BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Octagon Center for the Arts - ECPv6.15.18//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:Octagon Center for the Arts X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://octagonarts.org X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Octagon Center for the Arts REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Chicago BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0600 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:CDT DTSTART:20170312T080000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0600 TZNAME:CST DTSTART:20171105T070000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0600 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:CDT DTSTART:20180311T080000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0600 TZNAME:CST DTSTART:20181104T070000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0600 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:CDT DTSTART:20190310T080000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0600 TZNAME:CST DTSTART:20191103T070000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0600 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:CDT DTSTART:20200308T080000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0600 TZNAME:CST DTSTART:20201101T070000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0600 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:CDT DTSTART:20210314T080000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0600 TZNAME:CST DTSTART:20211107T070000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20181004 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20181112 DTSTAMP:20260423T113545 CREATED:20180725T033850Z LAST-MODIFIED:20181109T020655Z UID:2257-1538611200-1541980799@octagonarts.org SUMMARY:Smithsonian Institution's Museum on Main Street Exhibit: Hometown Teams DESCRIPTION:Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street Exhibit \nHometown Teams \nOctober 4 – November 10 \nMAIN GALLERY \nOur love of sports begins in our hometowns. We play them on ball fields and sandlots\, on courts and on ice\, in parks and playgrounds\, even in the street. From pick-up games to organized leagues\, millions of Americans of all ages play sports. Win or lose\, we yearn to compete and play another day. \nIf we’re not playing sports\, we’re watching them. We sit in the stands and root for the local high school team\, or gather on the sideline and cheer on our sons and daughters as they take their first swing or score their first goal. \nHometown sports are more than just games—they shape our lives and unite us and celebrate who we are as Americans. \nFIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS UNIQUE EXHIBIT HERE URL:https://octagonarts.org/event/smithsonian-institutions-museum-on-main-street-exhibit-hometown-teams/ LOCATION:Octagon Center for the Arts\, 427 Douglas Avenue\, Ames\, IA\, 50010\, United States CATEGORIES:Exhibits ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://octagonarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Hometown_Teams.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Octagon Center for the Arts":MAILTO:info@octagonarts.org GEO:42.0257584;-93.6123172 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Octagon Center for the Arts 427 Douglas Avenue Ames IA 50010 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=427 Douglas Avenue:geo:-93.6123172,42.0257584 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20181115 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20181222 DTSTAMP:20260423T113545 CREATED:20180725T034441Z LAST-MODIFIED:20181108T175712Z UID:2262-1542240000-1545436799@octagonarts.org SUMMARY:Cairo\, Illinois: Photographs & Enamels SARAH PERKINS & GWEN WALSTRAND DESCRIPTION:Cairo\, Illinois: Photographs & Enamels by SARAH PERKINS & GWEN WALSTRAND \nNovember 15 – December 21\, 2018 \nCOMMUNITY GALLERY \nThis work is a collaboration\, of sorts\, by Gwen Walstrand\, photographer\, and Sarah Perkins\, metalsmith and enamelist. The works themselves are not collaborations\, but instead are designed to be viewed together in order to have an impact and a narrative that neither could possess on its own. We are artists working in different media but with the same subject matter — the town of Cairo\, Illinois. Cairo is a unique place with both rich and tragic histories\, a visual showcase of all that is best and worst in our American history. \nDriving through what remains of Cairo it appears to an outsider that most of the town\, along with its historic buildings and extensive business district\, was abandoned within the same year\, as nearly all the structures are in the same state of decay. In actuality\, many \nevents and circumstances caused the precipitous decline of Cairo. The town’s history includes booming success as a shipping town at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers\, elegant hotels and mansions\, and an impressive business district. The more recent history is one of race riots\, appalling violence\, multiple lynchings\, domination by white supremacist groups\, and eventual boycotts of local businesses by African Americans. The 1920s city of over 15\,000 people now is home to under 3\,000 people\, hundreds of strangely patched up\, decaying buildings\, and a handful of struggling businesses. \nThe enameled bowls are a response to not only the reality of present day Cairo\, but also to the images of it that were chosen by the photographer. The work seen together offers insight into the working processes of the artists and the choices made by different viewers. The photographer gathers and selects visual material\, the metalsmith/enamelist edits the material again and transforms the flat images into three dimensions\, but on a functional form that speaks to basic human requirements. The photographs\, as both independent images and references for the bowls\, are aesthetic explorations of Cairo but with an attempt to consider more deeply the complexity of human histories that form such places. \n\n\n\n\n \n  URL:https://octagonarts.org/event/cairo-illinois-photographs-enamels-by-sarah-perkins-gwen-walstrand/ LOCATION:Octagon Center for the Arts\, 427 Douglas Avenue\, Ames\, IA\, 50010\, United States CATEGORIES:Exhibits ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://octagonarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Perkins-Walstrand-Visual_Together.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Octagon Center for the Arts":MAILTO:info@octagonarts.org GEO:42.0257584;-93.6123172 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Octagon Center for the Arts 427 Douglas Avenue Ames IA 50010 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=427 Douglas Avenue:geo:-93.6123172,42.0257584 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20190112 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20190303 DTSTAMP:20260423T113545 CREATED:20190111T171722Z LAST-MODIFIED:20190111T173738Z UID:4710-1547251200-1551571199@octagonarts.org SUMMARY:Outside-In PACIA SALLOMI & ALEXANDRA ACKERMAN DESCRIPTION:LOCATED IN THE COMMUNITY GALLERY (Street level) \nArtist Statement: Pacia Sallomi \nI began this series in 2010. In the beginning\, I was focused on roundabouts or in French\,\nrond-point\, which came about because of an experience of being lost on back roads and small villages\nin the French countryside. I had begun to think about the way we structure the experience of getting\nfrom one place to another. The circular pathways of a roundabout are quite different cultural\nmodalities of disorientation and reorientation than the typical grid-like intersection controlled by a\nstoplight. I begin the painting with an aerial diagram of a place. It became evident very quickly that\npainting into these diagrams is interior process that is ritualistic\, connected to healing and\ncontemplative practices found in many indigenous cultures such as the sand painting by Native\nAmerican shamans\, Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime stories and the mandalas created by Buddhist\nmonks. The search for understanding these themes has led me to visit an Aboriginal community in\nAustralia\, a Vietnamese Buddhist monastery in France\, Celtic stone alignments in England and France\,\nand Shinto shrines and monasteries in Japan. \nThese paintings are always orientated around a centering point\, but they are not always based\non roundabouts. The diagrams have included gathering places such as a Roman Coliseum in Arles\nand Burning Man in Nevada; complex freeway interchanges in Los Angles or towns that are built\nover ancient circular sites such as in Avebury\, England. These marks on the earth tell us about our\nculture\, our times and ourselves. The paintings are always square\, representing the nature of Four as\na symbol of stability\, points on a compass and reference to the mandala. They contain the circle as a\nsymbol of completion and of the cyclical nature of life. \nBiography: Pacia Sallomi \nPacia Sallomi’s path to and through the arts has been a circuitous one. The daughter of\nan Obstetrician and a painter turned poet\, her education in the arts began as a child. During their\nthree years living in Bavaria\, the family camped their way through Europe\, visiting many of the\ngreat museums and then settling in California in the mid-1960’s. These experiences instilled a\nlove of art and of nature. After completing her undergraduate work in Nutrition at the University\nof California\, Davis\, she moved to Colorado\, and then New Mexico\, where she worked as a\nhomebirth midwife in the 80’s and early 90’s. During that time she received an MA in Art\nEducation at the University of New Mexico\, while also studying Photography\, Japanese porcelain\ntechniques and took her first painting class from Martin Facey who introduced her to the spiritual\ninquiry of color. She received her MFA in Studio Art from Texas Tech University in 1997 and is a\nprofessor at Carroll University in Wisconsin where she has been teaching painting and drawing\nfor the past twenty years. \nPacia’s paintings have been exhibited nationally and internationally in over 120\nexhibitions. She has attended a number of international artist residencies and loves travel.\nDuring a residency in France\, 2003\, she created a collaborative book\, Shield/Le Bouclier\, (Pacia’s\npaintings and her mother’s poetry) that was published in 2007 as a bilingual\, limited-edition\nartist’s book. The French translation is by Gallimard poet-translator of Emily Dickinson\, Claire\nMalroux. Pacia’s own work often includes the written word and she is currently studying\nJapanese Brush Calligraphy. \nwww.paciasallomi.com \nArtist Statement: Alexandra Ackerman \nIn this group of paintings I began to explore color\, pattern and form in response to my visceral experience of the landscape of Baja California Sur during March of 2018.  The things I found most visually stunning in Mexico were the cacti (life springing from what appears to be nothing)\, the ocean (both calming and frightening) and the brightly painted walls and buildings everywhere we traveled.  Working from memory I am intuitively combining the natural forms with the manmade bright colors.  \nMy creative process involves layering washes of watercolor pigment to build up fantastic landscapes which convey the juxtaposition of an otherworldly desert and vast ocean\, even letting them bleed together.  In these worlds I invent hybrid plants or creatures that are neither of land or sea\, but uniquely their own.  I’m curious about the mysterious inner life of plants as well as the observable aspects of the diverse variety of life in each new environment I encounter\, asking such questions as:  How do plants communicate?  What is the sound of a plant growing?  Why do they seem to have distinct personalities?  My visual responses range from fairly recognizable to completely abstract organic forms.  The challenge in each painting is to find a balance of both harmony of color and tension in composition.  I hope to return to Mexico and continue to travel to new places in search of common and uncommon life\, as it always stimulates my growth as an artist and human being. \nBiography: Alexandra Ackerman \nOriginally from Ann Arbor\, Michigan\, Alexandra Ackerman grew up a keen observer of the natural world from a young age. She first learned to paint in the wet-on-wet watercolor style at the Waldorf School at age eight\, and has continued her exploration until the present\, maintaining a childlike freedom in her work. Alexandra has found beauty in the places she has lived and worked including the shores of the Great Lakes\, New England vegetable farms and Minnesota flower gardens.  Inspired by the vast diversity of plant life\, she uses luminous color and pattern to create dynamic landscapes and biomorphic abstractions.  Her paintings are intimate meditations on her physical surroundings\, expressions of the pure joy and wonder of watching things grow.  Focusing on the ethereal aspects of nature\, her forms are evocative of leaves\, seeds\, eggs\, sprouts\, wind\, and waves. \nAlexandra began her studies at the Art Institute of Chicago and ultimately earned a degree in painting and printmaking at Massachusetts College of Art\, where she explored a variety of mediums\, often incorporating fabric and found objects into her work. She was part of the Minneapolis art and music community for nearly a decade before moving to northern Wisconsin.  Alexandra now lives with her husband and two children in Iowa City\, working out of her studio downtown.  She has painted commissions for individual collectors and public spaces and has taught watercolor workshops locally. She has participated in numerous group and solo shows across the country\, and has a variety work for sale at Prairie Lights Bookstore.  Her work was recently on display at the Iowa State Capitol in the Governor’s office. \nwww.alexandra-ackerman.com URL:https://octagonarts.org/event/outside-in-pacia-sallomi-alexandra-ackerman/ LOCATION:Octagon Center for the Arts\, 427 Douglas Avenue\, Ames\, IA\, 50010\, United States CATEGORIES:Exhibits ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://octagonarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Sallomi-Ackerman-collage-web.