Farm market, giant cameras

By Hope Wallace

4-Fridays Farm & Art Market is off to a great start! More food will be available this Friday as we host this lunchtime, healthy event. 4-Fridays will happen on Aug. 5, 12, and 19 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Van Wert Health Department, Van Wert County Hospital and the Wassenberg Art Center will bring you a market with live music, gourmet food vendors, art and entertainment. Each day will be filled with demonstrations, good eating and health information and one to two food vendors will be on-site to help make your lunchtime break a bit more fun. Art exhibits will open early with (as always) free admission. Sponsors for the event include: Lee Kinstle, Statewide Ford, Taylor Auto, Purmort Bros. Insurance, AgCredit, Van Wert County Hospital, and Greve Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge. Entertainment will include: Juxtapose – Classic Rock & blues, will pair up with Black Angus on the grills and maybe more food vendors on Aug. 5. Aug. 12 will bring Dan Dickerson & the Harp Condition, and hooping artist Mikila will be selling professional hoops and providing demonstrations. Also on Aug. 12, OSU instructor Stephan Takacs will be have his walk-in model of a Brownie camera on-site and later, at 6 p.m. will give a complete presentation during the Badlands and Brownies opening reception. Aug. 19 will feature Van Wert’s own Real Human Robot with some electronic tunes dance demos, mini lessons and yes, even line dancing.

Get in the Swing is still on display but only through Aug. 6. Get your bid in soon! Bidding will end at the close of the exhibit, so you don’t want to miss a chance to obtain a one-of-a-kind artisan swing you can install in your yard.

Mark Lanning Jr. driving from Sacremento, Calif., delivered his prints this past weekend for our upcoming exhibit, Badlands & Brownies. This exhibit opens on Aug. 12 and a free, public opening reception is scheduled for 6 p.m. with a presentation by Stephan Takacs of Columbus, with his walk-in Brownie-in-motion camera obscura. Following Stephan’s presentation, Changing Elements Band will take the stage with their chill sounds. Badlands & Brownies is an exhibit of two unlikely yet similar, young photographers from each end of the United States who refuse to let traditional techniques become extinct. These two photographers will exhibit their twists on traditional media of varying subjects. For more information on these national level photographers, visit our website or contact the art center.

Art Classes:
Classic Watercolor: An ongoing class for adults, held on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to noon. The monthly cost is $35 art center member price or $40 regular price. Instructor: Pat Rayman. Watercolor materials required. Online sign up available.

ArtNight: Free. Thursdays 6 – 9 p.m. Ongoing. Cash bar.

Acrylic Painting: Class for adults. Instructor: Pat Rayman, $40 art center member price, $45 regular price. Want to learn how to master one of our favorite mediums? Acrylic painting taught by Pat Rayman will commence on Friday, April 8 at 10 a.m.  Cost of the class will be $40 art center members/$45 regular. Materials required: 8″x10″ canvas paper pad, canvas boards, stretched canvas or artist panel boards (one per class) at least (5) tubes acrylic paint, white, black, red, blue and yellow, a drawing pencil, palette (foam plates or paper plates ARE FINE), kneaded eraser. Online sign up available.

Daytime Drawing Class: Class for adults. A morning drawing class to be held on Fridays, beginning on Sept. 9, 16, 23, 30 from 10 a.m. until noon. Instructor Pat Rayman will demonstrate new ways to improve drawing skill to produce more dramatic results. Materials needed are: a sketchbook or drawing paper, drawing pencils, HB and 2B a black pen (fine or medium point) and colored pencils. 
Materials needed are: a sketchbook or drawing paper, drawing pencils, HB and 2B a black pen (fine or medium point) and colored pencils. Online sign up available.

Evening Pottery Class: Ages 16 and up. Evening pottery classes Sept. 7, 14, 21, 28 and Oct. 5 and 12. Basic through more advanced techniques will be featured by instructor Maria Coward. Come with project ideas, and let Maria help you realize them, or let Maria show you how to throw a bowl on a pottery wheel! Class fee includes 25 lbs. of clay. Additional clay may be purchased. Materials suggested: Pottery tool kit, 1 gallon bucket, spray bottle, clean-up sponge. An additional/optional materials list with more detail will be provided to you upon sign-up. $70 members/$75 regular.

For more information on exhibits or to sign up 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.