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Featured Artists For February

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Exhibition runs February 6th - March 2nd 2025
Update: Reception Friday, February 21st from 6-7pm


Pam Bidelman
Becky Carmody
Sheila Klein
Emily Kreschmer
Joellen Preston
Emily Stark
James Wesley Taylor
Nicole Larish-Volk
Bianca Wilson

Past Artists

Mary Walchuk

Exhibition runs January 9th - February 2nd 2025
Reception Friday, January 10th from 5-7pm

Mary Walchuk is a visual artist primarily focused  on colored pencil drawings and nature photography. She enjoys exploring many other mediums, including painting, gel printing, collage, and hand rolling paper beads. 

 

Mary has discovered the magic of art in taming the shadows of depression and anxiety that have accompanied her for years. Creating art is an essential part of her daily life. Her art world is one of bright color and movement, and she delights in sharing with others the joy that art brings to her.

Whitney Dirks

Exhibition runs December 5th - January 5th 2025
Reception Friday, December 6th from 5-7pm

Whitney Dirks (she/her) is a disabled, queer artist living in small-town Minnesota.

 

“My art repurposes woolen coats into polychromatic sculptures with hand-stitched elements, resulting in weird creatures with distinct personalities. These “homunculi” (a Latin term for small, humanoid entities) are both made of and wearing clothing, and they peer at the world through a range of facial features. They've gestated and evolved over the past four years, developing into an entire species of wooly minions – mostly cyclopic and generally bipedal – that embody just enough of the human to be unsettling and just enough of whimsy to be adorable.

 

I'm driven by the potential I see in old objects: the bright yellow collar that embodies the sun’s arc or the twisted fork that becomes a clawed foot. I love rooting through other people’s trash at thrift stores, discovering and stockpiling treasures for later use: crocheted doilies, embroidered table runners, wool coats in a surprising range of colors, patterns, and textures. I’m drawn to the discarded, the outdated, the broken, and the unloved, and the process of acquiring and curating supplies plays an active role in my artistic production. I embrace the ethical nature of upcycled materials, which provide both an environmentally conscious alternative to consigning unwanted clothing to landfills and a socially conscious alternative to sweatshop labor. In a world of fast fashion, I delight in slow stitching on eccentric forms, making the bizarre weirdly appealing."

Charlie Putnam

Exhibition runs November 7th - 30th 2024
Reception Friday, November 8th from 5-7pm

As a K-12 art teacher in the public school system, I found myself teaching techniques and working with materials that I was unfamiliar with when I started teaching. I felt it was necessary to experience those new things myself, in order to teach those things to others.

One of the most enjoyable discoveries was teaching relief printmaking to students of all ages, ranging from potato prints to linoleum block prints. I spent many years creating block prints for the purpose of demonstrating the required skills and techniques in order to help my students have a successful and enjoyable experience.

Through professional networking, I was introduced to a project idea that included traditional linoleum block printing on paper with ink, but also pressing the carved linoleum into clay to crest a soft slab vessel form. The student works with the project were amazing. Very enjoyable from both the student and teacher perspective.

As a retired teacher, I was interested in taking the combination of printing and ceramic hand building to a higher level. I feel like I learn new things from each print and from each clay piece that I create, so I continue to move forward.

James Mackey

Exhibition runs October 1st - November 3rd, 2024
Reception Friday, October 4th from 5-7pm

James Mackey is a local artist who works with acrylics, pencils, and pens to create his illustrations. He self-publishes fully illustrated children’s books, graphic novels, and zines.

 

“Every piece I create has a story behind it, whether it is a spaceship exploring the galaxy or a swarm of mushrooms that have been rudely awakened. I doubt I’ll ever get all of my stories told but if i keep trying maybe they will start making sense.

 

At heart I’m a storyteller. I’ve been making up people, places, and things for as long as I’ve had a notion that the outside world isn’t the same as what was inside of my head. I’ve drawn for as long as I’ve known that crayons are not a snack. I’ve never actually gotten the hang of accurately depicting on the page all the things trying to escape from my brain but I keep trying.”

 

His books Faster Than Speed, The House of Ichabod Strange, and Sausage with Anchovies, will be available for sale at Make It, Waterville.

Joellen Preston

Exhibition runs September 16th - September 27th 2024

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When I make art, I am usually telling a story.  The artwork/stories are ways I express myself and how I see the world.  Depending on how I feel, I'll draw on paper, paint, collage, sculpt, etc.  As a teacher, I've learned all kinds of techniques and materials for classes and workshop programming.  It's been one of the best parts of my artistic career.

 

Recently I've been creating fiber sculptures which look like plants and seeds sprouting.  This is reflective of my love of gardening.  I use patchwork to create colorful pieces that are bright and whimsical.  Sewing the scraps together creates unique shapes and color combinations.

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Joellen Preston has worn many hats in the arts communities of Southern Minnesota.  She was Gallery Curator of the Emy Frentz Arts Guild Gallery with Twin Rivers Council for the Arts in Mankato, Minnesota.  She was also the Arts Curator for the North Mankato Taylor Library arts program for six years, developing it into a satellite gallery in partnership with Twin Rivers from 2015-2017.  Joellen focused on presenting the area with engaging and fresh artwork created by emerging, mid-career, and professional artists, encouraging library patrons to create unique dialogues between written and visual art. 

 

In addition to curatorial and gallery management, Joellen is an arts educator, providing arts experiences to her students for over 20 years. Joellen was an art instructor for Kato Public Charter School as well as the Visual Arts Coordinator for Mankato Lifeworks, where she developed programming for developmentally disabled individuals, organizing public art exhibitions of their work. She advocates for the acceptance of her clients as artists in their own right, capable of creating artwork that resonates with a greater audience. 

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Hours

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Thursday 3pm - 7pm

Friday 11am - 7pm

Saturday 10am - 4pm

Sunday 11am - 3pm

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Make It, Waterville

103 3rd Street S

Waterville, MN 56096

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