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Octagon Center for the Arts":MAILTO:info@octagonarts.org GEO:42.0257584;-93.6123172 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Octagon Center for the Arts 427 Douglas Avenue Ames IA 50010 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=427 Douglas Avenue:geo:-93.6123172,42.0257584 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20190201 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20190331 DTSTAMP:20260423T113545 CREATED:20190111T174750Z LAST-MODIFIED:20190312T150317Z UID:4721-1548979200-1553990399@octagonarts.org SUMMARY:Octagonal: The All Media Exhibit DESCRIPTION:LOCATED IN MAIN GALLERY AND SWEENEY GALLERY (3rd floor) \nOctagonal: The All-Media Exhibit is the annual\, juried all-media exhibition at the Octagon Center for the Arts in Ames\, Iowa. Originally titled the Clay and Paper Show\, the exhibit opened in 1968 to provide an opportunity to the central Iowa arts community. Over the past 51 years\, the exhibit morphed over the decades to become the Clay\, Fiber\, Paper\, Glass\, Metal\, Wood Exhibit that has featured hundreds of artists from dozens of states. The newest version of the exhibit\, Octagonal: The All-Media Exhibit\, launched in 2018 taking a note from the past while moving forward to continue to provide an exciting opportunity for artists across Iowa\, the Midwest\, and the nation. This exhibit features a regionally-recognized juror each year\, attracts artists from across the United States\, and provides significant cash awards. \n2019 Awards \nThe following media awards are named in honor of the four women who founded the Octagon Center for the Arts in 1966. \n Special thanks to Haila Architecture\, Structure\, Planning to sponsoring the following four media awards. \nPriscilla Sage Fiber Award: Incubator (tapestry) by Betty Busby from Albuquerque\, NM \nJanet Harris Squires Clay Award: Wedding Vase (ceramic) by Jasmine Beul of Ames\, IA \nMartha Benson Metal Media Award: Mater et Filia (Raised Copper Vessel) by Gina Westergard from Lawrence\, KS \nVeronika Ruedenberg Mixed Media Award: The Sunny Day (linoleum tile sculpture\,) by Sue Berkey from Fairfield\, IA \nThe following awards are generously funded by the Brown Family Endowment Fund in honor of Donald Brown Jr. and Winifred V. Brown   \nPaper: March 28th (digital photograph) by Angela Beckwith of Ames\, IA \nGlass: Veiled Cane on a Blue & White Overlay by Art Ciccotti from Ames\, IA \nWood: One Million Rocks (rocking chair) by Matthew Obbink from Boone\, IA \nPainting: Crush No. 1 by Jeremy Roy from Grimes\, IA \nEmerging Artist Award: Scarecrow in the Garden by Robert Jinkins from Rewey\, WI \nWinifred V. Brown Best of Show Award: Drained (painting) by Josh Sorrell from Ankeny\, IA \nAward winners pictured with Juror\, Jeanine Coupe Ryding; Executive Director\, Heather Johnson; and Board President\, Sam Stagg URL:https://octagonarts.org/event/4721/ LOCATION:Octagon Center for the Arts\, 427 Douglas Avenue\, Ames\, IA\, 50010\, United States CATEGORIES:Exhibits ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://octagonarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Octagonal-Logo.png ORGANIZER;CN="Octagon Center for the Arts":MAILTO:info@octagonarts.org GEO:42.0257584;-93.6123172 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Octagon Center for the Arts 427 Douglas Avenue Ames IA 50010 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=427 Douglas Avenue:geo:-93.6123172,42.0257584 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20190223 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20190324 DTSTAMP:20260423T113545 CREATED:20190214T173918Z LAST-MODIFIED:20190214T174334Z UID:5415-1550880000-1553385599@octagonarts.org SUMMARY:A Soldier Says Good-bye RICH ABRAHAMSON DESCRIPTION:LOCATED IN THE SMALL WALL GALLERY (Third Floor) \nArtist Statement \nCamera’s freeze moments in split seconds while life passes in days\, weeks and years. \nSome lives are mixed with both quality and quantity of time. Those individuals celebrate memories while unaware that the final chapters of their lives are being written. \nPhotographs help us punctuate their journeys\, empowering us to tell important stories. Photojournalists are called upon to document these events. This is our legacy. \nIn “A Soldier Says Good-bye” we follow a World War II veteran through the twilight of life. A time when moments resonate with love\, vulnerability and tears. \nThe soldier\, a 96 year-old Swede from Boxholm\, Iowa\, farmed with horses and picked corn by hand before joining the first group of Boone County Iowa men drafted into service in 1942. He joined the Army Air Corps and was assigned to crew on a B-24 heavy bomber. \nInstead of harnessing a team of horses and working the fields\, he was completing pre flight inspections on his plane. He’d push the aircraft’s throttles full forward\, bringing four thundering 1200 horse power Pratt and Whitney engines to life. \nThe serene view over an Iowa corn field was replaced with the sensation of flying over the white caps of the Adriatic Sea\, skimming above the water to avoid radar detection. \nSome soldiers never came home. Others returned to Central Iowa and into the arms of their families. Many returned to the farm and their jobs. They got married. Started families. \nA few lived to be old men One of them was my dad\, Staff Sergeant Richard L. Abrahamson. \nThis is his story. A tribute told through the eyes of his son\, the photojournalist. \n  \nBiography \nRich Abrahamson of Ames\, Iowa is a career photojournalist and writer. His appreciation for photography and stories began as a kid while watching slide shows his dad created with photos shot around the family farm and during summer vacations. \nIn high school and college\, he was part of the newspaper and yearbook staffs. The experience laid the groundwork for his career choice and showed him that work could be fun. \nAt 21\, he bought his first 35 mm film camera while taking a photography course taught by Bob Person at the Des Moines Area Community College. Person’s style of instruction impacted students\, including Abrahamson\, with thoughtful advice and passionate critiques of student work. \nIn 1987 Abrahamson earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism from Northwest Missouri State University. A few months later he was hired as the lone photographer on the staff of the Fort Morgan Times\, a small family-owned newspaper on Colorado’s northeast plains. \nIn 1991 he joined the staff of the Fort Collins Coloradan where he worked for the next 22 years. \nAbrahamson has completed news\, sports and documentary assignments throughout Colorado and the United States. He’s built a portfolio of images from 46 states and nine Canadian provinces. \nFor 26 years he covered professional and college sports including the Denver Broncos\, Colorado Avalanche\, Colorado Rockies and Colorado State University Rams. \nHis subjects have included Pope John Paul II\, the Dalai Lama\, Presidents Bill Clinton\, George W. Bush and Barack Obama\, hall of fame quarterback John Elway\, musicians Ray Charles\, David Bowie\, Carlos Santana\, Buddy Rich and the Grateful Dead. \nIn 2013 Abrahamson returned to central Iowa and began freelancing as a photographer\, writer and columnist for central Iowa newspapers. He also serves as a writer and photographer for Iowa State University’s Department of Residence newsletter. URL:https://octagonarts.org/event/a-soldier-says-good-bye-rich-abrahamson/ LOCATION:Octagon Center for the Arts\, 427 Douglas Avenue\, Ames\, IA\, 50010\, United States CATEGORIES:Exhibits ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://octagonarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/02soldier-edit.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Octagon Center for the Arts":MAILTO:info@octagonarts.org GEO:42.0257584;-93.6123172 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Octagon Center for the Arts 427 Douglas Avenue Ames IA 50010 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=427 Douglas Avenue:geo:-93.6123172,42.0257584 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20190307 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20190324 DTSTAMP:20260423T113545 CREATED:20190214T203524Z LAST-MODIFIED:20190214T221332Z UID:5419-1551916800-1553385599@octagonarts.org SUMMARY:Iowa State MFA Exhibit DESCRIPTION:LOCATED IN THE COMMUNITY GALLERY \nArtist Statement: Jasmine Beul\nI see my ceramic works as sculptural vessels. They are inspired by historical vessel forms\, but without the functionality. The utilitarian function is removed by making the forms asymmetrical\, and exaggerating the scale and perforations. When utilitarian nature is removed what remains is an exploration of formal elements. \nWith my paintings\, I was interested in creating a fragmented view of a landscape to be somewhere between realism and abstraction. In these close up views\, there is never a sense of the surrounding scenery\, but instead\, the confrontation of a vertical surface. This close inspection tells the partial story of a place\, but obscures the whole truth. It hints at a layered history\, but in this extreme close up only a specific part of a story is being told. It becomes a metaphor for the way we retell stories\, remembering only certain details\, and maybe failing to see the complete truth behind a narrative.  \n  \nArtist Biography: Jasmine Beul\nJasmine Beul is grew up in Denver\, Colorado\, and is currently a first year graduate student in the Integrated Visual Art program at Iowa State University. She graduated from the University of Montana in Missoula in 2017 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and creative writing. Her emphasis with her BFA was in ceramics\, an interest which started in high school and she decided to pursue further in college. She also spent a year as a post-baccalaureate student at Montana State University in Bozeman\, MT from 2017-2018. Her work has been influenced by living in these places\, as well as travelling. This is her first solo exhibition of work in the state of Iowa. \n  \nArtist Statement: Manatsa Mazimbe\nArt curator and Afrofuturist\, Ingrid LaFleur\, quotes\, “Afrofuturism is an intersection of imagination\, technology\, the future\, and liberation.  I generally define Afrofuturism as a way of imagining possible futures through a black cultural lens.” My work will be a series of digital\, traditional\, and animated works based on an afro-futuristic setting where Africans and African Americans live in a thriving utopian society. It is an optimistic view of the combination of both cultures in the future through the lens of a character named\, Mana. \nArtist Biography:   Manatsa Mazimbe\nI am currently a third-semester M.F.A graduate student majoring in the Integrated Visual Arts with a focus on Illustration for Animation. I attained my B.F.A in Animation from an enriching education at the Savannah College of Art and Design. The combination of both areas of study has allowed me to expand my work and offer a complete design and storytelling experience. \nMy time as a student-athlete for four years helped me become disciplined in my work and to appreciate challenges\, allowing for continuous focus and diligence. I also had the privilege to work on an Annie nominated film called\, Frog Legs\, which was directed by an old colleague and friend\, Katie Tamboer. Coming from an African background with no knowledge and experience with technology prior to college\, this was a satisfying accomplishment. URL:https://octagonarts.org/event/iowa-state-mfa-exhibit/ LOCATION:Octagon Center for the Arts\, 427 Douglas Avenue\, Ames\, IA\, 50010\, United States CATEGORIES:Exhibits ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://octagonarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/MFA-exhibit.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Octagon Center for the Arts":MAILTO:info@octagonarts.org GEO:42.0257584;-93.6123172 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Octagon Center for the Arts 427 Douglas Avenue Ames IA 50010 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=427 Douglas Avenue:geo:-93.6123172,42.0257584 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20190330 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20190519 DTSTAMP:20260423T113545 CREATED:20190214T233110Z LAST-MODIFIED:20190312T174533Z UID:5425-1553904000-1558223999@octagonarts.org SUMMARY:Naturescapes  PRATIK RAY\, MIKE LEINHAUSER\, & GARY HOARD DESCRIPTION:LOCATED IN THE COMMUNITY GALLERY \nArtist Statement: Pratik Ray\nI am fascinated by the beauty and majesty of nature and light – not just the landscapes and seascapes\, but also the light that paints them in vivid colors. It is the many moods of light that gives rise to a range of emotional response to the scene. It is my endeavor to take in these moments\, and capture these precious snapshots in time in a way that re-kindles the same feelings when I look back at these images. In short\, to quote Robert Kincaid from the Bridges of Madison County\, “I don’t take pictures\, I make pictures”. Each of these pictures are made in order to preserve the many moods of nature that I have felt during my sojourns in the American West and the Mid-West. \nThrough my work\, I hope to share my excitement and that rare feeling of bliss one experiences when journeying through the lap of nature\, motivate people to appreciate nature and spark efforts to preserve and nurture them. Man has a strong connection with nature\, but this connection may be latent for many. I endeavor to ignite a spark that helps people reconnect with the majesty of Mother Nature\, in all her moods and glory. \nArtist Biography:  Pratik Ray\nPratik Ray is an artist and a scientist. He started out as an artist working primarily with charcoal and pastels. During his graduate school at Iowa State University\, he started delving into the photographic medium. This medium melded beautifully with his other passion\, namely electron microscopy. One involves capturing images of our daily visual world using the subtleties of light\, while the other relies on electrons at microscopic levels. His art complements his other life as a scientist – with both the worlds studying and describing nature in their own unique ways. \nPratik’s interest in photography is two-fold. His fascination with Mother Earth results in a passion for landscape photography\, displaying Nature in all her glory. Based in the American mid-west\, his landscape shots reflect some of the mid-west surroundings in general\, and his town (Ames\, IA) in particular as well as the mountains of United States. \nPratik’s travels often lead him to rugged mountains and fascinating ocean fronts. A second interest relates to exploring the vagaries of the world from different point of views. In this endeavor\, the same event is studied from different points of view – an attempt to reveal the underlying currents and counter-currents behind an innocuous image. \n  \n\n \nArtist’s Statement: Mike Leinhauser\nIn 1966 my dad took a couple photos of my new bride\, developed and printed the negs\, I was really impressed by all this. Out of the service in 1970\, I got all his equipment and set about teaching myself how to use it. Read lots of articles and looked at lots of photographs and tried to make sense of it all. Took some photos and classes along the way and finally got tired of going classes where the instructors were just showing off their fancy equipment and decided to teach classes myself. \nTaught some classes through Scott Community College and one through Lincoln Center for the Arts in Bettendorf. Really enjoyed the experience. Had some shows with the Photo Image League\, a very enjoyable time. Had some other shows too.  