Copies are available at the Village Shop or the HCA, and the Public Library has some copies available to check out.

Learn more about this program here, and check out this great article in the Leader.

Describe your work in 15 words of less

S: My paintings are a search for safety in a storm.

K: These paintings are our universal memories and observations of moving and living alongside the land.

What or who has influenced your work?

S: Nature and my current environment always influence my work. There are certain teachers’ words from long ago that linger and help out when needed. My favorite painters are Rouault and Manet and they haunt my work in the best way.

K: My work is influenced by a lifelong love of driving and being in the car. I’m influenced by other artists whose work relates to PLACE – driving, landscape, and moving images. Werner Herzog, Ed Ruscha, Bruce Springsteen.

Can you describe your evolution as an artist?

S: Like most kids, I liked drawing and painting and never thought to stop. I started with crayons and now love working with sidewalk chalk, so maybe there is some kind of circular evolution there!

K: I’ve always loved drawing and paying attention to creative impulses. The idea of capturing the essence of landscape is really what inspires me. I’ve explored the topic through photography and taking pictures from a moving vehicle. And translating that experience to painting.

What do you enjoy when not working in the studio?

S: I love swimming pools, swimming outside toward the sun-filled bubbles. I also love prairie gardens and hanging out with cats. My impossible dream is to open the first Cat Café in Saint Paul.

K: When I’m not working in the studio I enjoy working on my golf game. And listening to True Crime podcasts.

Favorite Music, Drink

S: Song: “Octopus’s Garden” by Ringo Starr. And Bernard Herrmann’s shower scene music in the movie Psycho. Drink: There is a Brooklyn company called Q that makes THE most amazing hot pepper ginger ale. Movie: Leave No Trace

K: I’m a huge Springsteen fan so mostly I listen to his music and learn about his work as an artist. I love Champagne. My favorite movie is Paris, Texas.

The Visual Arts Exhibition series is made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

Mark your calendars to meet this Minnesota artist and admire his photography from around the state. Lars’s in- person gallery talk will take place Thursday, Sept 9, 2021 starting at 5:30 PM. Light refreshments will be provided. We hope to see you there!

Describe your work in 15 words of less

This work is about color and form and the man-made Minnesota landscape exemplified via architecture and signs.

What or who has influenced your work?

For this body of work, I have been influenced by the German photographer-duo Bernd and Hilla Becher and their photographic typologies.

Can you describe your evolution as an artist?

Many photographers choose to focus on one subject throughout their careers.  A photographer like Ansel Adams photographed mostly landscapes, Mary Ellen Mark was a documentary photographer, and Arnold Newman made portraits of world leaders and famous artists.

I am not that kind of photographer. When I look back, I see a range of subjects that have caught my interest. It can be black & white photographs of the strange and twisted shape of roots and trees, or color images of the overlooked and forgotten places in Saint Paul.  I am fascinated with the world I see around me, and how I choose to photograph it depends on what I want to say with my images.  I don’t think that approach to image-making will change anytime soon.

What do you enjoy when not working in the studio?

I enjoy going to art exhibits and explore new art galleries whenever I can. I am a huge tennis fan, and play several times a week (amateur level ) I also photograph 2 & 3 dimensional artworks for artist in the White Bear Lake region. 

Favorite Music, Drink

Don’t think I have a favorite song per. se. I mostly listen to jazz and classical music. Other than that I am pretty much stuck in the 90’s as far as music is concerned. If I would have to choose favorite drinks it would be coffee, red wine and sparkling water.

The Visual Arts Exhibition series is made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

Material Matters is on view July 6 – August 13, 2021

Describe your work in 15 words or less

Chica: A collaboration with the sun, soil and seasons to bring out the natural simplistic beauty inherent in hemp.

Victoria: Climate consciousness inspired embroidery and sculptural weaving using silk and copper wire.

Who/What influences your work?

Chica: This work is influenced and inspired by artisans, craftspeople and farmers from a time when people worked with and were a part of nature’s cycles. All work was done by hand from planting to harvesting to processing.  The sounds of hand work are rhythmic and relaxing. The work is strongly influenced by the Japanese concept of ‘motainai’ and the awareness of interdependence and impermanence.  With reverence, every part of the hemp plant is utilized.

Victoria: Current events and environmental concerns.

Tell us more about how you started working with textiles; your artist origin story.

Chica: For years I had been working with textiles (crocheting, sewing, weaving, etc.) and various fibers (synthetic and protein/animal, some cotton) while simultaneously searching for some way to connect to my Japanese culture.  Through travels in Thailand I was attracted by beautiful hand-woven hemp cloth by Hmong tribes and wondered if Japan also had a hemp history.  Upon return to Japan I began to study traditional methods of hemp thread making and, in the process, began this journey which has revealed a connection to a deep, rich hemp culture and fostered relationships with people (some over 90 years old) willing to share their knowledge.  

Victoria: I took a weaving class to fill a general studies requirement and changed my major. I was working in an electronics manufacturing company at the time, and below spec copper wire was being discarded, so I started using it in my weavings for the color, light reflectivity and flexibility.

What do you enjoy when you are not creating?

