30 p.m.; Bethel Balge, New Ulm will show a music video of her work at 2:55 p.m., Colin Scharf, Mankato will show an excerpt of his film at 3:10 p.m.; and musician John Kruse from Wells will perform at 3:45 p.m. This will be a very entertaining and music filled reception and the public is invited to this FREE event!
Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council provides grants for arts activities including dance, music, theater, literature, and visual art classes and exhibitions. Upcoming grant deadlines for PLRAC are: January 15, 2020 for the Artist Career Development Grant of $1,000; and February 1st for the Arts and Cultural Heritage Grant of $4,000 to $7,000 for organizations presenting arts events; and the first of each month for Small Arts Projects of $2,000 by community groups and Arts-In-Education school residency grants. Grant program information and applications are available at www.plrac.org or contact Brenda Byron, Executive Director, at the PLRAC office in Waseca, 1-800–298-1254 or plrac@hickorytech.net. The PLRAC serves a nine county area in south central Minnesota.