Entered a few contests. \nFoggy mornings and inclement weather are when I like to photograph mostly. Suited my needs\, did wonders for the backgrounds and I enjoyed the quiet. I just photograph whatever appeals to me\, as one can see in my images. \nWhat have I learned from all this? Maybe to have applied myself a bit more. \nArtist Biography: Mike Leinhauser\nBorn 1945 in Ottumwa\, IA. Moved a bit growing up\, Branson\, MO\, Dallas\, TX\, Cleveland\, OH\, Akron\, OH and in 1960 moved to Des Moines\, IA where I attended jr. high and high school. Took some classes at Drake University and University of Iowa. Married in 1966 and off to the Air Force from 1966 to 1970\, had a daughter and a son during that time and back to Des Moines after I was discharged until 1979 when we moved to Bettendorf\, IA where I now currently live. Lost my wife Sally to cancer in Dec. 2015. Since 2002 I have worked as an electrician at John Deere Seeding in Moline IL. \n  \n\n \nArtist’s Statement: Gary Hoard\nPhotography is my way to capture the ordinary and unusual moments in the nature around us.   Looking through the lens and composing an interesting shot forces me to be more aware of what is going on around me\, enhancing the outdoor experience.  I enjoy this natural experience whether or not I get the photo – the image is a bonus which allows me to share a special moment with others.  \nThis ‘Naturescapes’ exhibit includes a collection of my photographic images on metal of plants\, birds and animals in their natural environments\, hopefully uncommon views of common subjects.  I also include some landscapes that evoke the feeling of peace and solitude that being ‘close to nature’ brings us.   The images are printed on metal which reflects the vibrancy I see in the natural world. \nArtist Biography: Gary Hoard\nGary has been photographing for over 50 years\, predominantly nature and city and rural landscapes.  His interest in both photography and nature was kindled early by his parents:  his Dad a US Navy photographer stationed at Pearl Harbor during the attack\, and his Mom an avid naturalist and gardener.  Gary’s 40-year career in plant genetics research furthered his interest in the natural world.  He has enhanced his photographic skills by studying the biology of animals and plants\, and by attending photography workshops and seminars.  \nHis award-winning work has appeared in several exhibits including Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge\, Ankeny Art Center\, Iowa State Fair Photography Salon and Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge\, Sanibel FL.  His photographs were used in the State Capitol Tour Guide. \nGary enjoys capturing uncommon views of common subjects.  He spends most of his camera-time photographing at state\, county and national parks\, urban areas\, or in his home gardens.  He finds Iowa offers many beautiful photographic opportunities including lots of green space\, interesting cityscapes and beautiful architecture\, both historic and modern. \nWebsite:  GaryHoardPhotography.com URL:https://octagonarts.org/event/5425/ LOCATION:Octagon Center for the Arts\, 427 Douglas Avenue\, Ames\, IA\, 50010\, United States CATEGORIES:Exhibits ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://octagonarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Naturescapes.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Octagon Center for the Arts":MAILTO:info@octagonarts.org GEO:42.0257584;-93.6123172 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Octagon Center for the Arts 427 Douglas Avenue Ames IA 50010 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=427 Douglas Avenue:geo:-93.6123172,42.0257584 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20190330 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20190428 DTSTAMP:20260423T113545 CREATED:20190312T171522Z LAST-MODIFIED:20190312T175641Z UID:5668-1553904000-1556409599@octagonarts.org SUMMARY:JORDAN LUCKOW DESCRIPTION:LOCATED IN THE SMALL [BUT MIGHTY] WALL GALLERY (3rd floor) \nArtist Bio\nJordan Luckow of Sioux City\, IA is a recent graduate from Iowa State University. While at Iowa State he received his bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts focusing on printmaking\, and painting.  Jordan currently is a full-time designer at Lincoln Center Hy-Vee Floral in Ames\, where he continues to create and find inspiration arranging flowers. In his downtown he continues to make art\, publishing a book\, and is participating in Art Festivals and shows. \n  \nArtist Statement\nWords of rap artist\, Lil Wayne “I didn’t set out to be different. I set out to be me and people thought it was different.” Art celebrates one person’s differences and makes them accessible to the world. Acrylic and ink provide the medium for Jordan Luckow to express his uniqueness to the world. \nEach of Jordan’s pieces reflects the different steps he takes in the journey of life. His non-traditional content contains metaphors that represent what he was going through\, feeling\, or experiencing at the time. For example Jordan uses a cacti in most of his pieces as a metaphor for himself\, defensive\, prick-ish\, yet beautiful\, strong\, and continuously growing. Jordan plays the role of “You can hurt me\, but you cant kill me” just like a cactus. \nThe art comes alive when someone views it and they begin to see the world in a nontraditional way. Although Jordan doesn’t set out for his art to be different\, he does set out to be himself. URL:https://octagonarts.org/event/jordan-luckow/ LOCATION:Octagon Center for the Arts\, 427 Douglas Avenue\, Ames\, IA\, 50010\, United States CATEGORIES:Exhibits ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://octagonarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Luckow_JordanDiscoveringlove-resize-2.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Octagon Center for the Arts":MAILTO:info@octagonarts.org GEO:42.0257584;-93.6123172 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Octagon Center for the Arts 427 Douglas Avenue Ames IA 50010 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=427 Douglas Avenue:geo:-93.6123172,42.0257584 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20190418 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20190512 DTSTAMP:20260423T113545 CREATED:20190416T192616Z LAST-MODIFIED:20190422T192655Z UID:6239-1555545600-1557619199@octagonarts.org SUMMARY:Elementary / Middle / High Annual Exhibit: An Exhibition of Local Elementary\, Middle\, and High School Students DESCRIPTION:LOCATED IN MAIN & SWEENEY GALLERIES. The Octagon Center for the Arts showcases artwork by local elementary\, middle\, and high school students annually. High School art instructors from schools within 20 miles of the Octagon Center for the Arts are welcome to register students in their fall and spring classes for participation. (Home-school students are also welcome to register).  \nThe opening reception and awards are April 18\, 4:30 – 6:30pm with awards being announced at 5:30pm. All are welcome to attend and encourage these young artists! \n  \n2019 Juror:  Naomi Friend\nArtist Bio \nNaomi Friend is a professional artist in Central Iowa. She makes art about the land and life based on farming\, or “agrarian” art. She is most interested in the intersection of wild\, urban\, and rural environments and the work of humans as caretakers of creation.\n \n\nHer work has been shown in solo shows in Iowa\, California\, and Nebraska\, and other group shows. It is recognized in local radio\, newspaper\, published in Diffusion magazine\, and resides in public and private art collections. It has received awards in national juried art exhibits. She exhibits in a variety outdoor public art events including the Des Moines Arts Festival. \n \nShe earned a Masters of Fine Art in Integrated Visual Arts at Iowa State University in 2013 and grew up in the community of Sioux Center\, Iowa. Her undergraduate degree is from Dordt College where she studied fine art and graphic design. Naomi worked for three years at the Octagon Center for the Arts as the Exhibits Director. Naomi operates a small 3 acre farm\, Friends Flowers\, where she grows flowers for local markets.   \n \n \n2019 AWARD WINNERS KINDERGARTEN THROUGH – 11TH GRADE:\n \n\n\n\n\nGrade\n1st Place\n2nd Place\n3rd Place\nHonorable Mention\nHonorable Mention\nHonorable Mention\nHonorable Mention\nHonorable Mention\nHonorable Mention\n\n\nK\nLydia Girard\nWilbert Zhang\nAtesh McKilligan\nJack Patten\n \n \n \n \n \n\n\n1\nAmelia Luo\nEmma Chen\nSophia Elsberry\nGeorge Logan\n \n \n \n \n \n\n\n2\nMiles Nutini\nNoelle Kibbe\nAda McKilligan\nAbigail Nott\n \n \n \n \n \n\n\n3\nReinaldo Correa\nLynneah Pickering\nKhlloe Graham\nJenny LaMar\n \n \n \n \n \n\n\n4\nQimeng Li\nJoy Zhang\nArtie Helmers\nBrooke Weisbrod\n \n \n \n \n \n\n\n5\nBetsy Winderfeldt-Rodriguez\nLaura Chen\nAshlyn Carr\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n\n6\nHannah Harvey\nGrace Helmers  \nLucy Read\nChantel Enlenstein\nErica Lin\nEliza Teske\n \n \n \n\n\n7\nMaddison Geater\nAutumn Wild\nGary Schultz\nLucas Wuebker\nBraden Vinson\nAleesia Miller\nKiera Kreider\n \n \n\n\n8\nDelaney Kreider\nJackson Hufford\nLeslie Kim\nCapri Cory\nKennedy Downs\nElla Sirna\nAngelina Chen\nThomas\nLehmkuhl\nKelsey Gartin\n\n\n9\nEmily Kaminski\nIsabella Soriano\nJosiah Teske\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n\n10\nJackson Bryant\nEden Bruner\nErin Murphy\nNatalie Weber\nTayte Johnson\n \n \n \n \n\n\n11\nAustin Argutsinger\nKaitlyn Kilstoffe\nKaitlyn Kilstoffe\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n\n\n  \n2019 HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR AWARD WINNERS:  \n  \nWinifred V. and Jeffrey Brown Best of Show Award \nBest of Show:    Laura Hansen\, Face to Dress\, Roland Story High School                                                 \n  \nAmes Silversmithing Jewelry/Metalsmith Awards \nFirst Tied:            Laura Lynch\, Earrings\, Gilbert High School                                                                                           \nFirst Tied:            Olivia Sterling Chase\, Dragon\, Ames High School                                                                             \nFirst Tied:            Eun Pyo Joo\, Butterfly\, Ames High School                                                                                            \n  \nJeffrey Brown Memorial Photography Awards \nFirst:      T’Ana Smith\, Speak Black\, Ames High School                                                                                                      \nSecond:                Alejandro Rico-Gomez\, Untitled\, Gilbert High School                                                                    \nThird:                    Josh McCunn\, Aunt Tia\, Ames High School                                                                                          \n  \nOctagon Ceramic and Sculpture Awards \nFirst:      Lauren Hansen\, Beaded Burgundy\, Roland Story High School                                                                     \nSecond:                Dorothy Vernon\, Recycled Dress\, Ames High School                                                                       \nThird:    Koby Hassebrock\, Concept Swing\, Roland Story High School                                                                       \n  \nOctagon Mixed Media and Digital Collage Awards \nFirst:      Preston Witte\, Experiment 1\, Ames High School                                                                                              \nSecond:                Grace Teig\, Inspire\, Roland Story High School                                                                                    \nThird:    Koby Hassebrock\, Arctic Cat Personalized\, Roland Story High School                                                      \n  \nDavid Burton Stone Awards in Painting \nFirst:      Alejandro Rico-Gomez\, Construction #1\, Gilbert High School                                                                     \nSecond:                Courtney Thompson\, Too Much for Now\, Ames High School                                                       \nThird:    Caylee Fuqua\, Who’s Who\, Ames High School                                                                                                  \n  \nDavid Burton Stone Awards in Drawing \nFirst:      Katie Murray\, Calla Lilies\, Gilbert High School                                                                                                   \nSecond:                Mercury Fuhs\, Release the Kraken\, Ames High School                                                                   \nThird:    Katie Murray\, Dishes\, Gilbert High School                                                                                                           \n  URL:https://octagonarts.org/event/elementary-middle-high-annual-exhibit-an-exhibition-of-local-elementary-middle-and-high-school-students/ LOCATION:Octagon Center for the Arts\, 427 Douglas Avenue\, Ames\, IA\, 50010\, United States CATEGORIES:Exhibits ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://octagonarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/ElemMiddleHigh-19.