Events

Join us on Friday, September 5th, for the grand opening celebration of our gallery. We will be having an open house from 12 noon to 8:00 pm in cooperation with our fellow tenants - the Mandan Progress Organization and the Mandan Historical Society. Refreshments will be served. Come and tour the building, enjoy the refreshments, and then place your bid on the many items which will be offered in a silent auction.

On July 3rd, 2008 the Mandan Art Association opened a members gallery and gift shop at 411 West Main Street in Mandan, ND. The gallery is located in the former Beanery Building, which will be renamed the Mandan Heritage Plaza.

The gallery is currently displaying the work of 23 member artists and includes oil, acrylic, watercolor and pastel paintings; photography; colored pencil and ink drawings; leather art; pottery; wood turnings; china painting; and jewelry. The gallery also includes a small gift shop area which features small art and craft items.

Periodically we will be having lessons or special events in the gallery. Keep checking our website for updates to the schedule.

Our hope is to turn the MAA Gallery and Gift Shop into a place where area artists can display their work, share their talent and inspire people to become interested in the arts. The coffee is always on - come and join us for a visit!

Lesson and Event Schedule

Art Discussion on Jackson Pollock

Join us at the gallery on Saturday, October 4th, from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm for a discussion on the life and art of Jackson Pollock. The discussion will be facilitated by Charlene Jones, art instructor. We will discuss the troubled life of Pollock and what drove him to create his own art form. We will also watch a short portion of the 2000 award winning film "Pollock" which starred Ed Harris. We may even try our hand at creating a "drip" painting in the style of Pollock!

Crocheting with wire class offered by Sue B. Balcom

Learn how to take those basic crocheting skills and create a wonderful work of art using wire and beads. The class will be held from 9 a.m. to 12 noon on Saturday, October 18th in the conference room at the gallery at 411 West Main. Pre-registration is required. A supply list will be emailed to each participant upon registration.

Class fee is $15 per person. Class is limited to 10 students. For more information email spidersue@msn.co

The Mandan Art Association has just concluded their 50th Annual Spring Art show "Celebrating Memories", April 11 through the 13th. By all accounts it was a resounding success. We couldn't be more pleased with the artists who participated and the number of people who attended the event. We heard many comments from attendees about the wonderful quality of art.

The special display of art and history honoring our founding members and all of the people who have kept our organization going for 50 years was very well received. Many people visited the special display and viewed the 50 years worth of scrapbooks memories, the 50 years of show programs and the special art of past honorees.

The opening reception was held from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm on Friday. Music was performed by "Trio Apollo", a local woodwind trio who did an outstanding job. Over 200 people attended this event and many positive comments were heard about the show and the entertainment.

Ongoing demonstrations throughout the day Saturday and Sunday were done by the Dakota Wood Turners and the Bismarck State College Art Department. BSC presented a "Play in the Clay" interactive event encouraging everyone to work with the clay. This proved to be very successful with a steady stream of people watching the demonstrations and working with the clay. The Dakota Wood Turners made several pieces including small "spin toys" which were given free to the children who watched the demonstration.

The Children's Creative Corner was open all day Saturday. This was so successful we had to set up an extra table to handle the overflow of children participating. Children and parents alike had fun at this corner. Rock painting was very popular once again.

Local artist Leon Basler demonstrated his painting techniques from 1:00 to 3:00 pm. Many people sat and watched Leon create more than one piece of art. Without a doubt, Leon is one of the most talented artists in our area.

The artists "Quick Draw" event from 1:00 to 2:00 was even more popular this year than last. There were 12 artists participating. We even had two students participate and both did a great job! The pieces were offered at silent auction from 2:00 to 3:00 pm. Every single piece received numerous bids and all were sold. As an added bonus, one of the BSC students from the clay demonstration created four vases of Horsehair Raku pottery which will be fired during April at the BSC campus. This is a great event for both the artists participating and the people attending and one that we will be continuing in years to come.

We received some excellent donated work from several artists for the regular silent auction this year.

The "People's Choice" winners in each category (2 dimensional art, drawing, photography, 3 dimensional art and textile art) for both the student and adult divisions were announced on Sunday. Photos of the winning pieces will appear in the Bismarck Tribune "Celebrate" magazine shortly. We will also be posting them on our website in the near future.

Show posters designed by the Bismarck State College Commercial Art Department were also on display with the winning poster being announced Sunday.

All winners of the peoples choice awards receive a ribbon and a cash award. Numerous awards donated from area businesses were also given to artists selected by our two Judges - Jeannine Saabye (University of Mary) and Peggy Harzinski (St. Mary's Central High School). Mikey Hoeven, First Lady of North Dakota, also selected several pieces of art to receive the Governor's Ribbon.

This project is supported in part by a grant from the North Dakota Council on the Arts, which receives funding from the state legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.

It is also sponsored in part by grants from the Dakota West Arts Council and the Mandan Progress Organization.