Three local art galleries are open tonight (Friday) from 5-7 p.m., each hosting area artists to visit about their work. All are open to the public and free of charge. We are also excited to have The Pantry and LilyCrest Cottage join us again, staying open these same hours.

Downtown at the OneTen Gallery, there will be a fantastic show featuring a husband and wife team. Janet and David Jensen will share their artwork in a display titled “Marriage of Two Visions.” Janet is a pastel artist who has exhibited at galleries on the east coast, as well as the Washington Pavilion in Sioux Falls, the W.H. Over Museum in Vermillion and other local venues. The subject of her work is the South Dakota landscape. David is a photographer and journalist. He has exhibited in Washington, DC area galleries and the Mighty Mo Photo Show here in Yankton. His work features photographs of Sicily.

Just blocks away on Douglas is our next stop, the Art House Center. Lita Stucky will open the doors to her gallery and share her current show “Nature and Wildlife” with visitors. Lita offers art classes to students of all ages and will actually be teaching one in the studio this evening. She encourages everyone to stop in and see the artists at work.

That brings us to our own G.A.R. Hall Art Gallery, home of Yankton Area Arts, where we have several things happening:

First, it’s the final week for the Mighty Mo Photo show. This is a fantastic exhibit and visitors have really enjoyed the wonderful photographs on display.

Next, we are thrilled to host a special guest from the Yankton community: Leslie Johnson, who recently returned from the Kyoto Study Abroad Program as part of the Landscape Architecture program at the University of Oregon. Leslie studied watercolor while in Japan and will share her works with us tonight.

Also this evening, Dot Stoll from Six String Studios will play music with her student, Sophie McKee, and visit with guests about the impact music can have on an individual’s life. Dot will be working with our Art of Healing initiative and we are grateful to have her join us!

Finally, if you haven’t gotten a Yankton Area Concert Association membership yet, we can assist! Chairperson Betts Pulkrabek will be on hand to help visitors purchase their 2010-2011 season passes.

As if the art weren’t enough, you might also win some wonderful gifts in celebration of the First Friday events! At the G.A.R. Hall Art, you can register to win a free season pass for the Yankton Area Concert Association, the Lewis and Clark Theater Co. or Yankton Area Arts family membership. Thanks to these organizations for their support!

While you are getting your art fix, remember to support our participating First Friday businesses as well. Cathy at LilyCrest is preparing for tomorrow’s Design Showcase event and you can stop and see what’s in store. Meanwhile at the Pantry, Dick will have special treats for visitors and will be sharing new items for the fall.

That’s a lot of action for one night — but wait, there’s more! Not only will you enjoy a wonderful evening of the arts — you’ll have time left to go root for the home team! So get out there and support our local art scene — and Go Bucks!

YAA Calendar of Events:

• Sept. 3 — First Friday Art Night, local galleries from 5-7 p.m.:

— G.A.R. Hall: Special guest Leslie Johnson and musician Dot Stoll

— OneTen Gallery: The works of Janet and David Jensen

— The Studio Art Center: “Nature and Wildlife” exhibit

• through Sept 7 — Mighty Mo Photo Show, featuring area photographers at the G.A.R. Hall Art Gallery. Free to the public.

• Sept 11-Oct. 19 — Szabo Family Art from the Rosebud Reservation, featuring beautiful Native American artwork.

The G.A.R. Hall Gallery and Yankton Area Arts office are located at 508 Douglas Avenue, Yankton. The gallery is open to the public free of charge from 1-5 p.m. weekdays and from 1-3 p.m. on Saturdays. For more information, contact Pam Meylor, executive director, via e-mail at Pam@YanktonAreaArts.org or at (605) 665-9754.

Jake Kidney of Yankton won both Honorable Mention Awards with his stunning photographs “Wonderland” and “Storm Over Yankton.” Regarding “Wonderland,” Kidney explains, “I went out along the river after a blizzard to photograph the first snowfall where everything is covered in a soft blanket of fresh snow.” Jake said that after shooting a half-dozen photographs his camera’s sensor froze over and that the absence of any person in the picture is due to the chilling cold that evening, as no one else was out in the storm. The black-and-white photograph is a beautiful depiction of the long, cold winter we experienced here in Yankton.

“Storm Over Yankton” captures one of the largest and most destructive storms from the summer of 2009. This particular storm produced baseball-size hail, causing damage to both structures and vehicles across the community.

Both of these photographs capture a fascinating side of Mother Nature that we do not often get a chance to see, and Jake does a terrific job photographing these moments. To see additional pieces of Kidney’s work, a link to his homepage can be found on the Yankton Area Arts website.