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Octagon Center for the Arts":MAILTO:info@octagonarts.org GEO:42.0257584;-93.6123172 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Octagon Center for the Arts 427 Douglas Avenue Ames IA 50010 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=427 Douglas Avenue:geo:-93.6123172,42.0257584 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20190511 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20190722 DTSTAMP:20260423T113545 CREATED:20190510T153840Z LAST-MODIFIED:20190510T154059Z UID:6519-1557532800-1563753599@octagonarts.org SUMMARY:Surface Wear AJ ZANDT DESCRIPTION:LOCATED IN THE SMALL WALL GALLERY \nBiography and Artist Statement \nAJ Zandt is an artist and printmaker from Milwaukee\, Wisconsin. Surface Wear is the result of his latest efforts to expand the relationship between the human body and surface through the lens of skin and clothing. Each work in the exhibition is comprised of varied combinations of pressure-printed fabrics and impressions of human skin on paper that take the shape of sewing patterns. AJ tears his prints after the first layers are established and follows the tears with shuffling\, reassembling\, and reprinting before stitching the pieces together. The prints are a reflection on the role of surface as a boundary. They are barriers that capture\, like a fine net or filter\, the actions of the artist at work. The actions themselves permeate the paper\, but the evidence of the experience is registered—or printed—onto the paper’s surface. They are left behind as proof of living. \nAJ received a Master of Fine Arts in Integrated Visual Arts from Iowa State University in 2019 and a Bachelor of Design in Architecture from University of Minnesota in 2011. His printmaking work has been exhibited in numerous national exhibitions\, including the Mid America Print Council Juried Exhibition in Laramie\, Wyoming; the Parkside National Small Print Juried Exhibition in Parkside\, Wisconsin; and the Annual Paper In Particular National Juried Exhibition in Columbia\, Missouri. \nJoin us for an Artist Talk on Thursday\, June 6 at 6pm URL:https://octagonarts.org/event/surface-wear-aj-zandt/ LOCATION:Octagon Center for the Arts\, 427 Douglas Avenue\, Ames\, IA\, 50010\, United States CATEGORIES:Exhibits ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://octagonarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/zandt_surface-wear_promotional-image-2.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Octagon Center for the Arts":MAILTO:info@octagonarts.org GEO:42.0257584;-93.6123172 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Octagon Center for the Arts 427 Douglas Avenue Ames IA 50010 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=427 Douglas Avenue:geo:-93.6123172,42.0257584 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20190518 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20190707 DTSTAMP:20260423T113545 CREATED:20190510T150246Z LAST-MODIFIED:20190515T191536Z UID:6506-1558137600-1562457599@octagonarts.org SUMMARY:States of I MARY JONES & JOLYNN REIGELUTH DESCRIPTION:LOCATED IN THE SWEENEY GALLERY \nArtist Statement and Bio: Mary Jones\nMary Jones makes maps of the wilderness of personal history. Images and words are layered out of time and perspective; space is described by the inhabitants\, whose journeys are being told. Details get piled on in the way that life is lived– in steps\, notes\, beats\, breaths\, and marks. Jones is a scavenger\, and whether drawing or working in print media\, collage is always an element. \n\nPrior to moving to the Des Moines area\, Jones lived in Chicago\, where she exhibited at Ann Nathan Gallery. She was employed as an illustrator and designer\, with work published by the Chicago Tribune\, Playboy Magazine\, and the Philadelphia Enquirer\, among other publications. She was awarded residencies with the Ragdale Foundation\, and with Anchor Graphics in Chicago. Twice she has taught photopolymer intaglio workshops for Frogman’s Print Workshops in Omaha\, NE. For the past 14 years\, she taught printmaking\, design\, and book arts courses Grand View University in Des Moines. She has work in several public collections\, including the Illinois State Museum\, and the Alter Collection of Art by Women at PAFA in Philadelphia. She is represented by Tory Folliard Gallery in Milwaukee and Moberg Gallery in Des Moines. She is a 2018-19 Iowa Arts Council Fellow. \nArtist Statement and Bio: Jolynn Reigeluth\nJolynn Reigeluth is an artist originally from Des Moines\, Iowa currently living and working in Indianapolis\, Indiana. She earned her MFA in printmaking from Kansas State University in 2015. Currently she teaches courses at Indiana Wesleyan University\, and annually curates a national printmaking exhibition and portfolio for the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library in Indianapolis. In recent years\, her work has been included in exhibitions across the United States including the Bradley International Print and Drawing Exhibition\, Pacific States Biennial North American Printmaking Exhibition\, and others \nReigeluth’s work has long been influenced by a wide range of art\, music\, TV\, movies\, etcetera emerging from the 1920s to 1960s\, despite being born in the late 80s. She grew up watching cartoons from Fleishcer Studios like Betty Boop\, Bimbo\, Felix the Cat\, Popeye and others. She also senses an influence from a range of blues and jazz artists from the 1920s to 40s like Lil’ Johnson and Cats and the Fiddle\, who performed songs with titles such as Hot Nuts and Sam\, the Hot Dog Man. These influences play an important role in her work which has been described as evocative of “the atomic and plastics age of the mid-century.” (Michaela Mullin\, Moberg Gallery.) Reigeluth has a distinct affinity for the absurd and scatological that manifests in these introspective self-portraits. The imagery is fueled by humor and spontaneity\, and is filled with an inventiveness and ambiguity of subject that ranges from cheekily adolescent to darkly absurd. \nCurrent Work: https://www.jolynnreigeluth.com/prints-and-drawings URL:https://octagonarts.org/event/mary-jones-jolynn-reigeluth/ LOCATION:Octagon Center for the Arts\, 427 Douglas Avenue\, Ames\, IA\, 50010\, United States CATEGORIES:Exhibits ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://octagonarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Jones-Reigeluth-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Octagon Center for the Arts":MAILTO:info@octagonarts.org GEO:42.0257584;-93.6123172 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Octagon Center for the Arts 427 Douglas Avenue Ames IA 50010 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=427 Douglas Avenue:geo:-93.6123172,42.0257584 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20190525 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20190818 DTSTAMP:20260423T113545 CREATED:20190510T152922Z LAST-MODIFIED:20190515T191225Z UID:6514-1558742400-1566086399@octagonarts.org SUMMARY:Twenty Years: APRIL KATZ + 29 former printmaking students DESCRIPTION:LOCATED IN THE MAIN GALLERY \nPrint Retrospective\n  \nArtist Bio: April Katz\nApril Katz received her M.F.A. degree from Arizona State University. She is Morrill Professor at Iowa State University where she has taught printmaking since 1999. For nineteen years she organized the university’s annual international postcard print exchange. From 2004 – 2006 Katz served as president of the Southern Graphics Council. Her prints\, which synthesize digital and traditional printmaking processes\, are in numerous collections and have been exhibited throughout the US and recently in Portugal\, Spain and China. She has presented papers for print\, photographic and visual literacy professional national and international conferences. \nKatz’s primary language and tool is the print whose vocabulary includes transfers\, layers\, seriality and variations on a theme. Death of loved ones\, serious illness and political discord are the forces that have shaken Katz to the core and led her to ask fundamental human questions about herself and her relationship to the world. She searches for connections between disparate elements to understand and convey their impact on current personal and cultural identity. \n 20 Years: April Katz and the Expanded ISU Printmaking Community\nThis 20-year retrospective includes examples from a variety of print series I made while teaching printmaking at Iowa State University. The community I share with my students\, past and present; in my collaborations with JoAnn Boehmer as a member of BOKA; and as a regular participant in national and international dialogues at print conferences nurtures my artistic growth and stimulates my passion for creative inquiry. I am so pleased that former and current ISU printmaking students are willing to share their work with each other and with the Ames community for this exhibition. \nRetrospection\, the action of reviewing the past\, encapsulates the primary focus of my prints. My work asks viewers to consider the role the past plays in shaping current identity. This initially involved personal memory and the recording of the day-to-day details that make up our lives. However\, my investigation expanded to include historical\, cultural and biological factors that shape us as individuals. URL:https://octagonarts.org/event/print-retrospective-april-katz/ LOCATION:Octagon Center for the Arts\, 427 Douglas Avenue\, Ames\, IA\, 50010\, United States CATEGORIES:Exhibits ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://octagonarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/retrospective-2.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Octagon Center for the Arts":MAILTO:info@octagonarts.org GEO:42.0257584;-93.6123172 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Octagon Center for the Arts 427 Douglas Avenue Ames IA 50010 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=427 Douglas Avenue:geo:-93.6123172,42.0257584 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20190525 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20190714 DTSTAMP:20260423T113545 CREATED:20190510T151131Z LAST-MODIFIED:20190510T151239Z UID:6510-1558742400-1563062399@octagonarts.org SUMMARY:Measured Perceptions APRIL KATZ DESCRIPTION:LOCATED IN THE COMMUNITY GALLERY \nArtist Statement for Measured Perceptions\nDuring a 2015 trip to Spain\, Katz encountered evidence of La Convivencia (the coexistence of Muslim\, Jewish and Christian populations) in Medieval Spain that provided hope for our current time of vitriolic discourse. Measured Perceptions embraces the similarities and unique contributions of the varied cultures that follow the three Abrahamic religions and combines them with the human languages of arithmetic and geometry to symbolize the universal search for order and understanding. \nThe project includes the series Essential Patterns of Perception a progression of intaglio prints based on one of ten geometric structures that advance from one (a point) through ten (a decagon). The sequence conveys increasingly complex cognitive engagement with the environment. The Contemplation series includes the above plates inset within larger\, mixed media monoprints that provide varied cultural and natural contexts. These prints begin as digital collages that incorporate photographic and drawn imagery. Additional painting\, drawing and collaged paper tesserae create rich visual layering that parallels the overlay of cultural histories found in buildings like the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba or the synagogue in Toledo. These prints invite meditative examination inspired by a wish for a future of peaceful coexistence\, mutual respect and meaningful dialogue. \nArtist Bio\nApril Katz received her M.F.A. degree from Arizona State University. She currently is Morrill Professor at Iowa State University where she has taught printmaking since 1999. For nineteen years she has organized the university’s annual international postcard print exchange. From 2004 – 2006 Katz served as president of the Southern Graphics Council. Her prints\, which synthesize digital and traditional printmaking processes\, are in numerous collections and have been exhibited throughout the US and recently in Portugal\, Spain and China. She has presented papers for print\, photographic and visual literacy professional national and international conferences. \nKatz’s primary language and tool is the print whose vocabulary includes transfers\, layers\, seriality and variations on a theme. Printmaking is a dance whose movements of carving\, scratching\, etching\, wiping and rolling she choreographs through varied thematic and visual lenses. Death of loved ones\, serious illness and political discord are the forces that have shaken Katz to the core and led her to ask fundamental human questions about herself and her relationship to the world. She searches for connections between disparate elements to understand and convey their impact on current personal and cultural identity. URL:https://octagonarts.org/event/measured-perceptions-april-katz/ LOCATION:Octagon Center for the Arts\, 427 Douglas Avenue\, Ames\, IA\, 50010\, United States CATEGORIES:Exhibits ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://octagonarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/April-Katz.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Octagon Center for the Arts":MAILTO:info@octagonarts.org GEO:42.0257584;-93.6123172 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Octagon Center for the Arts 427 Douglas Avenue Ames IA 50010 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=427 Douglas Avenue:geo:-93.6123172,42.0257584 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20190607 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20190610 DTSTAMP:20260423T113545 CREATED:20190515T005057Z LAST-MODIFIED:20190515T005530Z UID:6675-1559865600-1560124799@octagonarts.org SUMMARY:PRINTFEST DESCRIPTION:Join us for PRINTFEST\, a celebration of printmaking featuring the work of April Katz! \nAll events are free and all are welcome! \nFor more information\, click here. \n  URL:https://octagonarts.org/event/printfest/ LOCATION:IA CATEGORIES:Exhibits ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://octagonarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/retrospective-2.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20190713 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20190826 DTSTAMP:20260423T113545 CREATED:20190710T162912Z LAST-MODIFIED:20190710T181720Z UID:7424-1562976000-1566777599@octagonarts.org SUMMARY:Hard and Soft: Contrasts in Nature Expressed Through Clay ELIZABETH SHRIVER DESCRIPTION:LOCATED IN SWEENEY GALLERY \nFrom Elizabeth Shriver:\nI work with clay to create an array of graceful\, organic forms. These pieces are\nconstructed using a combination of hand-building methods such as slab-building\, coiling\,\npinching\, and forming with molds. Rarely relying on glaze\, I use textures\, stains\, and\ncolored clay to add visual and tactile interest. I am drawn toward neutral earth tones\, and\nmy work reflects the natural landscape\, plant\, and undersea life that are my inspiration.