Chica: Spending time with our cats, travel, visiting cafe’s and daydreaming.

Victoria: Reading and baking.

What is your favorite book, beverage, and flower

Victoria: Book – The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World by Virginia Postrel, Hot Chai Tea, Pansy.

Chica: Nihon no Shizen fu (Japan Natural fabrics magazine), sparkling water, Sakura blossoms in spring.

This exhibit is sponsored by: JRRYoga

The Visual Arts Exhibition series is made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

MARKERS is a series of new works by Mary Beth Magyar on view at the Hutchinson Center for the Arts May 17 – June 24, 2021.  Mary’s ceramic sculptures will take over the Art Center’s gallery space with their animated forms and dynamic surfaces created using the traditional ceramic technique, Sgraffito.

“I’m basing this new work on the idea of how zebras us their markings to protect themselves in their herds. I’m curious about this dynamic in our culture of using others to protect yourself/blend in or hide. This weird sort of hiding in plain sight with the dynamic of social media etc. what you present and how you hide within that larger group.” – Mary Beth Magyar

Describe your work in 15 word or less

Currently exploring camouflage and how it is used to protect, obscure, and mislead.

What/Who influences your work and why?

My work is influenced by the organic forms and colors of nature. I spend a fair amount of time exploring the outdoors and often draw inspiration from relationships or questions I bring back from my adventures.

Tell us a little bit about your evolution as an artist or in other words, your Artist Origin Story

I was born and raised mostly in California but have lived all over the country. I received a painting degree from Michigan State University. After college, I worked for Graphicstudio in

Tampa, Florida and produced relief sculptures for Richard Anuskiewicz and Robert Stackhouse. In Virginia, I took classes with Carlton Newton, William Bennett, and was one of three founding members of the artists cooperative, Bozart. I started a family in 2000 and my professional life went dormant. In 2014, after a move to Minnesota I restarted my art career. I currently reside in Rochester. My work and inspiration are primarily drawn from the environment and my relationship with it.

Learn more about how Mary Beth rebuilt her art career after raising her family on the Artist/Mother podcast

What do you enjoy outside of working in your studio?

My fun is usually on a bike; I have a bike for pretty much whatever surface there is…I also like to walk my dog, hike, camp, paddleboard, ski, surf (mostly falling) and after being outside for awhile I like a really great art museum with a cookie and a coffee at the end of the day.

Favorite

Song: Answer by Phantogram.

Drink:  Usually coffee, but a RumRunner if I’m looking at an ocean.

Pattern: polka dots.

Join us for an IN PERSON public reception and free printmaking activity on June 24th!

The Visual Arts Exhibition series is made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

A Covid-safe personal art experience for one or two people, the magical A GIFT makes its Hutchinson debut on March 27-28 at the Hutchinson Center for the Arts.

Produced by Bethany Lacktorin, based locally in New London, A GIFT is The Arts Center’s first “art by appointment;” the idea of scheduling an art experience for oneself, loved one, or friend as a form of self-care, the way you might schedule a massage, an afternoon on the river, or coffee with a friend. 

Limited TICKETS can be purchased ($10) online at:

www.https://www.bethanylacktorin.org/bookagift

A GIFT explores virtual communication and how it affects what can be expressed or shared. This immersive experience is designed to create a temporary suspension of the ways we normally perceive space, time and the boundaries between “You” and “I”. This is an environment designed to disrupt our everyday use of virtual communication and its protocols, and to find our own way of having a dialogue by using only objects and images.

Bethany Lacktorin, is a performance artist, organizer, media producer and musician. Her practice explores issues and meanings surrounding identity, displacement and our connection to each other through land, place and shared experiences. Expressed as music, sound, story and object, Bethany’s work has been presented on stages, galleries and institutions across the US and Europe.

A professional audio engineer and sound designer for over 20 years she’s earned credit on feature films, documentaries, short films, television and radio. Bethany studied violin at Lawrence University, received her AAS in Music Production at McNally Smith College of Music and her BAFA in Experimental Media at Prague College School of Art & Design. 

Currently based in rural Minnesota, she is Board Chair of the Crow River Players, The New London Arts Alliance and Program Director of New London Little Theatre, serves as Treasurer on the Board of Directors of New London Food Co-op, is the current chair of the City of New London’s Human Rights Commission. Bethany is also employed as graphic designer for her local newspaper, Lakes Area Review.

I am pleased to introduce you to these extraordinary Arts Advocates helping to support our creative community which is vibrant, inclusive, and a vital part of the local economy. With their leadership and vision Hutchinson has become a regional hub for arts and culture. – Lisa Bergh, Executive Director.

Erika Kellen has lived in Hutchinson collectively for 20 years with her husband Derrick and children, Hadyn, Owen and Elin.  She has been serving on the Center for the Arts board for 2 years.

She is a licensed Realtor with Edina Realty serving Hutchinson and the surrounding communities for the past four years.  Her professional career started in higher education employed in various roles at St. Cloud State University and Ridgewater College.  Her previous work experiences have driven the passion to educate real estate clients on the various processes of selling and investing in real estate. When she isn’t selling real estate she enjoys her other passion of redesigning and recreating décor spaces for family and clients, watching her three children participate in their extracurricular activities and spending time with her family at their lake place.

