John Banasiak
Spirit Mound Near Vermillion, SD
palladium print, 2004

The big challenge with photography is to add your own emotional truth to the physical truth that is gathered by the camera and the photographic process – you are always guaranteed a historical document or record – but if you can be poetic with the subject and the medium, the image could be a lot more valuable than that – this view of Spirit Mound shows a primal scene that seems untouched by human influence – I feel that it has a timeless quality as there are no visual references to industry or technology included – Lewis and Clark might have seen a very similar view – the print is made with a sunlight exposed palladium emulsion that I felt reflected more of a natural flow of nature – and the atmospheric elements of that surrounding environment.

Elizabeth Bashore & Mary Groth
Distant Thunder
oil on canvas, 2008

Many aspects of our lives have influenced our work: the influence of parents in terms of encouragement, the influence of great teachers, the influence of other artists work and the dialogues that we’ve had with those artists, the influence of literature and film, and much more. One of the most pervasive influences that we have both experienced from birth is the environment of the Dakotas. This place, these colors, faces, structures, seasons, cultures, and cycles of life have the power to shape our individual visions as artists.

 Bob Beck
The Great Plains Zoo: Amur Tiger
giclee on canvas, 2008

“Through my photography, I have tried to convey feelings of passion by letting the viewer see through an image as intently as I originally experienced the subject through the camera’s lens. I carefully select and interpret each photograph to inspire the viewer to feel the aesthetic beauty inherent in nature and the world around us.”

The Great Plains Zoo: AMUR TIGER was created specifically for Arts Night 2008, as a tribute to this beautiful endangered species and to commemorate the opening of the new Asian Cat Exhibit at the Great Plains Zoo & Delbridge Museum.

Amur tigers are the biggest subspecies (type) of tigers. They stand about three feet tall at the shoulder and are longer and usually weigh more than lions. Adult males can grow up to 11 feet long and weigh over 600 pounds; females are smaller – up to nine feet long and about 370 pounds. Like all tigers, their coat is golden-orange with dark stripes. They also have some patches of white on their belly, chest, throat, and muzzle. Compared with other kinds of tigers, Amur tigers have more white in their coat and fewer stripes.

 It’s estimated that only 350 to 450 Amur tigers survive in the wild. Besides being reduced in number, their range has been reduced. Once, they lived throughout much of Siberia and surrounding areas, and for this reason they were often called Siberian tigers. Today, with their reduced range, they’re no longer found in Siberia or called by that name. Their “new” name comes from the Amur River, which flows through the middle of their current, reduced range in Russia.

Kelsey Beck
All That Jazz
digital photography, 2008

Sometimes I wonder why I, at 16 years old, can call myself an artist.  I can’t tell you who Matisse was, I don’t have decades worth of experience, I’ve only had one piece of my art hang in one gallery, and I certainly don’t have any formal education but what I do have, however, is worth much, much more: dedication and passion. Frank Lloyd Wright once said, “I know the price of success: dedication, hard work, and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen.”   My dedication and passion have turned into success because of the hard work I put into everything I do.  For example, I’m the coeditor of my yearbook, I’ve won a statewide photo contest, I won the high school SculptureWalk contest, I exhibited in Arts Night once before, and among other things I have a job I wouldn’t trade for the world. Seven years ago when I first picked up a camera, I had no idea I’d get this far and I still don’t know where my passion will take me in the future.  The only thing I do know is that I love every step and experience along the way and that is why I can call myself an artist.

Fatih Benzer
Let There Be Light
pastel on paper, 2007

My figurative works are combinations of representative qualities and abstractions that are derived from my personal interpretations of nature and figure. I have tried to figure out why the figure attracted me. The interesting problem with realism was that it seemed alternately the most appealing form on the one hand, and on the other the most abstract construct intellectually. My main concern has been to merge the two. You can’t depend on a singular view of an object to dignify its presence or make it manifestly important unless it does something other than be a kind of simple visual recording.

 I had to bring a fusion of my interest both in the subject and in the painting. When you are only interested in the realistic representation of a subject, the demands of painting might lose its importance. On the other hand, with too little involvement with the subject, the painting can degenerate itself into formal exercise. My aim has been to have the paint play a double role on canvas: one as an alive, sensual thing in itself, and the other conveying a response to the subject.

