Exhibit Title: Work-In-Progress Exhibit Location and Dates: Octagon Community Gallery, August 20 - October 1, 2022 Exhibit Description: The Octagon’s Work-In-Progress exhibit will display the behind-the-scenes work of an artist. Artists Jordan Brooks, Susan Norris, and Lindsay Wede will use the Octagon's Community Gallery as their studio space for the duration of the show. The three artists represent varied media, local artists, and art educators. Through making visible the process of creation, in a public and collaborative space that considers…

On View September 1-30, 2022 Exhibition Locations: Ames History Museum: “Selfportrait: Flickering” by Sasha Phillips 416 Douglas Avenue; Hours: Tuesday-Friday 1-4, Saturday 10-4 Ames Public Library: “Queer Family” by Charlie Esker 515 Douglas Avenue; Hours: Sunday 1-5, Monday-Thursday 9-9, Friday-Saturday 9-6 Back Alley House Plants: “The Box” by Ashley Vance 111 Main Street; Hours: Wednesday-Sunday 11-5 Dog-Eared Books: “Social Medium” by Lane Maxson 203 Main Street; Hours: Monday-Thursday 9-7, Friday-Saturday 9-8, Sunday 10-6 Heroic Ink: “Mushroom Abduction” and “Portal” by…

Artist Statements Andrew Clarridge “My work is an endeavored process culminating out of experiences many or all of us have had in our lives. I like to focus on an array of issues such as technology and its psychological effects, enslavement, love, loss, death, renewal, enlightenment and empowerment. These are broad topics that have deep historic layers from which to sift through. The “layers” of inspiration are ambiguously related to the layers I build up in each piece. The digital…

Artist Statement: I could be the Poster Child for the slogan “Reuse, Reduce, Recycle.” Handmade paper is the basis for the majority of my artwork, but I often incorporate, weave or build using other found materials. I use old clothes, dead plants, shredded money, and items such as old doormats (made of natural fibers) to make paper pulp. I cast or incorporate pieces of rusty metal, vintage glass, bicycle inner tubes, leather and anything else that catches my eye. Pieces…

Co-curated with Tiffany Antone, who recently went through breast cancer and a double mastectomy, this exhibit will offer space for community, connection, and healing through conversations around breast cancer and breast removal. Tiffany, and a community of artists with shared experiences of breast cancer, will showcase visual, literary, and performance artwork, and the Octagon will invite community members to participate in interactive art-making opportunities. This exhibit will interrogate our cultural obsession with breasts, bring light to the sometimes fraught (and oft-times under-realized) connection we have to them, and give voice to the myriad complicated feelings that comes with letting them go.

Exhibition by Cynthia O'Hern, January 30th - February 25th 2023