Meeting Notes from Wednesday, October 21st

Attendence: 22

The Tippecanoe Arts Federation will host 2 free workshops for Individual Artists Grants presented at the Tippecanoe Arts Federation Wells Community Center at 638 North Street, Lafayette, IN. For further info contact Paige Sharp, Director of Regional Services, rsd@tippecanoearts.org, phone #: 765-432-2787

Saturday, September 26th, a fundraiser was held for the sister-in-law of member Dan Harshman's wife(Renee), who is battling breast cancer. Dan, Susan Kline and Keri Ellis donated artworks for the event that raised $2500.
Renee's family was very thankful for the members generosity.

Jill Marconi works with Dan Harshman and came to speak about the Arts and Crafts Festival being held in the Circus Building on November 14th, 9-4 and 15th, noon-4pm. Cost is $50.00 per 10'x10' booth space, plus $5.00 for access to electricity.
Anyone wishing to register for a space to for more info, get in touch with Dan Harshman at: www.harshent@wwdb.org

Brenda Ramseier would again like to invite the public to visit Maconaquah Elementary School to view the tapestries she temporarily has charge of.
The display of Thomas Hart Benton's works ended this past Friday, but from November 16th to the 20th the paintings of Diego Rivera will be exhibited in the school's hallways. Just sign in at the desk and you will be directed to them.

The weather was cold, breezy, and rainy(off and on) for Oktoberfest held on October 3rd, but Linda Butler sold her lovely painting of red tulips. Others displaying their works were Dan Harshman, Rudy Ridenour, Valerie May, Bobbie Jackson, Shane Mohler, and Haley Richardson.
Good going Linda.

Susan Kline gave a report on Cafe art sales and the progress of our 4x4 Christmas project for the nursing homes: less than 40 remain to be acquired and transformed into artworks for gifts.
We have set the date of December 14th for their wrapping and 6 p.m. December 16th for their delivery. Thank you all again for your involvement.

Diane Tracy Lehman gave a talk on her portrait work and exhibited several done in Prismacolor(colored pencils) on the reverse sides of Cason mi-teines paper. Particularly well done was a portrait of her daughter, with well defined shadow contrast and intricate work on the fabric of her blouse.
Many well earned praises came her way.
Well done and thank you, Diane.

Our next meeting is November 18th when our theme works inspired by the word "Sunrise" will be due. We will all be pleased to see what is produced.

Sept. 26th Fundraiser

Saturday, September 26th, a fundraiser was held to raise money for member Dan Harshman's wife's(Renee) sister-in-law who is battling breast cancer. Three of our members, Susan Kline, Keri Ellis, and Dan Harshman donated artworks for the event that raised $2500. Above is a photo of the painting Dan gave to help with the cause.

Renee's family was very appreciative.
Thank you members....

Meeting Notes from Wednesday, September 16th

Attendence: 24

Megan Mirro, from the Ft. Wayne Museum of Art gave a presentation on Joseph Cornell(1903-1972); primarily a collage and box construction artist, displaying memorabilia and found objects.
Well done, Megan.

Numerous of our group of artists showed their works for this month's topic: "Moon". We're pleased that so many of you participated.
The next project theme is "Sunrise" and will be due on November 18th.

We discussed and decided to participate in the Oktoberfest, October 3rd, from 12-7 p.m. It's sponsored by the Miami County Chamber of Commerce and will take place on the Peru Riverwalk.
Two of our members, Dan Harshman and Rudy Ridenour, have their own tents and are willing to share them with other members.
Thank you guys.
The Chamber of Commerce is also loaning us two more tents for the event so we will have a total of 4 tents of artwork displayed.
I will have more info on this in the upcoming days.

Our exhibit for Art in the Courtyard at the Cafe Du Cirque has been postponed.

Our opportunity to exhibit in the National City Bank was agreed upon and will take place after out October 21st meeting.

A report on Co-Op Art Sales and an update on our 4x4 Community Service Project was given by Bonnie Arrick due to Susan being under the weather.
Less than 30 little canvasses remain to be turned into art. Thank you all so much and thank you Bonnie.

Anne Huskey Lockard received an Honorable Mention for her piece called "Liberty Prevails" in the "Americana" show in the Clark Gallery at the Honeywell Center in Wabash.
Brenda Ramseier also had a piece accepted into the show.
Way to go, ladies.

Brenda also reminded us of the display of tapestries at her school where she is the art teacher; Maconaquah Elementary School. The next featured artist will be Thomas Hart Benton from October 19th to the 24th.
She invited the public to sign in at the desk and visit them there.

Thank you all for being a part of Community Artists Co-Op.

Brenda Ramseier

Brenda Ramseier, a Community Artists Co-Op member and Maconaquah Elementary School Art teacher wrote and received a grant to acquire the exhibit of satin panels produced by Teacher's Discovery displaying the artworks of 9 artists. It began with artist


Henri Rousseau, whose work is shown here in this photo. Ending this past Friday was Edgar Degas. Fom October 19th to the 24th the featured artist will be Thomas Hart Benton.
Several works by each artist will be shown in vivid color in the halls of her school. Brenda is using the beatiful panels to teach art history and as an inspiration for classroom and whole school projects.
The public is invited to visit the elementary school in Bunker Hill to view the panels and to visit her classroom. Just be sure to sign in at the desk and someone will show you the way.
It's worth the visit.