Ken Bird
A Pattern Upon a Pattern
fused glass, 2007

This piece explores laying a transparent pattern on top of another transparent pattern. I love the contrasting movements of the two layers and the opportunity to create new color tones and hues with the layering process. And just for a little “bling” I’ve added pieces of diachronic glass.

Renee M. Boutwell
Subtle Comforts 2
oil on canvas, 2007 - 2008

The act of painting allows me to undercut the flow of everyday experience and engage myself and the viewer on a subconscious level. While we go about our daily lives, much of our energy is expended in the intangible world of our thoughts. Our bodies may be still, but inside there are symphonies of activity. I am curious about the way our eyes wander through a painting, and how that echoes the wandering of our minds as we solve problems, recall random memories and make intuitive connections between ideas. Having a visual playground to explore in which one can find nothing immediately recognizable requires the viewer to search inwardly to discover the meaning or significance of what they see, and leads to a reflective state of mind. I intend my paintings to enter the eye and stir the soul.

 The painting Subtle Comforts 2 is part of a series exploring richly reworked surfaces which echo struggle and revision. I believe beauty is as complex as life, and is comprised of a paradoxical combination of tension and rest. Our greatest satisfaction is often the result of tenacious wrestling rather than easy pleasure.

Pat Cannon
Meditation Sketch
original sculpted in high-fire clay, then cast in poured bronze, 2006

The face was modeled in high-fire potters clay as a “sketch;” holding clay in the left hand and forming it with the right. It appears as the face of a young woman when viewed from its right side and above, but a male face appears on the piece’s left side profile. (Perhaps it provides a starting point for peaceful meditation on the mysteries of gender interplay!)

Amy Cass
Maiolica Floral Bowl
terra cotta earthenware with maiolica glazes, 2008

The form of this bowl is simple and creates an uncomplicated canvas for the stylized, vividly colored foliage painted upon its surface. My hope is that you will notice not only this simple form, but also the depth and brilliance of the colors, the texture of its surface, the dynamic statement created by pattern. My goal is that you will experience an overwhelming temptation to reach down into the concave space and lightly rub your fingertips along the glass-like surface. My wish is that this piece makes your mood lighten somewhat, that you feel a bit more positive and confident having witnessed this simple yet alluring ceramic piece.

Randy Clark
Teaching 14 year olds in Sunday School: Yannich
screen print, 2006

Coming here 7 years ago, I received the opportunity to teach the 14 year old boys in church. The three boys in class had little interest in what I had to teach them. Recalling that experience, I created a three part series on period of time. The piece you see here is Yannich, and the orange color reflects his personality.

Mary Ellen Connelly
Sun Flowers
oil, 2007

The Perennial Passion garden is alive and well, albeit wild. I like it like that.

Ceca Cooper
The Garden
oil on wood panel, 2003

The Garden is an early painting from the series House, Home, Hostage that I began several years ago.  That series incorporated various symbols such as fences, houses, containers, etc. used to portray boundaries that we all face day in and day out.  The paintings in this series (including The Garden) play with the dialectical discourse and everyday psychodramas that take place within whatever structure and routine we choose to call “home” – the pull between in and out, over and under, mine and yours, safe and trapped, free and heavily burdened.  

This particular piece deals with female sexuality and all of its complexities.  The numerical chart on the second panel of the painting represents my own ovulation cycle.

Brooks Cory
Bottles Part III
acrylic, polyurethane, gouache, watercolor, 2007

The intention of my art is to create a visual interest through form and color. My process is founded upon a series of layers. As I apply one layer after the other, my paintings slowly come to life. If my audience looks at my painting more than once and sees something new during each visit, I have succeeded.

Melissa Coyle Blake
The Long Road Home
mixed media, 2008

I make a living doing my art and I have just finished my third children’s book. My husband is the author and I am the illustrator. My art means so many things to many different people. This piece titled “The Long Road Home” can mean different things to different people but to me it means that I have overcome a lot of things in my life and feel that I am in the place I want to be now! “Life is very good”

Joy Crane
Carbon Chain
glass beads, wire, 2008

This piece is comprised of five C60 and six C20 carbon molecules, otherwise known as buckyballs or fullerenes, after Buckminster Fuller. He was the brilliant architect/engineer who was renowned for the geodesic dome.