\nThe curving lines of nature inherent in my work generate an illusion of movement\, giving\neach piece an almost lifelike quality. A successful piece is one that begs to be touched as\nwell as explored visually. \n\nI am a native Iowan and a 1987 graduate of the University of Iowa. My interest in art\nbegan during my childhood\, when I would often spend my free time painting and\ndrawing. My focus turned to clay in 1985\, when my I took my first course at the University of\nIowa Ceramics Department. I became fascinated with the malleable properties of clay\,\nand the sculptural possibilities inherent in the medium. Though I was majoring in\npsychology rather than art\, my newfound interest led me to continue on through all four\nsemesters of undergraduate studio ceramics. \n\nAs I maintained my interest in ceramics into my adult life\, I set up my own studio where I\ncould hone my skills and experiment with new forms. Over the years\, I have exhibited my\nceramic sculptures in galleries\, and in both solo and group exhibitions throughout the USA.\nMost recently\, I’ve enjoyed participating in juried exhibitions exploring themes of nature or\n“biomorphism.” \nhttps://www.elizabethshriverceramics.com/ URL:https://octagonarts.org/event/hard-and-soft-contrasts-in-nature-expressed-through-clay-elizabeth-shriver/ LOCATION:Octagon Center for the Arts\, 427 Douglas Avenue\, Ames\, IA\, 50010\, United States CATEGORIES:Exhibits ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://octagonarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Shriver-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Octagon Center for the Arts":MAILTO:info@octagonarts.org GEO:42.0257584;-93.6123172 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Octagon Center for the Arts 427 Douglas Avenue Ames IA 50010 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=427 Douglas Avenue:geo:-93.6123172,42.0257584 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20190720 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20190908 DTSTAMP:20260423T113545 CREATED:20190717T185554Z LAST-MODIFIED:20190717T185943Z UID:7576-1563580800-1567900799@octagonarts.org SUMMARY:Diary of a Mad World DERRICK BURBUL DESCRIPTION:LOCATED IN THE COMMUNITY GALLERY \nDiary of a Mad World\nArtworks by Derrick Burbul\nJuly 20 to September 7\, 2019 \nArtist Statement\nMy images and writings have sometimes been juxtaposed\, but never combined\, until this body of work. The relationship between images and words can be traced back all the way to fourth century B.C. Greece to the Poet of Simmias of Rhodes\, who wrote his writings in the forms of images\, much like the Futurist poets of the early 20th Century. The relationship between images and words in the visual arts is often tumultuous\, and\nsometimes harmonious\, and is a very rich part of the contemporary dialogue. My desire to mix images and words has led me to create images\, which at first glance appear to be grainy black and white images in a modernist style. I use composition to capture the viewers attention\, and large scale images-all images range from the smallest at 8.5”x 18” to the largest at 40”x 40”\, which allow me to add minute details in the form of\ntext to play with the images content and meaning. What the viewer sees as “grain” from a distance\, become words as the viewer is drawn in closer to the image through the variety of styles in how the “grain” is structured. The “grain” structure is sometimes more random\, other times more patterned\, or even structured to visually simulate poor reception on an analogue television. Sometimes the words are more visually obscure and other times they are visually overt. The words are original poems\, stories\, diary entries\, and sometimes critical writings on art and photography. No matter what the words are\, they are designed to allow the viewer space to reconcile the meaning between the images and words for themselves. This is my Diary of a Mad World photographic series. \nArtist Bio\nI received my Master of Fine Arts in Studio Arts with an emphasis in Photography from the University of Idaho in May of 2000 and my Bachelors of Science in English with a minor in photography from the University of Wisconsin—Superior in 1996. I am currently a Professor of Art at the University of Nebraska at Kearney teaching Foundations Design and Photography.  Previously\, I taught photography and various studio art courses at Graceland University\, Iowa State University\, and the University of Minnesota at Duluth. My creative work explores the environment and our relationship to it. This has resulted in many bodies of work including my Diary of a Mad World series. Regardless of the process or academic nature of my work\, it all revolves around gaining a deeper understanding of our environment and our place in this world.  URL:https://octagonarts.org/event/diary-of-a-mad-world-derrick-burbul/ LOCATION:Octagon Center for the Arts\, 427 Douglas Avenue\, Ames\, IA\, 50010\, United States CATEGORIES:Exhibits ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://octagonarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Promo-Burbul.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Octagon Center for the Arts":MAILTO:info@octagonarts.org GEO:42.0257584;-93.6123172 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Octagon Center for the Arts 427 Douglas Avenue Ames IA 50010 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=427 Douglas Avenue:geo:-93.6123172,42.0257584 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20190824 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20190922 DTSTAMP:20260423T113545 CREATED:20190812T175804Z LAST-MODIFIED:20190812T175804Z UID:7838-1566604800-1569110399@octagonarts.org SUMMARY:A Few of My Favorite Things MEGAN ANDERSON DESCRIPTION:LOCATED IN THE SMALL WALL GALLERY \nFrom Megan Anderson:\nI have always been in awe of nature and its beauty. I see the world through a\nphotographer’s eyes and always wish I had a camera permanently attached to my hand.\nWith the invention of cell phones\, my dream came true. I want to show that it doesn’t\nmatter what fancy equipment you possess\, you can still capture beautiful and interesting\nphotography. Art is what you make of it. I have been fortunate enough to be able to\ncapture my every day experiences involving my animals and the nature around me\, and\nturn that into a creative outlet. \n\nI don’t typically take photos for others\, but find joy in them for myself. Over time\, family\nand friends have shown interest and I’ve been honored to give my photographs as gifts.\nThis will be the first time the public is receiving my work. I hope I can continue to grow and\nimprove in my photography skills and potentially parlay a hobby into a living. \nMegan Anderson’s Bio:\nMegan Anderson is a local amateur photographer. She feels fortunate to have grown up\non a farm in Northern Iowa where her love of animals and the outdoors was apparent from\nan early age. What started out as taking photographs for 4H\, evolved into taking photos\nfor personal entertainment. Megan attended Iowa State University and currently works as\nan equine veterinary technician. She has been able to combine her love of photography\nand animals into a hobby revolving around her own URL:https://octagonarts.org/event/a-few-of-my-favorite-things-megan-anderson/ LOCATION:Octagon Center for the Arts\, 427 Douglas Avenue\, Ames\, IA\, 50010\, United States CATEGORIES:Exhibits ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://octagonarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Anderson_Web.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Octagon Center for the Arts":MAILTO:info@octagonarts.org GEO:42.0257584;-93.6123172 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Octagon Center for the Arts 427 Douglas Avenue Ames IA 50010 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=427 Douglas Avenue:geo:-93.6123172,42.0257584 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20190830 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20191110 DTSTAMP:20260423T113545 CREATED:20190812T181926Z LAST-MODIFIED:20191003T172343Z UID:7842-1567123200-1573343999@octagonarts.org SUMMARY:70K: The Biennial Community of Artists Exhibit DESCRIPTION:LOCATED IN MAIN GALLERY \nLet’s do a little math! A = πr2 There are 70\,686 square miles in a circle with 150 square mile radius. Thus the name for this exhibit…  70K is a juried exhibition of artists located 150 miles from Ames or nearer. This focus on local and regional artists is an important part of the mission of the Octagon Center for the Arts. \nOpening Reception: August 30\, 2019\, 5-7pm. Awards at 6pm. \n\n \nJuror: \nAllison Sheridan\nMuseum Collections Manager\,\nPublications Coordinator\, &\nFarm House Museum Manager \nSheridan is a two-time Iowa State University graduate with a B.S. in History (’01) and a M.S. in Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies (’11). She began with University Museums at ISU in 2001 as the Education Assistant and has since moved on to the role of Collections Manager\, Publications Coordinator and Farm House Museum Manager. In that capacity\, she is in charge of the many museum collection works of art – over 30\,000! She researches\, coordinates\, authors\, edits and designs all aspects of University Museums’ publications including the popular Campus Beautiful (2015). She is the staff member in charge of the Farm House Museum\, the oldest campus building\, and routinely curates exhibitions\, presents programs and outreach\, provides tours\, and coordinates strategic planning. She has served as the chair of the Ames Public Art Commission\, on the State of Iowa Technical Advisory Network and grant review committees\, Iowa Museum Association conference planning committee\, and recently consulted with the City of Clive on their public art master plan. \n\n \nAccepted Work:\n\n\n\nPenny\nAdam\nBirch Grove 3\n \n\n\nTilda\nBrown Swanson\nOrange Maple Leaf\n \n\n\nNanette\nCatigbe\nThree’s Company\n \n\n\nAnna\nChukharevakhudilayn\nForest Ride\n \n\n\nAnna\nChukharevakhudilayn\nGolden Rider\n \n\n\nRuthellen\nCunnally\nCoral Reef\n \n\n\nRuthellen\nCunnally\nGauze\n \n\n\nJudith\nEastburn\nWild Parsnips\, Elkader Iowa\n \n\n\nCaroline\nFreese\nClaire\n \n\n\nCaroline\nFreese\nDeep Dish Pie Pan with Blue Whale Pattern\n \n\n\nCaroline\nFreese\nRed Fox Face\n \n\n\nJan\nFriedman\nEarth Series: Spiral\n \n\n\nJan\nFriedman\nBefore It’s Too Late\n \n\n\nRex\nHeer\nThinking of Flamingos\n \n\n\nRex\nHeer\nCool Flamingos\n \n\n\nVictoria\nHerring\nWoman in Havana Street\n \n\n\nMarcia\nJoffe-Bouska\nEmblem\n \n\n\nMarcia\nJoffe-Bouska\nSacrifice\n \n\n\nMarcia\nJoffe-Bouska\nEquivalence\n \n\n\nMary\nJohnson\nFaded Bouquet\n \n\n\nHolly\nKellogg\nConstruct\n \n\n\nLinda\nLewis Lieberman\nCow Henge\n \n\n\nLinda\nLewis Lieberman\nJoyous Dawn\n \n\n\nDiane\nMichaud Lowry\nFog Rolling In\n \n\n\nDiane\nMichaud Lowry\nReflections on Sullivan Lake\n \n\n\nPat\nMillin\nIdomeni\n \n\n\nChuck\nOulman\nIn Stockholm\n \n\n\nJarred\nPfeiffer\nTide Pool\n \n\n\nJarred\nPfeiffer\nArctic Circle\n \n\n\nIsaac\nPrior\nMuspelheim Gateway\n \n\n\nIsaac\nPrior\nAsgard Gateway\n \n\n\nJeremy\nRoy\nInsight: Justin and Andrew\n \n\n\nConnie\nSherman\nYellow Dress 89\n \n\n\nConnie\nSherman\nMidnight Dress\n \n\n\nAudrey\nStaples\nWintertime (Grasses)\n \n\n\nTeresa\nTownsend Miller\nMinus One\n \n\n\nRob\nWallace\nThe Naked Truth\n  URL:https://octagonarts.org/event/70k-the-biennial-community-of-artists-exhibit/ LOCATION:Octagon Center for the Arts\, 427 Douglas Avenue\, Ames\, IA\, 50010\, United States CATEGORIES:Exhibits ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://octagonarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Promo_70K-1.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Octagon Center for the Arts":MAILTO:info@octagonarts.org GEO:42.0257584;-93.6123172 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Octagon Center for the Arts 427 Douglas Avenue Ames IA 50010 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=427 Douglas Avenue:geo:-93.6123172,42.0257584 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20190907 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20191027 DTSTAMP:20260423T113545 CREATED:20190830T230003Z LAST-MODIFIED:20190830T233652Z UID:8238-1567814400-1572134399@octagonarts.org SUMMARY:ANGIE HUFFMAN & ROBERT JINKINS DESCRIPTION:LOCATED IN SWEENEY GALLERY (3RD FLOOR) \n  \nAngie Huffman\nI try to render scenes from generally unremarkable life events that bring me joy when I first see them. Though mundane\, they reach out with a harmonious balance of composition and color. Quiet and wordless\, they imply a visual narrative and ask for further consideration. Transporting these moments in time onto canvas allows me freeze them in a state where others also have the opportunity to reflect on their harmony. Hopefully the viewer will to go forth and find unexpected moments of personal radiance in their daily lives as well\, like mindfulness meditation for the visual soul. Beauty and the mundane do not need to be not mutually exclusive. \nI have called my work portraits for lack of a more accurate term\, but I never feel their environments are subservient to their figures. They work together and do not compete. My source material is captured when life’s visual variables align in a fortuitous way and beg to be documented or (more commonly) is found in photographs previously judged unremarkable and left in storage. Painting a scene gives me ownership over every element in a way photographic reproduction could not\, and the level of control I crave in all things. \nSome critics have argued that realism is an outdated relic\, perfected centuries ago and more recently replaced with photographic reproduction. I have never understood how reality\, true human existence\, could be unilaterally discounted. Now more than ever (in my short lifetime)\, reality itself is attacked and called into question. What better time to embrace realism once again? \nEveryone sees the world through their own eyes\, but the fabric of existence is still the same. With the endless problems and downfalls that life has\, I will always focus on and celebrate what positivity it does provide. \nAngie Huffman was born and raised near Dallas\, Texas. She graduated from the University of North Texas with a BFA in Drawing and Painting in 2010. The school’s focus on contemporary and postmodernist work challenged her to find a way to act on her attraction to realism and portraiture while avoiding banality. \nIn 2014\, after critical evaluation of her everyday life\, Huffman relocated to Eastern Iowa. Lower costs of living and a healthier work-life balance have allowed her to devote more time and energy to her paintings. Her work has been included in exhibitions in Texas and throughout the Midwest. \nhttp://angiehuffman.com/ \n \nRobert Jinkins\nGrowing up on a farm that has been in my family since 1849\, I gained an admiration and reverence for the land that so many of my family members have worked upon. Like ghosts or spirits that walk the place\, monument-like markers exist signifying the actions and lives of those who came before me: a tractor may remain parked as it has been for years since the last time it was driven; a broken crock full of metal now slowly sinks into the earth under years of maple leaves falling from the massive trees that my grandfather planted when he was six year old. I find stories on this farm and record them in my art. Recent additions to the farm and surrounding landscape\, like some older relics\, have almost cosmic significance to me—a dead cow in a low-lying pasture may represent sin\, death\, and redemption. I enjoy painting every blade of grass while allowing a disconcerting ambiguity to lurk below the surface in order to encourage viewers into a deeper dialogue with the paintings. The entire world is portrayed within each individual line of graphite or stroke of acrylic ink from which my drawings and paintings are woven. \nRobert Jinkins is currently an MFA student at Iowa State’s Integrated studio arts program and a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Platteville. Robert Jinkins is an emerging regional artist whose graphite and acrylic mixed media work focuses upon the people and landscape of the Midwest. Much of Robert’s subject matter comes from the family farm in Wisconsin that was homesteaded by an ancestor in 1849. In his work\, strives to reflect the  strength of the people and their history. \nhttps://robertjinkins.carbonmade.com/ URL:https://octagonarts.org/event/to-be-determined-angie-huffman-robert-jinkins/ LOCATION:Octagon Center for the Arts\, 427 Douglas Avenue\, Ames\, IA\, 50010\, United States CATEGORIES:Exhibits ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://octagonarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Promo-Huffman-and-Jinkins.