59th June Art Exhibit opens June 13

By Hope Wallace

The entries are in; the drumroll begins. Jurors Andrew Herschberger of Bowling Green State University Art Department and Shanya McConnville, director of the Arts Council of Kettering, will soon begin the very difficult task of selecting works to be represent in the 59^th Annual June Art Exhibit. The exhibit opens on June 13 at 6 p.m. with a free, public opening reception. The Dan Smyth Band of Fort Wayne will play, there will be hors d’oeurves and a cash bar will be available. The Dan Smyth band has a jazz background, which has jammed into something a bit less mellow. They often play Columbia Street West, Country Heritage Winery, the Botanical Gardens Roots concert series. Members are: Dan Smyth, Ed Renz, Casey Stasifer, and Colin Boyd. Big groove, funky funk, jazz-rock.

This week is the last week for ArtReach, our afterschool art program for youth. Do not despair young Picassos, our two Summer Art Camps are gearing up! Our first art camp is entitled Brownie in Motion. Huh? This super-unique camp will be held between June 17, 18, and 19 for ages 8 –15 and will feature not only a life size, but operational Brownie Camera. This camera, you can literally walk into was built by Stephen Takacs, a lecturer in Photography at Ohio State University and will be bringing his invention and life size model of one of the first point and shoot cameras, the Brownie. This fully functional camera obscura takes giant photos and you can actually stand up and walk around in it!  Youth from the Van Wert area can sign up to learn some of the basics of photography from the very ancestor of their phone camera,  using the brownie. Giant photos can be taken with the Brownie and it can also be used as a darkroom. Pinhole cameras and learning to photograph with just the sun will also be covered. You can read more about Stephen on this online article: http://www.lomography.com/magazine/278681-an-interview-with-photographer-stephen-takacs. Give us a call if you would like to reserve your child’s spot. Cost is $40 members and $45 non-members. Limited space!

Summer Camp II! Our second summer camp will be scheduled this year from July 21–23 for ages 6–15. We will be exploring perspective with chalk and photography, Native American art through by examining our Faces of Little Bighorn Collection and making artifacts. We’ll be making crazy illustrations by melting crayons and study children’s author and illustrator, Shel Silverstein. Ages 6-10 10–noon, ages 11–15 1–3 p.m. Sign up soon this goes fast! Costs are $30 for art center members, $35 regular.

Please sign up early for our summer camps they fill up very quickly! We don’t like to turn anyone away. Also, needs-based scholarships can be made available if a young person wishes to participate and there are financial boundaries. Please contact the director.

The Wassenberg Art Center has paired up with Main Street Van Wert and are planning a dual-bash extraordinaire which will take place on July 11! Not only will we feature works by neighbor artists from Fort Wayne, we’ll be shutting down Central Avenue and pretty much taking over the entire block! Art from the Fort, which begins at 2 p.m. will showcase work from five prominent Fort Wayne artists Gregg Coffey, Mindy Penneycoff, Terry Ratliff, Joel Fremion and Gary Travis.

Why stop there? Also on that day, beginning at 4 p.m. five gourmet food trucks based out of Fort Wayne, will be setting up shop on Central with tasty delights ranging from Mexican, brick oven pizza, Cajun and cool desserts…why stop there? Music inside and out by Dan Dickerson and the Harp Condition, Van Wert’s d.j. Real Human Robot and later on in the evening, The One-eyed Show from St. Marys! A beer/wine garden will be set up and enter the First Annual Duck Derby to win a chance at $1,000. Art activities for young and young at heart and we’ll have various kinds of performers on every corner. Eats on the Streets & Art from the Fort, experienced new forms of food, fun and art. Open to the public and zero entry fee.

We are adding a drawing class on June 5, 12, 19, and 26 from 10 a.m. – noon. Instructor: Pat Rayman. The class will learn how to improve drawing skills and learn new techniques using a variety of materials. Materials required: drawing pad or paper, drawing pencils, kneaded eraser, colored pencils, ink pen and oil pastels (provided if required).

Our ongoing watercolor class continues on Tuesday mornings from at 10 a.m.–noon and the instructor is Pat Rayman. Persons are encouraged to jump in anytime and the class is sold in monthly increments. $35 for members and $40 for non-members.

For more information on exhibits or to sign for classes and events visit wassenbergartcenter.org. The Wassenberg Art Center is located at 214 S. Washington St. (former Van Wert Armory). We can also be reached by telephone at: 419.238.6837, email: info@wassenbergartcenter.org and our website is: wassenbergartcenter.org.