Nanotechnology is based on carbon structures such as these which have unique physical properties that make them useful as electronic, magnetic and optical devices.

 I admire the beauty of these carbon molecules that are found in the common soot!

Natalie DeJong
A Kitty Masked Picnic
oil on canvas, 2008

This piece represents an easily beautiful moment with a small child. The mother knows how to hold her, make her love and need her, treat her; for now. The masks of adolescence will shed and their relationship will change. They will have to struggle, battle, and eventually find themselves in adjacent roles years from now, and love it just the same.

Tom Dempster
Ochre, Green & Blue
photography, 2007

Travel and colors excite the eye. A morning, the street, and the ocean in Puerto Rico.

Kris Egger
In the Ditch
mixed media, 2007

I continue to be impressed with Arts Night and all the volunteers that work to make this event a major fundraiser for the Visual Arts Center. I am very pleased to be a part of it.

Stacey Evangelista
10 Minute Sketch
pastel, 2007

I looked from the model to my paper. My hands moved quickly, not due to excitement but rather frustration; my mood being that of melancholy. “Why did I even bother to come this evening?” The model moved from her pose and I put down my chalk.

My initial response to it was that of hatred. I placed the drawing next to those I had drawn the week before. Realizing that the picture I ‘so disliked’ was obviously better than the ones that preceded it, I lined up all my drawings from the previous months in chronological order. Despite my mood or ‘absence of faith,’ each drawing was [in some way] better than the one before.

This sketch represents something more than ‘achievement.’ It’s a reminder that any effort to grow is not in vain. ‘God, let me not cloud what you do with my inferior desires and expectations.’

 Hannah Fiechtner
Aphid Chair
mixed media, 2007

I have always loved the great variety of shapes and colors found in the insect world. The inspiration for this sculptural chair is the aphid.

So tiny is the aphid that he is often overlooked. Many don't realize this insect's playful color, child-like cuteness, and elegant limbs. I wanted to translate all these wonderful attributes into my design. The sculpture also has an unbelievably soft and huggable body; and wiggles when one interacts with it.

Lynn Flores
Salida del sol a sol
acrylic textures & metallic bases, 2008

Salida del sol a sol fits this painting well. The metallics and mediums used in this painting, whether viewing it in the morning light or the sunset, it takes on different depths just like the sunrise & sunset.

I appreciate the opportunity to participate in this community event. I hope the proceeds will further the education of our community and our children of tomorrow.

Douglas Frates
“Fratearubian”  Standard Cone 
blown glass, 2007

I get my ideas from life, things I see, things I imagine, and things I feel. I like to be open to new ideas and am challenged by creativity. I want my audience and customers to feel the creativity I put into my work. It is also important to me to be able to create what others want in a piece of glass. It is a privilege to create a piece of glass for that special location in their home and in their life.

Ginny Freitag
Primordial Jam
mixed-media relief box, 2008

I am a native of South Dakota. I was born in Madison, and now reside there with my husband Dale, and our children Jarrell, Julian, and Simone. I have been a middle school art teacher for 24 years. I am inspired by family, landscape – especially the lakes, and the vitality of the young people I encounter every day.

I have worked with many different mediums in the past, but clay vessels and relief boxes seem to suit me best. In my pieces, I work with forms from nature as well as archetypal forms. Favorite artists such as Klimt, Degas, Kahlo, and many others find a way of infusing my pieces. Symbols – such as women as vessels and guardians – are also very important in the context of my work.

My piece for Arts Night is “Primordial Jam”. I enjoy playing with hierarchies in my sculptural relief boxes, and this one exemplifies that with its visual references to the watchful eye, time, sleep, and fertility. Perhaps it is my own “coming of age” piece. The box is constructed of wood, the figure is fired clay with leafing, and the tree is embellished with old watch faces.

Carl Grupp
The Beartooth
watercolor, 2007

 Influenced by oriental art, I am trying to keep the integrity of the water and the brush stroke with the subject.