Upcoming: 2024 ARTcetera Juried Exhibition and Fundraising Auction

One of my obvara raku vessels was juried into the 2024 ARTcetera exhibition and fundraising auction at the Sioux City Art Center! This exibition opens with a reception on Thursday, March 21, 2024, from 5-7pm. Artworks will be made available for sale at “Buy It Now” prices on March 22, and the exhibition continues through April 18 when the auction is held as a part of a ticketed event evening.

The opening reception will be free to attend, and if you’re interested in buying tickets to attend the auction, you can do so here.

The Sioux City Art Center is located at 225 Nebraska Street in Sioux City, IA, 51101.

Sioux City Art Center Board of Trustees Renewal

I was appointed to the Sioux City Art Center’s Board of Trustees in January 2021, and subsequently elected and reelected as President of the Board of Trustees in 2022 and 2023. City board appointments are for two-year terms, so my term was ending in December 2023. The Sioux City Art Center’s director and board asked me to seek to renew my appointment in October 2023, so I reapplied and waited for City Council to deliberate. They sent out my renewal letter and certificate recently!

A Reminder to Check Out the SCAC's 34th Annual Youth Art Month Exhibition

The opening reception and awards ceremony of the Sioux City Art Center’s 34th Annual Youth Art Month Exhibition was great! I enjoyed getting to meet some of the artists and seeing their family and friends celebrate their accomplishments. If you’re in the area and haven’t yet checked it out, it is open through April 9, 2023.

Here’s some local press coverage which also highlights my role as the juror:

• The Le Mars Daily Sentinel published “Local Students Exhibit in Juried Art Show” on March 17, 2023.

• The Sioux City Journal published “Youth Art Exhibit Highlights Talent of Middle School Students” on March 12, 2023.

• KSCJ published “Youth Art Exhibition Opens at SC Art Center” including an embedded radio interview with education coordinator Kim Albracht on February 24, 2023.

• The Sioux City Journal’s Weekender published “Sux 6: The Best Things to Do in Siouxland” highlighting the show as #3 Artistic Life: The Early Years on February 23, 2023.

My juror statement, printed in the show brochure:

It was a pleasure to jury the Sioux City Art Center's 34th Annual Youth Art Month Exhibition. Making artwork is a hallmark of the human experience; it is personal expression through creative risk-taking and problem-solving. Youth arts education has been linked to students' increased civic engagement, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, innovation, interdisciplinary synthesis, and motor skills. As viewers, I hope that - as I did - you see pieces in this show that bring you joy, challenge you, expand your horizons, and teach you something new.

To the artists: thank you for sharing your time and talent! Whether your work made it into this show or not, please continue to create and share your art; every piece has its own voice and power. In fact, the quality of submissions was so high that it was very hard to narrow them down to the pieces I eventually selected for display. I prioritized choosing a diversity of subject matter, art media, and techniques in 2D, relief, and 3D. I'm very excited to see the exhibition professionally installed, and I hope you are too!

Jurying the SCAC's 34th Annual Youth Art Month Exhibition

I was asked to jury the Sioux City Art Center’s 34th Annual Youth Art Month Exhibition. Serving as a juror or judge is always an honor, and I love getting to see what young artists are creating! I judged the entries a couple of day ago, and I look forward to the awards ceremony next month.

From the Sioux City Art Center: “Celebrating Youth Art Month, the Sioux City Art Center will feature its 34th Annual Youth Art Month Exhibition from February 26 – April 9, 2023. This year’s exhibition features work by middle school students and is juried by Morningside University professor Shelby Prindaville. Youth Art Month is an annual, nation-wide observance celebrating art education for children and encourages public support for quality school art programs. Created in 1961, YAM began as Children’s Art Month for the purpose of emphasizing the value of all children participating in art.

The reception for Youth Art Month will be on Sunday, February 26, 2023, from 1:30 – 3:00pm. Presentation of awards will take place at 2:00pm.”

President (Chair) of the Sioux City Art Center Board of Trustees

In our most recent meeting, I was nominated and elected as the new President (Chair) of the Sioux City Art Center Board of Trustees. I look forward to serving our community in this role!

2021 ArtSplash Festival Judge!

This past weekend (September 4th and 5th) was the 2021 ArtSplash festival, hosted by the Sioux City Art Center. I had previously attended the 2019 ArtSplash which was held in Riverside Park; the 2020 festival was cancelled due to the pandemic. This meant a lot of people - including myself - were really excited to attend the 2021 ArtSplash, which was relocated downtown to take place in and around the Sioux City Art Center itself. I think this was a very smart change that highlights the institution and clearly links it to the festival.

I was invited to serve as one of the two 2021 ArtSplash judges, and I was honored and excited to say yes! I visited each of the approximately 50 artist booths and looked closely at the work presented as well as spoke with the artists about their processes. My co-judge and Briar Cliff University art professor Nan Wilson and I then came together, compared our notes, and visited a number of booths again before selecting four Awards of Excellence, a Best 2D, Best 3D, and Best in Show artist.

This was my first time judging an art festival, though I have judged art shows and competitions before. In my previous judging roles, I did so solely based off of the work itself, without access to the artists until after the awards ceremony. I really enjoyed getting to speak with the artists and learning more about the work and process as a part of this ArtSplash judging. Overall, I’d say the 2021 ArtSplash was a blast, and I look forward to 2022 ArtSplash!

I'm a Sioux City Art Center Board of Trustees Member!

Back in October, I learned that the Sioux City Art Center Board of Trustees had a couple openings through a friend already on the Board - so I applied. In December, I had a virtual interview with City Council, and I recently learned that I was approved! I look forward to serving my community in this function for the next two years.