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Octagon Center for the Arts":MAILTO:info@octagonarts.org GEO:42.0257584;-93.6123172 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Octagon Center for the Arts 427 Douglas Avenue Ames IA 50010 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=427 Douglas Avenue:geo:-93.6123172,42.0257584 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20190914 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20191103 DTSTAMP:20260423T113545 CREATED:20190830T230729Z LAST-MODIFIED:20190830T231139Z UID:8241-1568419200-1572739199@octagonarts.org SUMMARY:Surface Works PETE GOCHE DESCRIPTION:LOCATED IN THE COMMUNITY GALLERY (1st FLOOR/STREET LEVEL) \nArtist Statement\nUsing site-adjusted installations as my primary mode of practice\, I deploy an integrated and focused approach to both theoretical and practical questions pertaining to the nature and impact of materiality specific to the re-occupation of post-industrial spaces. My works provoke a temporal-spatial encounter that reconciles the simultaneous and complex nature of cerebral and corporeal experience. Each inquiry utilizes a range of domains including art\, architecture and anthropology as a means of exploring not only what material cultivations can be\, but also what they\, in fact\, do. Based on a series of modulated experimental actions (material modalities)\, each installation is driven by the nascent possibility of a persistent desire to intercourse with existing material surrounds pursuant a philosophical position that leverages perceptual notions of chiaroscuro – the disposition of light and dark. By extension\, the conscious and unconscious\, the seen and the unseen\, focus and open awareness and the made and re-made are factors in the realm of understanding and producing space. It is a full-scale\, three-dimensional methodology that is followed by exploratory drawing and photography as a means to express its affects (immaterial harmonics). \nArtist Bio\nPeter P. Goché is a practicing artist\, architect and educator. Goché works with the nature of perception and spatial phenomenon in developing his material practice. His works provoke a temporal-spatial encounter that understand the simultaneous and complex nature of cerebral and corporeal experience. He is founder and executive curator of Black Contemporary\, a rural field station dedicated to the study of spatial phenomena and perception. His research on material practices has been published in a number of edited books and journals\, including Architecture as a Performing Art (Ashgate\, 2013) and Architecture and Culture (Routledge Taylor & Francis Group\, 2016). Goché has exhibited and lectured on his creative practice and scholarship at many conferences and cultural institutions throughout North America and Western Europe. He has lead multiple academic workshops including “CautionWet Floor: Slipping Into Deep” at the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale (Venice\, Italy). As educator in the Department of Architecture and foundational design at Iowa State University\, Goché holds both B. Arch and M. Arch degrees in architectural studies from Iowa State University. He taught in the Department of Art at Drake University before joining the faculty at the Iowa State University. \nhttp://www.goche.com/ URL:https://octagonarts.org/event/surface-works-pete-goche/ LOCATION:Octagon Center for the Arts\, 427 Douglas Avenue\, Ames\, IA\, 50010\, United States CATEGORIES:Exhibits ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://octagonarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Promo-Goche.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Octagon Center for the Arts":MAILTO:info@octagonarts.org GEO:42.0257584;-93.6123172 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Octagon Center for the Arts 427 Douglas Avenue Ames IA 50010 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=427 Douglas Avenue:geo:-93.6123172,42.0257584 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20190928 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20191027 DTSTAMP:20260423T113545 CREATED:20190830T231807Z LAST-MODIFIED:20190830T231807Z UID:8248-1569628800-1572134399@octagonarts.org SUMMARY:A Prairie Seed AUTUMN ROZARIO HALL DESCRIPTION:LOCATED IN THE SMALL WALL GALLERY \nArtist Statement\nI first fell in love with the prairie when studying art at UNI. Wandering the twisting paths of the restored prairie calmed my mind. As I drank in grasshopper droning\, late summer’s scent of grass\, the pollen\, the leaves\, and the many colors\, I felt grounded and renewed. The prairie sang to me in a way that allowed me to simply be. I began my prairie series after I moved to Des Moines. I immersed myself in the local prairie\, sketching and collecting photos\, and samples for reference. I wanted this series to capture the feelings I had while wandering those prairie paths. This idea blossomed into the series Prairie Seed Dreaming. The series explores the relationship between woman\, plant\, and pollinator\, through botanically accurate renderings of native plants\, and dreamlike imagery of women immersed in the prairie\nlandscape. As the divide between woman and prairie blurs\, the roles separating them blur\, each becoming wholly dependent on the other. Through these paintings I invite the viewer into the prairie. I will use this series to raise awareness about the importance of prairie restoration and open a dialogue about the benefits of planting natives for both pollinators and people. \nArtist Bio\nAutumn Rozario Hall is a painter\, dreamer\, and collector of stories. Autumn grew up by the banks of the Mississippi river. Although she lived in town\, she always sought the wild places\, where the brambles overran the houses\, and the gardens outgrew their yards. These wild places inspire her art which seeks to capture a sense of wonder. Autumn currently lives in Des Moines\, Iowa and works in acrylic and mixed media. She had her first solo exhibition in 2014\, and has since participated in group shows in several states including\, California\, Maryland\, Texas\, Michigan\, Iowa\, and one international show in Portugal. She also participates in community art projects\, and is a member of the Urbandale Art Gallery Committee. Her work explores folklore and human connectivity to nature. \nhttps://www.autumnrozariohall.com/ URL:https://octagonarts.org/event/a-prairie-seed-autumn-rozario-hall/ LOCATION:Octagon Center for the Arts\, 427 Douglas Avenue\, Ames\, IA\, 50010\, United States CATEGORIES:Exhibits ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://octagonarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Promo-Hall.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Octagon Center for the Arts":MAILTO:info@octagonarts.org GEO:42.0257584;-93.6123172 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Octagon Center for the Arts 427 Douglas Avenue Ames IA 50010 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=427 Douglas Avenue:geo:-93.6123172,42.0257584 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20191102 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20191201 DTSTAMP:20260423T113545 CREATED:20190830T234805Z LAST-MODIFIED:20190830T234805Z UID:8256-1572652800-1575158399@octagonarts.org SUMMARY:Inklings SARA MERRITT DESCRIPTION:LOCATED IN THE SMALL WALL GALLERY (3RD FLOOR) \nI think of these works as inklings\, for their humble beginnings as tiny ink doodles\, and for those small\, nagging ideas\, fears\, and behaviors that have the power to become reality – whether beautiful or monstrous in their realization. The earliest works date back to 1997\, when my mother was diagnosed with Huntington’s\nDisease. They represent the management of multiple internal struggles – first with my own body image and the desire to find perfection within asymmetrical\, writhing color; then the quest to contain my body and mind as my mother slowly began losing control over hers. \nMy practice is sometimes an inquiry into the interaction and display of bodies – as physical forms\, printable images\, philosophical constructs; as patterns\, collections; recognizable or hidden and refigured. Through transition from one form or material to another\, I can define new bodies to explore concepts of inscription\, concealment\, authenticity\, illusion\, and decay in a carefully sutured experience where nothing is as it seems. Other times\, I paint simply to release – a wordless outpouring of thought and emotion. \nUltimately\, everything I make echoes that first movement of ink on paper. My time spent with that writhing color is sacred\, laborious\, my personal visual expression at its core\, in its purest\, most honest form. It is a dance in two dimensions – movement controlled\, contained\, and preserved. \nI hope you enjoy. \nI am a native Ames artist\, arts and dance instructor\, and currently work full-time developing educational programming for Reiman Gardens at Iowa State University. From a weird and winding career path and with over 20 years’ experience teaching everything from silk-screening\, painting\, and problem-solving\, to martial arts\, belly dance\, and zendoodle\, I am consistently drawn to the connections between things and people\, the intricacies of visual patterning\, and the spectrum of perception – especially as an exploration through distortion. \nI started assisting my dad in teaching photography classes for Ames’ Super Summer TAG program when I was 15\, and have been leading art classes of all kinds ever since – mostly in informal settings through community education. I discovered belly dance at 17 at the suggestion of my mom – who had been a dancer in the 60’s – and now dance professionally\, performing with the Mirage Middle Eastern Dance Troupe and teaching dance in Ames and surrounding areas. As an adolescent like any other I struggled with self-esteem\, body image\, and the looming future of my tight-knit family as my mom was diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease – a debilitating and rare degenerative genetic disease causing uncontrollable movements\, memory loss\, and dementia. To combat fear and loss of control I began transforming absent-minded doodles and sketches into meditative works on paper. \nThroughout the last few decades while teaching I have worked as a hotel housekeeper\, a bartender and waitress\, a bookstore clerk\, a hippie shop associate\, a Renaissance festival commissioned artist\, a commercial screen-printer\, a Destination Imagination coach\, and an educational associate for middle school Special Education. I have met and worked with students of all ages\, abilities\, and temperaments\, and I am still unfailingly fascinated by all the nuances in individual perception that manifest through personal interaction. In short\, I love teaching art – perhaps the oldest method of human expression built from the\ndesire to create and communicate. \nAs an introvert who habitually does extroverted things\, I depend on solitude and time to myself in order to thrive. Movement through art and dance often helps me process my own thoughts and make personal decisions. After yet another somewhat twisted path through higher education\, I ended up receiving a degree of my own design – a Bachelor of Arts in Art\, Sexuality\, & Aesthetic Perception from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in 2003. With the support of my amazing husband Matthew I obtained a Master of Fine Arts in Painting from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2011\, and quickly returned home to help care for my mother\, who passed in 2013. \nI believe absolutely in the power of visual expression and informal education; for me\, it all begins with an inkling – a tickle of thought\, a spark of energy\, a compulsion to make a mark\, express movement\, or share something unspoken with others. I will continue to create\, to dance\, and to teach as long as I am able. And maybe after. \nhttps://www.saramerritt.com/ URL:https://octagonarts.org/event/inklings-sara-merritt/ LOCATION:Octagon Center for the Arts\, 427 Douglas Avenue\, Ames\, IA\, 50010\, United States CATEGORIES:Exhibits ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://octagonarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Promo-Merritt.