The two Honorable Mention awards were provided by Yankton businesses, Harold’s Photo Center and LilyCrest Cottage. Judging was held prior to the opening and was based on relevance to the competition theme, artistic quality, presentation and the quality of the submission as a whole.

This year’s competition also included four Promise-to-Purchase awards sponsored by Avera Sacred Heart Hospital, Bank 360, the National Park Service and John Day from the University Art Galleries at USD. Our sponsors were invited to preview the show and select their photos the week before the exhibit was open to the public. Avera Sacred Heart Hospital selected “Wonderland” by Jake Kidney; Bank 360 purchased “Lazy, Hazy Days of Summer” by Ed Seaver; the National Park Service purchased “Transitions” by Ed Seaver and “Pebbles” by Sean Potas and John Day chose “Mist’ terious” by Jane Hesse.

Congratulations to all of the participating photographers and thank you to our sponsors for helping make the competition a success! The photographs are on display and available for sale at the G.A.R. Hall Art Gallery from now through Sept. 7. This year’s entries demonstrate the strong commitment of people who love to take photographs. The Yankton Area Arts Exhibit Committee noted the wonderful quality and energy of these photographers throughout the judging process, and I am sure you will love seeing them too!

If you prefer painting to photography, I have a wonderful opportunity to potentially add to your collection in an inexpensive way. In honor of the 26th anniversary of the Summer Arts Festival, Yankton Area Arts has purchased “Silent Star Night” a watercolor print by Pati Dueter for a fundraising raffle. Pati was the 2009 Summer Arts Festival Best of Show in the fine artist category. The print is a beautiful watercolor featuring musician Moses Bring Plenty. Tickets are $1 per ticket (or six tickets for $5) and are available for purchase in the gallery, at our information booth at the Summer Arts Festival or on our website. The winner will be drawn on Sunday Aug. 22.

More information on the Mighty Mo Photo Show, the raffle and the upcoming Summer Arts Festival, can be obtained by visiting us online at www.YanktonAreaArts.org or by contacting our office at 665-9754. I hope to see you taking advantage one of these great art opportunities!

YAA Calendar of Events:

• through Sept 7 — Mighty Mo Photo Show featuring area photographers at the G.A.R. Hall Art Gallery. Free to the public.

• Aug. 20-22 — The 26th Summer Arts Festival in Riverside Park. For more vendor information, please visit our website.

• Sept. 3 — First Friday Art Night; local art galleries from 5-7 p.m.

At the age of 35, Sean Conrad has a strong hold on his chosen career as an artist. After several explorations into other fields, he found himself always missing the satisfaction and pure enjoyment he felt when expressing himself artistically, and decided it was time to concentrate on art full time.

Born in Tuscola, IL in 1973, Conrad has been surrounded in art since childhood. His father built a successful career as a cartoonist and, wanting to follow in his footsteps, Sean began drawing characters everywhere, of everyone, often at times when his attention should have been elsewhere.

Conrad began his career in San Diego, CA with an education in graphic design and computer animation. After graduation, he worked in graphic design, excited with all the possibilities available to him, and was soon promoted into management and the corporate 8-5 lifestyle. Although he excelled in his new position, he knew something was missing. That something was discovered during a week-long trip to southern Colorado to visit his father. Painting plein air for the first time, he found himself entirely captivated with the natural beauty and relished in transcribing what he saw to canvas.

The corporate life was over and he moved to Trinidad, CO to continue fulfilling his newfound dream of becoming a professional artist. Doors opened, and he met, became friends with, and began to study informally with internationally known artist, Eric Michaels. His new mentor encouraged him, and Conrad soon moved into a studio in the A. R. Mitchell Museum and was invited to show his work there and in the Buffalo Nickel Gallery in Cimarron, NM.

Returning to San Diego to marry, Sean continued painting and developing the skills he had learned while in Trinidad. But his love for the mountains couldn’t keep him in the city for long and in the summer of 2002 Sean and his wife Christy moved to Longmont, CO where they resided until the beginning of 2005. Sean and his wife Christy now live in Sioux City, IA.

Now enjoying a satisfying and successful career in fine art, Sean Conrad has the advantage of age, early wisdom in regard to following one’s heart, and a supportive wife and friends. “My hope is to bring God glory and point people to the creator in every painting that I create. I’m so thankful that He’s blessed me the way He has and allowed me to make a living creating paintings that capture and express what He has created”.

