How can you tastefully fill a vacated beauty counter retail space until another tenant moves in?
With art, obviously.
Carol Schlossman, consultant to West Acres Regional Shopping Center, a talented painter in her own right, is always looking for creative ways to fill temporarily open spaces at the mall with some local color.
Her latest curatorial project, “The Feel Of Color,” brings 25 local visual artists together, all Partner Artists or members of Partner organizations with The Arts Partnership, for an exhibit running now through October 1 that celebrates the many ways we are influenced by color.
“Color feeds our emotions, affects our moods, perceptions and behaviors, and helps us make sense of the world,” Schlossman said. “It can be symbolic. It can be suggestive. And it provides us with information about and within nature, our living spaces, our human interactions – even our very humanness.”
Schlossman and West Acres approached The Arts Partnership about the collaboration in the storefront two spaces south of the Buffalo Court. In all, the exhibit features 47 artworks from 25 artists. It’s an eclectic collection of artworks, from abstract to realistic painting, photographs to silkscreen prints, and glass to ceramic to polymer clay.
This is the first group exhibit of TAP’s Partner Artists, but of course, not the first art exhibit West Acres has hosted. Many customers see West Acres as an art destination, which reaches a broad-based regional and international guest who sees it as a destination or happens upon it while shopping.
“West Acres has its own collection of art and often hosts exhibits by other visual arts groups, such as the FM Visual Artists and the Red River Watercolor Society,” Blanich said. “Partnering with West Acres on this exhibit was a wonderful extension of The Arts Partnership’s goal to cultivate community through the arts. The exhibit allows us to support local art and the artists who make it while also promoting a creatively enriched community.”
She praised West Acres’ commitment to the arts, noting, “It’s fantastic to have exhibits like this, outside of a traditional gallery or museum space, which can reach beyond the art-savvy to those who may just happen upon the exhibit while shopping.”
The exhibit will run from Friday, August 5 through Sunday, October 1. Exhibit gates are open during mall hours, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays.
Artists will have the opportunity to staff the exhibit on a volunteer basis, allowing the general public to learn more about artmaking from the very people who create it.
TAP’s Primary Arts Partners represent the Metro’s arts and culture community and are TAP’s boots-on-the-ground arts contingent. They are nonprofit art and cultural organizations, individual artists, other nonprofits using art to further their missions and arts-related businesses – all contributing to creative placemaking in Cass and Clay Counties.
“Being a Partner has the intangible value of being part of an arts community actively engaged in making the Metro a better place to live, work and play,” Blanich said.
To learn more about TAP Partners, visit theartspartnership.net.
‘The Feel of Color’ Artists
Nancy Baier
Linda Boyd
Emily Brooks
Donna Chalimonczyk
Kayla Due
Michael Dunn
Tara Fermoyle
Ryan Fritz
Lacey Gilles
Crystal Gilson
Alicia Hauff
Mark Holter
Anna Johnson
Jill M. Johnson
Jenny Junker
Dan Koeck
Phyllis Lincoln
Brandi Malarkey
Jon Offutt
Scott Olsen
Jennifer Paulsrud
Carol Rogne
Carol Schlossman
Scott Seiler
Trudy Stubson
About the author
Lonna Whiting is an independent journalist and frequent contributor to The Arts Partnership communications program. She covers a broad range of topics, including local arts, health care, senior living, startups, technology and education. Whiting also writes extensively about dementia and Alzheimer’s disease for journals and publications such as Being Patient, an award-winning global news forum for dementia researchers, physicians, patients and their care partners. Read more of Whiting’s work at lonna.co.