Meeting Notes from Wednesday, August 19th

4x4s: Thank you Co-Op members; over half of the 4x4s have been obtained by you already.
This is WONDERFUL of you all; it will give the elderly who receive them some holiday cheer and will enrich you for giving the knowledge of your care. I was touched last year by many of the responses from them....

Co-Op Petty Cash Bank Account: Chris Arrick and I have established a joint bank account at Wells Fargo Bank in the amount of $201.54, with the amount of $19.00 to be deducted for 1 box of checks. A new deposit of $75.00 will be made on Monday, August 24th; bringing our available account total to $257.54

Fall Fest/tent purchase: Chris Arrick is checking into whether or not Fall Fest will be taking place this year. If it is, we DO have enough interest from you members to request the purchase of a tent from the Community Foundation. It was also suggested that any members wishing to participate in any shows outside of Miami County could rent the tent by donating that rent money back to the Community Foundation, thereby adding it to our funds.

Banner Payment: The Northern Indiana Community Foundation was paid $1,030.00 by the Peru Circus City Festival, Inc. on our behalf for 1 banner.

National City Bank Exhibit Opportunity: Thanks to Rudy Ridenour we are in negotiations with National City to exhibit our works throughout their bank. The date for display is yet to be announced. Space to hang works on the walls is limited so most of them will be displayed on easels, both standing and desk top easels; 2 large desks will be available for presentation.
So far we have 13 easels being donated by you members for this project----THANK YOU so much.
I will update the info on this as it becomes available.

Megan Mirro: From the Ft. Wayne Museum of Art will be here in September; date yet to be determined.

Co-Op Art Sales:

Repurposed Art: Susan has asked any of us that would like to to create a work of art from a piece of cardboard and any objects found around town. It was suggested that the cardboard be coated with gesso before painting. She would also like us to keep a record of the objects and where and when they were found.

Abstract Demo: Given by me-Valerie May. I demonstrated the steps to doing an abstract artwork. My chosen subject was my grandfather's clock.
Step 1: was to photograph the clock.
Step 2: was to print those photos on plain paper.
Step 3: I put the photo on my light box and placed clean plain paper over it and traced the images I wanted to use.
Step 4: was to copy those tracings and enlarging some and shrinking others, so that I have 2 or 3 copies of each size.
Step 5: I then cut each one of the "drawings" out, thereby making patterns that I then arrange on my canvas and trace around them, overlapping or placing under as desired.
Step 6: Is to begin painting or doing collage; in this case: painting.
From time to time I will bring this to the Co-Op meetings so that you can see the progress.

Another Art Show to Enter: Arts and Crafts Fair in Warsaw taking place on October 10th. For more info go to http//www.kymca.org/artandcraftshow09.pdf

Next Meeting: September 16th and it's theme night--"Moon".

Art Shows,Sales; Photo Contest, Show

There will be an art show and sale at the Kokomo Art Center from September 1st-25th.
Entry cost is $12 per artwork; deadline is August 21st. Prize money or ribbons will be given. For more info and an entry form send an e-mail to sue@backalleyart.com

For you photographers-a contest; deadline is September 25th. For more info and an entry form go to www.in.gov/isda/2497.htm

For the men: The Clark Gallery in the Honeywell Center is exhibiting photographs of classic and race cars. A reception will be held on August 17th. www.honeywellcenter.org/09Gallery_CarShow.html

Profile 2: Roberta "Bobbie" Jackson

Favorite Color: Red

Favorite Artist: Claude Monet

Favorite Movie: "North by Northwest" directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Favorite Band: Glenn Miller, Big Band Music

Favorite Song: None

Roberta "Bobbie" Jackson is an active 81 year old artist that paints in a realist style; mostly using photos to glean her subjects. However-she does NOT want her works to be too perfect; she DOESN'T want them to look exactly like a photograph.

Bobbie began painting in 1981 after her family was grown by taking an adult education class in oil painting given at Peru High School by Norma Berry, a local artist. She continued taking classes when J.O. Buffington, another local artist, took over teaching adult education classes; starting with oil painting and then switching to watercolor. Watercolor is now her favorite medium.

She was born in St. Louis, but grew up in Chicago where she met her husband of almost 62 years, Bill(now deceased) at a college basketball game. They were married in 1946, moved to Peru in 1948 and raised a family of 4 children; 3 daughters and 1 son. One daughter and her son live in California, one daughter lives in Colorado, and her other daughter, Linda; also a Community Artists Co-Op member, lives here in Peru.

Bobbie worked at American Trust(formerly Peru Federal Savings and Loan) for over 30 years. Her husband worked at the Peru Tribune and was one of our former mayors.

I believe Bobbie may have inherited some of her artistic talent as her mother was also an artist, as is her brother. Bobbie owns several oil paintings done by her mother from the 1913 time period. Her mother; like she herself, waited till her children were grown to return to painting. Roberta says that she felt intimidated by her mother and brother's painting ability, but from the works she has displayed at Cafe Du Cirque she needn't have doubted herself; she is gifted with skill.

Bobbie was just elected to our Community Artists Co-Op board of directors and is also a member of the Art Collection Advisory Board, also of Peru. Her duties there are to ensure the collection of artworks owned by the Peru High School(among them a Picasso) is cleaned, maintained properly, and oversees their display. She says they have one of the best high school collections in the whole country.

I hope in the near future to give you a better view of her works because they are worth seeing.

Thank you Bobbie for being a part of our group.