Frank Denton - Automotive Accountant by trade my woodturning career began out of survival. I had been unemployed for a year and with all my resources exhausted I fell back on what I leaned in Jr. High and High School, woodturning. Something I had planned on getting back into for a hobby to into a life saver for me. Why wood turning? Having attended art shows around the country I was seeing and took special interest in turned wood items, always telling my wife, “I was doing that when I was 14 years old…” and so the seed was planted and The Great Dakota Bowl Company was born.

The majority of my turnings are made from recycled wood meaning it comes from burn piles, ditches, landfills and periodically a log or two just shows up in my driveway! That being said most of the wood is also local to the Southeast South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa. When on trips I’ll often come home with a piece or two from other areas as well. Wood thrown into scrap piles usually has not had the best of care nor been cut in my best interests so I have had to adapt and accept those challenges often with spectacular results (really I get lucky). If there’s an oddity with the wood I’ll give my best efforts to retain it whether it’s a knot, a void or a small burl they add great character to the finished piece. Cracked and split wood are the norm and various minerals including turquoise, malachite, lapis, to name a few, are used as inlay to fill the voids. Other recycled items include brass key filings; copper and colorful wood shavings from other projects. Some pieces stay as they are, cracked and split it just depends on what it adds to the character.

Creating about 300 individual pieces a year most are sold at art venues in South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska, a few sales on line, several commission pieces every year and a limited gallery presence. Some production turners’ make that many every month but these aren’t salad bowls and each is piece is truly unique in shape, size, finish, etc. Since I deal directly with my customers I’m lucky to know I’m represented in all 50 States and D.C. along with Russia, South Africa, Italy, Japan, Australia, Sweden, France and many others. I can remember when the first piece went to Europe; I bragged to my wife, we were international now!

In all I’m credited with having great talent and have helped many develop their turning efforts but in reality it’s a gift I’m lucky to have been blessed with and I hope you enjoy!

At The Center located at 900 Whiting Drive, Yankton SD
10:00am – 3:00pm

The Mighty Mo Photo Show is open to the public and anyone interested is encouraged to submit a photograph. The exhibition is designed to compliment Yankton’s Annual Riverboat Days/Summer Arts Festival celebrations and to recognize the talents of area photographers. This year’s theme is “The River: Through the Seasons.” For those interested in participating, here is an overview of the guidelines.

The competition is open to photographers living within a 60-mile radius of the city of Yankton. All photographic media, techniques and styles will be accepted — as long as the pieces are framed and wired for hanging. Photographers are welcomed to enter multiple pieces, and each artist may submit up to four photographs into the competition.

We are already accepting entries for the show. Submissions need to be brought to the Yankton Area Arts office located in the G.A.R. Hall Art Gallery at 508 Douglas. Hours are from 1-5 p.m. Monday through Friday; however, if you need to make special arrangements outside of these hours, please give us a call. The last day to bring your work to the gallery will be Friday, July 16. Entries will be judged during the week of July 23, based on relevance to the competition theme, artistic quality, presentation and the quality of the piece as a whole.

The exhibit will open to the public on Friday, July 30 and Yankton Area Arts will host an awards reception on Friday, Aug. 6, from 5-7 p.m. We always look forward to hosting this reception as a chance to recognize the achievement of the winning entries and the hard work of all the participants. Awards and recognition will be presented to the photographers with Promise to Purchase Awards and Honorable Mention Awards. New to the competition this year is an opportunity for our photographers to have their work selected by the National Park Service for use in promoting the Missouri River.

Yankton Area Arts is thrilled to offer this opportunity for area photographers to exhibit their work at the gallery. The show is always a showcase of talent from the area — and I am looking forward to all the wonderful photography that this show attracts. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to get out there with your cameras and start shooting the river!

Here’s a great opportunity to get down to the river front for some photography and enjoy some music at the same time! Stop by the Riverside Park Amphitheater Tuesday night and help us kick off our first Summer Pops Concert for 2010. The performance will feature the band “The Hungry Five”; whose members include Frank Melmer, Don Paul, and Bill Magera on sax; Harvey Beck and Kevin McLouth on trumpet; Wayne Dempster on trombone; Glenn Tycz on drums and Jim Schnaidt on bass. The Hungry Five will play waltzes and polkas and are sure to be an audience favorite. Plus you might just catch that perfect photographic opportunity for your Mighty Mo Photo Show entry!

The rest of our Summer Pops Concert line up this season is equally exciting. It includes the Dakota Jazz Collective, Little Chicago Syncopators, Poker Alice, and the South Dakota Jazz Orchestra — so be sure to mark your calendars! The Summer Pops Concert series is sponsored by Yankton Area Arts and the City of Yankton. It’s a great way to keep the sounds of summer going for your family — and I hope to see you out enjoying it!

More information on both the Mighty Mo Photo Show and the Summer Pops Concert Series can be obtained by visiting us online at www.YanktonAreaArts.org or by contacting our office at 665-9754.

YAA Calendar of Events:

• through July 27 — “Landscapes and Woodworking” featuring Sioux City painter Sean Conrad and Beresford wood turner Frank Denton at the G.A.R. Hall Art.

• through July 16 — Entries accepted for the Mighty Mo Photo Show. For information on submitting work, please go to YanktonAreaArts.org or call Yankton Area Arts at 665-9754

• July 13 — Summer Pops Concert featuring the Hungry Five at the Riverside Park Amphitheater, 8 p.m. Free and open to the public.

• July 20 — Summer Pops Concert featuring the Dakota Jazz Collective at the Riverside Park Amphitheater, 8 p.m. Free and open to the public.

The G.A.R. Hall Gallery and Yankton Area Arts are located at 508 Douglas Avenue, Yankton. The gallery is open to the public free of charge 1-5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 1-3 p.m. on Saturdays. For more information contact the office (605) 665-9754, info@YanktonAreaArts.org or visit the website at www.YanktonAreaArts.org.

Here at Yankton Area Arts, we are in full Summer Arts Festival mode. We have been working practically non-stop on vendor selection, T-shirt designs, park logistics and of course lining up our art festival volunteers.

Speaking of volunteers, Yankton Area Arts is always looking for help during the festival; so if you are interested, please stop into the GAR Hall Art Gallery and learn more about the opportunities we offer. The Summer Arts Festival and Riverboat Days will be here before we know it, and I can’t wait to see the park full of art lovers!

In the meantime, there are still lots of art opportunities left yet this summer. For those of you who enjoy fine arts, next week will be your last chance to view current exhibit “Landscapes and Woodworking” featuring the works of painter Sean Conrad and wood turner Frank Denton. This is a terrific show and is a wonderful display of original works, so please be sure and stop by the G.A.R. Hall Art Gallery before it is gone!

Our annual Mighty Mo Photo Show will open on July 30, and since our entry deadline was a little earlier than usual, we have seen a few late submissions. The exhibit committee will welcome late entries; however, please note that the show will be juried at the beginning of next week. If you have an image you been thinking about entering into the exhibit please bring it to the gallery before then. Yankton Area Arts will host a reception and awards ceremony to recognize the photographers on the evening of Friday, Aug. 6, and the public is invited to attend.

Yankton Area Arts would also like to encourage the public to get out to the Tuesday evening Summer Pops Concert series. This past week, the Dakota Jazz Collective put on a terrific show. The band had just participated in the Sioux Falls Jazz Fest and they sure brought a large portion of the excitement from their weekend show down to the amphitheater! Thank you to Jim Speirs for bringing his group to Yankton and treating our audience to his special guest vocalist Jamie Lynn!

The next concert also features a jazz band: the Little Chicago Syncopators out of Sioux City. This group features New Orleans style jazz and just recently performed a concert at the Gayville Hall where they received fantastic reviews. There are only three more concerts on our schedule for the summer, so please plan to spend at least one Tuesday night enjoying the music in the park before the series comes to an end. Check out our website at www.YanktonAreaArts.org for more information on the Summer Pops Concert Series and a complete schedule of the remaining shows.

There is one last item to mention this week: the 150th Anniversary Yankton Calendars. We have them available at the G.A.R. Hall for purchase and they are selling like crazy. If you want to purchase one of these great community calendars, be sure to stop down at 508 Douglas Street. It’s a big anniversary for Yankton to celebrate in 2011 and we want to help kick things off by getting these calendars into as many homes as possible! And of course, coming by the gallery to get your calendar is a fantastic excuse to stop and enjoy the art!

YAA Calendar of Events:

• through July 27 — “Landscapes and Woodworking” featuring Sioux City painter Sean Conrad and Beresford wood turner Frank Denton at the G.A.R. Hall Art Gallery.

• July 27 — Summer Pops Concert featuring the Little Chicago Syncopators at the Riverside Park Amphitheater, 8 p.m.; free and open to the public.

• July 30-Sept. 7 — The 2010 Mighty Mo Photo Show featuring the works from area photographers at the G.A.R. Hall Art Gallery.