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Octagon Center for the Arts":MAILTO:info@octagonarts.org GEO:42.0257584;-93.6123172 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Octagon Center for the Arts 427 Douglas Avenue Ames IA 50010 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=427 Douglas Avenue:geo:-93.6123172,42.0257584 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20191102 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20191222 DTSTAMP:20260423T113545 CREATED:20190830T232830Z LAST-MODIFIED:20190830T232830Z UID:8252-1572652800-1576972799@octagonarts.org SUMMARY:EMILY VERDOORN & JON KAMRATH DESCRIPTION:LOCATED IN SWEENEY GALLERY (3RD FLOOR) \nEmily Verdoorn\nThrough drawing\, I form vital relationships with the world of my everyday experience. My process often begins by drawing on location. I enjoy drawing places and spaces steeped in the personality of their inhabitants. My drawings develop in response to time spent observing places and things – their habits\, personality\, rituals\, and the people that frequent them. I love discovering the mundane glory in the commonplace. From observational drawing\, I often collect marks\, textures\, and patterns which I draw in with other findings in my daily life. This process is more about listening than telling\, more about responding than initiating. For me\, making is a process of discovery\, a conversation\, a way to experience life more deeply for the maker and the viewer alike. \nEmily Verdoorn has loved drawing and making things for as long as she can remember. As a child\, it was simply unselfconscious enjoyment which encouraged her to make. Gradually\, she discovered drawing as a means to more deeply engage with the world around her. In 2017\, Emily graduated from Belhaven University with a BFA in Visual Art. Currently\, Emily is continuing to develop her drawing process alongside teaching art lessons to children in her hometown\, Des Moines. \nJon Kamrath\nMy “Block House” series was initially inspired by watching my own kids play with a wooden block set. I began considering ways to incorporate the same visual vocabulary into my own work\, and to combine the whimsy of children’s toys with the long history of modern architecture. I found clay and wood to be the perfect medium for this. The trompe l’oeil wooden block appearance allows opportunities to explore surface texture\, layering and color. Additionally\, the clay construction methods present an opportunity to experiment with form\, and build sculptures that appear to sag and slump in ways impossible for wood. I greatly enjoy the unique dichotomy between permanence and fleeting\, hard and soft\, serious and fun. \nI use bright colors to invoke a splash of fun\, then subtly mute these to carefully draw out the rich texture and tie all the pieces together aesthetically. When combined with multiple forms each piece visually and conceptually transforms\, referencing evolving landscapes\, urban development\, and architectural relationships. The next step with these pieces was the addition of welded steel scaffolding. This allows the sculptures to grow in size and complexity\, bringing the pieces to the next level conceptually as well as aesthetically. Solid construction pushes the bounds of visual balance and stability\, while offering great physical strength and support. I am calling this new series “Structures”\, referring both to the physical objects\, but also the societal structures that create the building blocks and precarious foundations that many of us build our lives on. \nJon Kamrath works out of his studio in Mahtomedi\, MN where he lives with his wife and 3 young children. He received his BA in Art Education from Concordia College in Moorhead\, MN. After marrying his muse\, Jon moved to Iowa to earn his MFA in Integrated Visual Arts (sculpture) from Iowa State University. He has taught art at Fergus Falls Middle School and Eagle Ridge Academy. After taking a break from teaching to focus on his sculpture career Jon is currently busy creating large scale outdoor sculptures for universities and corporations\, as well as smaller intimate pieces for galleries\, homes and private collections. \nJon inherited craftsmanship skills\, love of tools\, and architectural appreciation from working with his father as a finish carpenter for many summers. He now blends these skills with the playful inspiration of his kids and the artistic vocabulary he learned through studying and teaching art. You can find more of Jon’s work at various galleries in the greater Twin Cities region\, outdoor parks in the Midwest\, or online at his website or Instagram. \nhttp://www.kamrathsculpture.com/ URL:https://octagonarts.org/event/emily-verdoorn-jon-kamrath/ LOCATION:Octagon Center for the Arts\, 427 Douglas Avenue\, Ames\, IA\, 50010\, United States CATEGORIES:Exhibits ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://octagonarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Promo-Verdoorn-and-Kamrath.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Octagon Center for the Arts":MAILTO:info@octagonarts.org GEO:42.0257584;-93.6123172 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Octagon Center for the Arts 427 Douglas Avenue Ames IA 50010 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=427 Douglas Avenue:geo:-93.6123172,42.0257584 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20191108 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20191228 DTSTAMP:20260423T113545 CREATED:20190830T235610Z LAST-MODIFIED:20191106T003901Z UID:8259-1573171200-1577491199@octagonarts.org SUMMARY:ANGE ALTENHOFEN & JOSH SORRELL DESCRIPTION:LOCATED IN THE COMMUNITY GALLERY  \nAnge Altenhofen\n“Metaphorical function” is a term I use to describe my work\, dovetailing sculptural form with the innate potential for usefulness and interaction that every three-dimensional object possesses. In this scenario function follows form\, recycling art into a prosaic\, functional object that is activated through touch and let loose in the world. I tend to think that inanimate objects have “souls”\, or at least earn something akin to a soul as they get used more and more frequently over time. \nThe “Braille Series” is an ongoing body of work that references metaphorical function and incorporates Braille as a surface texture\, not only to deliver information through touch\, but to suggest blemishes on the skin that invite a haptic experience not unlike apes have while grooming one another. I first began using Braille text in my work after I was diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition that could eventually lead to permanent blindness. At the time of diagnosis I panicked- how does a visual artist make art without sight? This question sent me searching for answers and eventually led to creative discoveries I may never have found otherwise: understanding and revelation through physical touch and interaction with the art object itself. \nAnge Altenhofen was born and raised in Chariton\, Iowa. She earned a BFA in Studio Art from the University of Northern Iowa\, briefly attended the University of Iowa to study art history and Italian\, and earned an MFA in Sculpture and Ceramics from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Living part-time in Florence\, Italy\, she worked as an apprentice to puppeteer Rocco Cosentino\, and as the assistant director and student advisor for an international art academy\, Arte Sotto un Tetto. Since 1993\, Ange has lived predominantly in Chicago\, exhibiting her artwork both nationally and internationally including galleries and museums in Tel Aviv\, Vienna\, Florence\, Chicago\, and New York. She is also an established costume designer and has worked for numerous theater companies in Chicago\, co-founding the costume performance company DeCorps Costume Collective in 2001. Most recently she has worked as a published archaeological illustrator for the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago\, drawing artifacts from archaeological sites in Egypt\, Iran\, Iraq\, Syria\, and Israel. In 2015 Ange returned to Iowa to write and illustrate a\nchildren’s book that she hopes to publish in 2019. \nJosh Sorrell\nI paint to explore human nature within our current social structures. The subjects of my work examine how our experiences affect our fragile identity. \nJosh Sorrell\, an Iowa native\, produces representational artwork altered by abstract elements. Using oil or charcoal as the preferred medium\, Josh examines themes of\npersonal and cultural significance while also attempting to draw a new perspective from accepted ideas. Subjects are often presented within a surreal atmosphere meant to strengthen its impact. This focus on combining both real and imaginary components allow the viewer to create their own unique interpretation. \nhttp://joshsorrell.com/ URL:https://octagonarts.org/event/ange-altenhofen-josh-sorrell/ LOCATION:Octagon Center for the Arts\, 427 Douglas Avenue\, Ames\, IA\, 50010\, United States CATEGORIES:Exhibits ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://octagonarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Promo-Altenhofen-and-Sorrell.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Octagon Center for the Arts":MAILTO:info@octagonarts.org GEO:42.0257584;-93.6123172 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Octagon Center for the Arts 427 Douglas Avenue Ames IA 50010 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=427 Douglas Avenue:geo:-93.6123172,42.0257584 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20200118T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20200321T170000 DTSTAMP:20260423T113545 CREATED:20200122T014109Z LAST-MODIFIED:20200122T014109Z UID:9894-1579341600-1584810000@octagonarts.org SUMMARY:Alight and Allure EMILY MINNIE DESCRIPTION:LOCATED IN THE COMMUNITY GALLERY (FIRST FLOOR) \nArtist Biography\nEmily Lambertsen Minnie is an artist who specializes in charcoal drawing and oil painting. She\nearned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Northern Iowa and a Master of\nFine Arts degree from the University of Tennessee. Emily taught art for three years at Tulane\nUniversity in New Orleans before living and working as an artist and illustrator for seven years in\nBrooklyn\, NY. In the summer of 2016 she moved back to Iowa. She currently enjoys dividing her\ntime between drawing and painting in her Iowa City home studio\, working for the Iowa City\nSchool District and family time spent with her husband and two children. \nArtist Statement\nMy art practice is the study\, investigation and re-creation of images that entice and allure me\ndue to the beauty of their light and composition and the drama created by the human form\nfrozen in a moment. I employ the ability of a two-dimensional artwork whose source is photo or\nfilm\, to feel personal and familiar while working to create artwork that is separated from its\nsource material’s narrative and considered for its core essence.   \nMy charcoal series consists of 19” x 30” drawings on BFK Rives Paper. I love to watch the\ndrama created on the gallery wall by these black and white images. From afar they look like\ntheir source film still. Up close\, they reduce to illusions of light and velvety smudges of charcoal. \nMy wall installations are made sight specific to fit the wall. They are created from small\, hand\ndrawn pencil sketches and watercolors that are scanned\, enlarged and printed on pre-pasted\nwallpaper. In a gallery\, the change of scale to life-sized adds a human connection and the\nenlarged nature reveals an exaggerated artist’s mark. \nMy oil paintings are created on gallery wrapped 24” x 36” canvas. My canvas preparation\nconsists of 3 coats of gesso with a fine grit sanding between each coat. While painting\, I get lost\nin the textured and smooth layers of warm and cool tones mingling together. I find great\nsatisfaction creating paintings of figures that\, even in their stillness\, interact with the space and\nthe light around them. URL:https://octagonarts.org/event/alight-and-allure-emily-minnie/ LOCATION:Octagon Center for the Arts\, 427 Douglas Avenue\, Ames\, IA\, 50010\, United States CATEGORIES:Exhibits ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://octagonarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Minnie_Promo-small.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Octagon Center for the Arts":MAILTO:info@octagonarts.org GEO:42.0257584;-93.6123172 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Octagon Center for the Arts 427 Douglas Avenue Ames IA 50010 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=427 Douglas Avenue:geo:-93.6123172,42.0257584 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20200207T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20200321T170000 DTSTAMP:20260423T113545 CREATED:20200122T014842Z LAST-MODIFIED:20200122T014842Z UID:9897-1581069600-1584810000@octagonarts.org SUMMARY:Limens CHRISTOPHER CHIAVETTA DESCRIPTION:LOCATED IN SWEENEY GALLERY (THIRD FLOOR) \nArtist Statement \nLimen may pertain to the sill of a doorway\, the threshold itself\, or the point at which a stimulus\nproduces a physiological or psychological response. It marks a boundary of perception. The\nthresholds presented here explore feelings of liminality\, and loss. Things emerge and divide\,\ncrystalize in time\, accrete\, stratify\, and dissolve. Sometimes they just burn. I see in these\nmaterial states of transformation a way to discuss inner experience\, but I also see them as the\nlife expressions of the immanent world. Processing charcoal at home has become a way for me\nto reflect on these subjects in a direct and personal manner. URL:https://octagonarts.org/event/limens-christopher-chiavetta/ LOCATION:Octagon Center for the Arts\, 427 Douglas Avenue\, Ames\, IA\, 50010\, United States CATEGORIES:Exhibits ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://octagonarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Chiavetta-Promo-small.