The arts have always been a consistent thread in her life, she grew up involved with the musical arts playing various instruments, and her mother was an artist, through those experiences she has gained a great respect for all arts and the importance that it brings to her life.  Now as a mother, she sees the great necessity for arts in our schools and especially in our community.  She believes that we can only benefit from the exposure and experience of various art forms to grow our minds, spirit and passions within us.

Describe your work in 15 word or less

I conceive of new worlds to examine disciplinary and ideological boundaries through architectural design, drawing, painting, performance, sound, and video.

(image above: Thomas Putzier standing in the entryway to his sculpture: Our Crazy Baby, Sugar Shack, 2017, on exhibition at Franconia Sculpture Park)

What/Who influences your work and why?

John Hejduk, Aldo Rossi, postmodernism, minimalism, fascist-architecture, capitalism, consumerism, transgressing: Power hierarchy / labor exploitation / disciplinary borders, creating/ investigating: new ecosystems, world-building w/o currency, surveillance-urbanism, big data, social expectation, familial tradition, industrial-architecture, iconography of money/ power, how character & personality can determine geometry, & introspection-generating installation.

Why: I utilize symbolism that is both personal and communal to question the purpose of coercive power structures and the systems that reinforce their existence. I find myself intrigued by “weird” form, which does not concede to expectation, but is driven by historical reference if only to complicate it more. I find narrative behind the way a sculpture can shift in size and shape. I embed multiple personalities into singular works to give them a multiplicity of voices/ expressions/ attitudes. I use historical architectural iconography and transform it, collage and collide it, to create new meaning, new spaces for possibility. I use images of power, to reclaim this agency for myself and for my audience.  (image left and above, Safety Station 2018)

Tell us a little bit about your evolution as an artist or in other words, your Artist Origin Story

I was interested in construction sites, mining, and mining buildings at a young age, my father did work with mining companies. I was always drawing. As a queer youth I was constantly bumping up against expectations to conform. As I aged the societal expectations all people experience always stood out to me in a visceral way.

(image left: Forgotten performance piece, 50 min. 2012)

In high school I went into drafting and architecture classes as early as I could. I then became fascinated with photography and completed all available photography classes at the high school, and then went onto art independent studies. I went to architecture school at the University of Illinois at Chicago and after a year I felt incomplete. I began double majoring in fine arts, focused in photography… which would shift to sculpture to moving-image to fashion to architecture and then combining them all.

(image left: Temple of Agency, Art Shanty Projects, 2020)

I always felt this need to create new worlds to analyze individual moments in our own shared reality. In undergrad my work began in conceptual and speculative architectures and evolved into unearthing my own personal past and its then present day effects on my life. I entered grad school at Sierra Nevada University with this goal of undoing, brick by brick, the walls I had built that I felt were standing in my own way. I had a desire to reassert my preconceived values, undo them, and rebuild them. I allowed myself to get vulnerable and experimental which led to new understandings of myself and my practice.

What do you like to do for fun outside of the studio?

I’ve recently become unimaginably obsessed with stocks. I am ADD and could stare at them all day. My most recent completed project is a feature-length video work titled Ruined Country. The work imagines a world without currency. While making this work I was very interested in the “invisible hand” of the market and also “invisible labor.” Obsessing over stocks now feels like a necessary relevant part of my interdisciplinary practice. Fun? Leave my living room? Skiing.

(Images left: Untitled stills from HD Video: Ruined Country, 94 min. 2020)

Favorite Song, Drink, and Pattern

I am terrible with favorites because I struggle with hierarchy lol!

The Glamorous Life – by Sheila E (9 minute version at half speed: 18 minutes of amazing).

Water, Coffee, Tea, Sidecar, Tequila.

I’ve loved florals, large print ones; also patterns that morph and are non-continuous excite me

(Image above: Thomas Putzier signing autographs as a performance at Sagehen Creek Field Station in Truckee, CA 2018)

(Image below: Interior photo of Our Crazy Baby, Sugar Shack)

I am pleased to introduce you to these extraordinary Arts Advocates helping to support our creative community which is vibrant, inclusive, and a vital part of the local economy. With their leadership and vision Hutchinson has become a regional hub for arts and culture. – Lisa Bergh, Executive Director.

Kay Hultgren serves as Secretary for the Art Center’s Executive Committee. When Kay  arrived as a new teacher in Hutchinson, the statue of Little Crow, the Carnegie funded library, choral groups, concert series, and local architecture were the notable highlights of the art scene here. Since then, she has enjoyed the way Hutchinson has continued to embrace and support all forms of the Arts—Sculpture Stroll, RiverSong, MN Pottery Festival, live theater, art exhibitions, etc. Since retiring from teaching, Kay has involved herself in supporting the community through volunteering at the McLeod Emergency  Food Shelf, serving on the boards of the Food Shelf, the Hutchinson Public Library, and the Hutchinson Center for the Arts.

I love that our town has much to offer for both the makers and the appreciators of the Arts!