• Aug. 3 — Summer Pops Concert featuring Poker Alice at the Riverside Park Amphitheater, 8 p.m.; free and open to the public.

The G.A.R. Hall Gallery and Yankton Area Arts are located at 508 Douglas Avenue, Yankton. The gallery is open to the public free of charge 1-5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 1-3 p.m. on Saturdays. For more information contact the office (605) 665-9754, info@YanktonAreaArts.org or visit the website at www.YanktonAreaArts.org.

This week it has been a pleasure to share the G.A.R. Hall Art Gallery with Bett Pulkrabek of the Yankton Area Concert Association to help kick off the organization’s membership drive. Betts will be at the gallery again today until 5 p.m. if you haven’t had a chance purchase your 2010-2011 concert season membership yet. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the upcoming season and to register to win a free membership. As you know from last week’s column, this year’s line-up is just fantastic — so make sure to stop and chat with Betts about it!

I can hardly believe there is just one more week of the Yankton Area Summer Band concerts. Tuesday July 6 will be the last installment of this year’s series; and with its close we move right into our Pops Concert schedule — which kicks off on July 13 with the The Hungry Five. A big thank you goes out to all the musicians who have shared their talent on Tuesday nights with our audience and made this series such a success. Special thanks as well to the band director Todd Carr who has worked tirelessly to bring the guest conductors to our community.

In the meantime, we are getting a sneak peek at the Pops Concert series, with the annual Fourth of July Concert on Sunday. The show will start at 7:45 p.m. at the Riverside Park amphitheater and features the rock and roll band Go Figure — that was formerly known as “The Jokers.” The group includes Mark Hardy (drums & vocals), Kim Sawatzke (keyboards & vocals) and Chris Miller (guitarist & singer). This past December the fourth member of the band, Brad Webber (bass & vocals), joined the lineup. Audience members may remember Webber from The Bedrockers and E350. The band has been working on new music and is excited to share it with you!

While you are enjoying the music down at Riverside Park, be sure to bring your camera. The Mighty Mo Photo Show is right around the corner and Yankton Area Arts invites local photographers to participate in our 2010 juried photographic exhibition with the theme of The River: Through the Seasons. This photographic competition complements Yankton’s annual Riverboat Days celebration and is designed to encourage and recognize photography in the area.

The Yankton community is often recognized as a place to “see” and “do” things; but this month I encourage you to make it a place to “hear” and “feel” the music. Make sure to get your Yankton Area Concert Association Membership and I will hope to see you at the Fourth of July Concert and Summer Band finale. Let the sounds of freedom ring!

YAA Calendar of Events:

• through July 27 — “Landscapes and Woodworking” featuring Sioux City painter Sean Conrad and Beresford wood turner Frank Denton at the G.A.R. Hall Art.

• July 3 — Yankton Area Arts Gallery closed for the holiday weekend.

• July 4 — Fourth of July Concert featuring Go Figure at the Riverside Park Amphitheater, 7:45 p.m. Free and open to the public.

• July 6 — Summer Band Concert Finale at the Riverside Park Amphitheater featuring guest conductor Dean Rettedal, 8 p.m. Free and open to the public.

• July 5-16 — Entries accepted for the Mighty Mo Photo Show. For information on submitting work please go to YanktonAreaArts.org or call Yankton Area Arts at 665-9754.

The G.A.R. Hall Gallery and Yankton Area Arts are located at 508 Douglas Avenue, Yankton. The gallery is open to the public free of charge 1-5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 1-3 p.m. on Saturdays. For more information, contact the office (605) 665-9754, info@YanktonAreaArts.org or visit the website at www.YanktonAreaArts.org.

For more information on area art events, visit our calendar on-line at www.YanktonAreaArts.org.

On the First Fridays of the month, three Yankton art galleries are working together to provide a “First Fridays – Yankton Art Night”. The Yankton community is invited to come out on Friday evening and experience the local arts! All exhibits are open to the public and free of charge.

These area galleries will be open extended hours during the evening from 5:00 – 7:00pm

•G.A.R. Hall
•One Ten Gallery
•The Art House Gallery

Yankton Area Arts will host the 2010 Summer Arts Festival, one of Yankton’s primary celebrations of the arts. The annual event will take place August 20-22 along the Missouri River at Riverside Park in conjunction with Riverboat Days. The three-day celebration of the arts will continue to include traditional festival favorites as well as exciting entertainment.

Summer Pops Concert featuring the South Dakota Jazz Orchestra 8:00 pm at the Riverside Park Amphitheater; free and open to the public.