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Octagon Center for the Arts":MAILTO:info@octagonarts.org GEO:42.0257584;-93.6123172 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Octagon Center for the Arts 427 Douglas Avenue Ames IA 50010 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=427 Douglas Avenue:geo:-93.6123172,42.0257584 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20200207T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20200404T170000 DTSTAMP:20260423T113545 CREATED:20200113T231640Z LAST-MODIFIED:20200208T225003Z UID:9854-1581069600-1586019600@octagonarts.org SUMMARY:OCTAGONAL 2020: The Annual All Media Exhibit DESCRIPTION:LOCATED IN THE MAIN GALLERY \nOctagonal: The All-Media Exhibit is the annual\, juried all-media exhibition at the Octagon Center for the Arts in Ames\, Iowa. Originally titled the Clay and Paper Show\, the exhibit opened in 1968 to provide an opportunity to the central Iowa arts community. Over the past 51 years\, the exhibit morphed over the decades to become the Clay\, Fiber\, Paper\, Glass\, Metal\, Wood Exhibit that has featured hundreds of artists from dozens of states. The newest version of the exhibit\, Octagonal: The All-Media Exhibit\, launched in 2018 taking a note from the past while moving forward to continue to provide an exciting opportunity for artists across Iowa\, the Midwest\, and the nation. This exhibit features a regionally-recognized juror each year\, attracts artists from across the United States\, and provides significant cash awards. \n2020 Juror: Jordan Weber\nUsing utilitarian materials\, Jordan Weber produces sculptural social objects that speak to the ways in which racially oppressed peoples are restricted physically\, geographically\, and socially. The architecture of his work attempts to create inclusive environments where visitors might test or practice forms of sustainable urbanism. These public works are often modified to fit the site specificity of their environments both inside museums and cultural institutions and individual communities alike. \nWeber is a Des Moines based multi-disciplinary artist/activist who works predominately with inner-city communities nationwide. His work has been exhibited at White Box\, New York; Union for Contemporary Art\, Omaha; Intersect Art Center\, St. Louis; The Soap Factory\, Minneapolis; Smack Mellon\, New York; Manifest Justice\, Los Angeles; Charlotte Street Foundation; Kansas City; Gallery 38\, Los Angeles; Open Engagement\, Chicago; Truth to Power\, Philadelphia; 50/50\, Kansas City. Awards and fellowships include Harvard LOEB candidate\, A Blade of Grass fellowship NYC\, Tanne Foundation award\, Joan Mitchell nominee\, USA Artist nominee\, Des Moines Public Art Foundation fellowship\, Iowa Arts Council Artist Fellowship (Creative Capital) and the African American Leadership Forum Fellowship. He is currently in residence at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. \nThank you to HAILA Architecture Structure Planning Ltd. and the Huff Endowment for sponsoring Jordan’s juror honorarium. \n  \n2020 Selected Work\nA sincere thank you to all who submitted work. Congratulations to those whose work was chosen for this year’s exhibit. Please join us for the reception on February 7\, 2020\, 5 – 7pm with awards presented at 6pm. URL:https://octagonarts.org/event/octagonal-2020-the-annual-all-media-exhibit/ LOCATION:Octagon Center for the Arts\, 427 Douglas Avenue\, Ames\, IA\, 50010\, United States CATEGORIES:Exhibits ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://octagonarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Octagonal-Promo-for-2020-small.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Octagon Center for the Arts":MAILTO:info@octagonarts.org GEO:42.0257584;-93.6123172 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Octagon Center for the Arts 427 Douglas Avenue Ames IA 50010 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=427 Douglas Avenue:geo:-93.6123172,42.0257584 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200701 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200801 DTSTAMP:20260423T113545 CREATED:20201123T003849Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201123T004019Z UID:12140-1593561600-1596239999@octagonarts.org SUMMARY:#OutrageToChange DESCRIPTION:You can see all the details about this important and unusual exhibit here. URL:https://octagonarts.org/event/outragetochange/ LOCATION:Octagon Center for the Arts\, 427 Douglas Avenue\, Ames\, IA\, 50010\, United States CATEGORIES:Exhibits ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://octagonarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/outrage-to-change-386-x-414-2.png ORGANIZER;CN="Octagon Center for the Arts":MAILTO:info@octagonarts.org GEO:42.0257584;-93.6123172 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Octagon Center for the Arts 427 Douglas Avenue Ames IA 50010 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=427 Douglas Avenue:geo:-93.6123172,42.0257584 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200822 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201004 DTSTAMP:20260423T113545 CREATED:20200909T161725Z LAST-MODIFIED:20200909T204814Z UID:11710-1598054400-1601769599@octagonarts.org SUMMARY:Super Natural PEGGY JOHNSTON & VERA SCEKIC DESCRIPTION:LOCATED IN THE COMMUNITY GALLERY (STREET LEVEL) \nPeggy Johnston\nArtist Statement\nMy love of paper made it almost inevitable that I would discover the book arts. Since crafting my first books 30 years ago\, I have explored bookmaking as an art as well as a craft. \nI love to be surprised by my work (and usually am). Often\, materials that I have collected inspire a piece. What would happen if I sewed a few hundred slide mounts together? How about coffee filters or heat warped polyester? Pine needles? Beads? Bicycle spokes? I just need to find out. \nI don’t always know what is going to happen when I start a work. As often as not\, an organic form emerges. I often say that I am not in control of my art. It controls me. I name my forms after they are completed\, frequently flipping through a pictorial dictionary until I spot something that resembles the sculpture. Other times\, I make up faux Latin names. \nAbout Peggy Johnston (Artist Bio)\nI graduated from the University of Wyoming with a double degree in Art and Education. Since then\, I have continued my studies in painting\, printing and the book arts. I’ve taught book art workshops in Oregon\, Colorado\, Wyoming\, Connecticut\, and Iowa\, and have studied with leading book artists across the nation. \nLocally\, I’m a busy artist. In addition to my own work\, I teach at the Des Moines Art Center. I have also taught in the public schools as a visiting artist\, working with k-12 students. Other opportunities have allowed me to teach at the University of Northern Iowa\, Iowa State University\, Simpson College\, Central College\, and Drake University. Occasionally\, I speak to local groups about my work and the book arts\, and conduct seminars for graphic designers and art directors. \nI was instrumental in the founding of The Prairie Book Collaborative\, a group dedicated to the book in all its forms. The group produced three books before disbanding in 2012. (A copy of each one is held in the special collections at the University of Iowa library.) My work is in public and private collections nationally and internationally. I frequently exhibit my work in local and national exhibitions. To date\, my work is included in twelve special collections around the country\, including the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington\, D.C. \nVisit Waveland Studio for more info about Peggy Johnston. \nVera Scekic\nArtist Statement\n“For the first time in all time a living creature understands its origin and can undertake to design its future.” \n-Robert Sinsheimer\, as quoted in A Crack in Creation \nMy art practice originates from an abiding interest in the life sciences and an ethos that combines chance occurrences with a systematic approach. It is an analog response to recent developments (such as CRISPR) that have enabled alterations to mammalian genomes and\nraised profound questions about human identity. Adopting the cell—life’s building block—as metaphor and armature\, I treat paint as if it were an organism\, exploring its material\, chromatic  and formal properties through a biological lens. \nI generate membranes of paint by mixing it with various thinning agents and pouring the viscous fluid on polyester and ceramic substrates. When dry\, the membranes are peeled\, cut\, spliced\, layered\, abraded and adhered to wood and canvas\, producing naturally unnatural\nhybrid forms that merge the manufactured and organic. \nThe process of creating the paint skins is repeated—frequently on top of existing pours—to mimic the cycle of growth\, repair and degeneration. Gravity is the sole constant in the production process\, underscoring the centrality of entropy and the tension inherent in a living system’s efforts to keep it at bay. Phagocytosis also comes into play as paint skins from earlier (disassembled) works are recycled and integrated into new cells. Framing the tattered\, abraded and misshapen cells within “perfect” circles and rectangles magnifies the relationship between precision and irregularity\, which animates all my projects. \nThe methodology guiding each work is time-intensive and multi-step\, incorporating at certain stages the “gestures” of the lab while inviting extended inquiry into the nature of paint. The surface is a record of my negotiations between opacity and translucency\, flatness and\ndimensionality\, expansion and containment\, chance and control. At the project’s core lies my argument: that painting remains relevant in a digital era\, and its ability to reflect essential questions about human experience and identity endures. \nAbout Vera Scekic (Artist Bio)\nVera Scekic lives and works in Racine\, Wisconsin. She has exhibited her paintings\, drawings and installations at art centers\, galleries and museums throughout the U.S. Recent solo and small group exhibitions include: Art Reflects Science (Prairie State College\, Chicago Heights\, IL)\, Twilight (Fitton Center\, Hamilton\, OH)\, Naturally Unnatural (Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center\, Birmingham\, MI) and Polymorphous Microtecture (Beverly Arts Center\, Chicago\, IL.) Scekic is a founding member of ArtRoot\, a grassroots initiative to revitalize the city of Racine by building arts infrastructure\, fostering connections and facilitating collaborations. Scekic is also the co-\nfounder and director of OS Projects\, a contemporary art gallery located in downtown Racine. \nVisit Vera Scekic’s website for more information. \n  URL:https://octagonarts.org/event/super-natural-peggy-johnston-vera-scekic/ LOCATION:Octagon Center for the Arts\, 427 Douglas Avenue\, Ames\, IA\, 50010\, United States CATEGORIES:Exhibits ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://octagonarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Vera-Peggy.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Octagon Center for the Arts":MAILTO:info@octagonarts.org GEO:42.0257584;-93.6123172 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Octagon Center for the Arts 427 Douglas Avenue Ames IA 50010 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=427 Douglas Avenue:geo:-93.6123172,42.0257584 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201010 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201101 DTSTAMP:20260423T113545 CREATED:20201007T021254Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201007T021254Z UID:11929-1602288000-1604188799@octagonarts.org SUMMARY:Southwest Visions TERRY BRIGMAN DESCRIPTION:LOCATED IN THE COMMUNITY GALLERY\n \nAbout Terry Brigman: After graduating in 1970\, I went to work for a local company as a draftsman. In my spare time\, I painted\, sketched\, and created small pieces of artwork that I sold or gave away. Art and the creation of art has wound its way through my life for the next many decades. Four years later\, I left drafting and embarked on a career in the grocery business. The pay was substantially better\, and I was able to complete some art pieces on the side. I took some classes at the local college and joined the Foothills Art Center in Golden\, Colorado where I later went on to be a part of their “Shows on Loan”\nprogram. Being part of that program\, I became responsible for a one-person show at various government buildings\, offices\, non-profits\, and private companies for one to two months at a time. During this time\, I left the grocery business and went to work for the local utility company in Denver. In 1979\, I moved to Phoenix\, Arizona and joined the local artist guild. After a while\, I decided to broaden my field\, and possibly income\, so I went back to school and got a degree in graphic design. \n\nOver the next several years\, I started my own graphic design business\, got married\, had two kids\, and still found time to do my fine art. I created paintings\, portraits\, and a line of teeshirts. In 1994\, we moved to Des Moines\, Iowa. My art work slowed to a crawl between\nmany different jobs. The kids grew up and moved away. As my wife moved further into her career\, I kept busy with writing. I had always written poetry\, but one day I got an idea for a story. Eventually my writing became an obsession and my painting took a hiatus. I\npublished one book\, another followed as well as a half-dozen short stories. Since that time\, my writing has faded\, and I now paint more than I have in years. My artwork has been accepted into the Iowa State Fair for five years\, and I received an honorable mention in\n2017. I have also shown my work at the Octagon\, in the All Media Show\, three times. \n\nAbout Terry’s Artwork: I have gone from duplicating and practicing with my artwork\, in an attempt to hone my abilities and further my career\, to starting a conversation with my audience. I feel that with my later work\, I have succeeded somewhat in trying to communicate a thought or strike up a conversation. My work became my voice for how I feel about the world around me and how I try to make sense of it all. This work can be large and bold or small and demure. At times\, it is bright and colorful; other times drab and stark. I try to fit the medium with the tone of the content\, so my work reflects a mix of\nmedia. The results are a point of view that I would like to share. \n\nThe few pieces I am showing\, here\, are just some of my Southwest themed work; a discussion on the landscape and the indigenous people as I perceive it in today’s world. One piece\, in particular a portrait of my uncle\, Blackie\, speaks of my heritage. He is half Osage and quarter Cherokee. URL:https://octagonarts.org/event/southwest-visions-terry-brigman/ LOCATION:Octagon Center for the Arts\, 427 Douglas Avenue\, Ames\, IA\, 50010\, United States CATEGORIES:Exhibits ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://octagonarts.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/IMG_1334-1.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Octagon Center for the Arts":MAILTO:info@octagonarts.org GEO:42.0257584;-93.6123172 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Octagon Center for the Arts 427 Douglas Avenue Ames IA 50010 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=427 Douglas Avenue:geo:-93.6123172,42.0257584 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR