By DARLA MCCAMMON

Lakeland Arts Association

WINONA LAKE — Did you know there is an art gallery on the Grace College campus you can visit? Located in the beautiful Mount Memorial building on King’s Highway, the Department of visual, performing, and media arts consistently offers talented students and faculty exhibiting opportunities. The current exhibit held an opening reception on Jan. 20 and will continue to be available for your viewing pleasure through Feb. 4. Hours to visit are 10:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 1-4 p.m. Saturday. The exhibit is on the second floor.

These artists are exhibiting:

Cynthia Bryan shares information about her Red River painting. “The spirit is the aspect of humanity that connects us with God. One of my favorite pastimes is to hike through forests and canyons, looking for the light…the colorful movement of light as it dances among the stones fills my heart like a beautiful symphony.”

Nicole Croy has a unique view of Wells Street Bridge and tells us “This image was created using a pinhole camera.”  With a recent grant Croy says, “I chose to create…not just a simple pinhole camera but one made from an 11-foot box truck.” Huge 4-foot by 7-foot images are created by Croy with this technique you must see.

Faculty member Rick Koontz leaves a lasting impression with a computer generated program demonstrating the song Threads. Koontz used the Java programming language to create this unusual artistic endeavor.

Department Head, Kim Reiff provides a series of beautiful computer enhanced photographs from her original photos taken in Spain. The creative process not only includes skilled photography and choice of subject and composition, but adjusting image colors into a coordinated whole that is striking.

Don Swartzentruber, an adjunct professor at IU PUI-Fort Wayne and also Grace College, is a well-known area artist.  He also teaches visual arts at Warsaw schools. The brochure for this exhibit describes his work as “carnivalesque images that manifest from interests in theology, cultural issues, and the surreal.” His sixteen years of teaching and lecturing have also produced numerous grants and awards for his portfolio.

Richard Wanjema says “I asked my daughters to select images they felt represented their Kenyan culture from the collection taken when we visited Kenya, E. Africa. Using my daughters’ portraits as frames, the images were digitally collaged and various photo filters were applied.”

There are also some spectacular works you will enjoy in the hallway just outside the main exhibit. These works reflect the skilled efforts of a number of talented students. You will enjoy viewing them. Hope you have a chance to drop in and view this exhibit. Parking for visitors is available right near the front of the building as you turn in off King’s Highway.

Upcoming and Current Events:

• Grace College Faculty Exhibit: Jan. 17 – Feb. 4, 10:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday-Friday and 1-4 p.m. Saturday. Mount Memorial Hall is located at 808 Kings Highway, Winona Lake.
• Warsaw City Hall Art Gallery through March. Open 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Perry Olshein oil paintings on view.
• LAA gallery is closed for the Season.

For more information on topics in this column, please contact Darla McCammon at [email protected] or (574) 527-4044.  Columns will be available on this site soon, following our news media versions.