Artists of the Plains Insights
May 9, 2003
The gallery hosted a wonderful quilt show during the last two weeks of April. Many folks dropped by to see these beautiful displays of Americana. We want to thank Hazel Krueger, Gloria Peck, Pam Addington and Vi Koch for lending us their works of fabric art. A special thank-you goes to the family of Sara Bottorff for permitting us to display her superb quilts. It’s quite amazing how ordinary pieces of fabric can be cut, arranged and stitched to create great pictures, by the talented hands of these ladies. We marveled at the tiny quilting stitching that bring these quilts to life! From baby buggies to a family tree, to Santa and his reindeer, these pieces brought smiles and admiration. Thank you ladies for sharing your talent and your art with us. Thank you Gloria for all of your extra work in getting the quilts to the gallery and typing up the informative cards regarding each quilt.
It was a busy month at the gallery. On April 30th 10 representatives from Baca, Bent and Kiowa Counties gathered to discuss forming a coalition of Southeastern Colorado artists. The group, called Southeastern Colorado Art Trails, discussed the financial and physical aspects of starting a gallery. Art galleries in Springfield, Las Animas and Ordway are underway, with the Springfield gallery opening within a couple weeks. Phyllis McDaniel, Lill Penn and Ethel Richards gave the group excellent insights on the nuts and bolts of running a gallery. One goal of SECO Art Trails is to share publicity among the four galleries, to form a "trail" for the traveler. Also in the works is getting publicity out to surrounding areas including the Front Range, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. United we can broaden our cultural horizons for Southeastern Colorado; a region which has a lot to offer.
A couple upcoming events for SECO Art Trails will be Crowley County Days at the Heritage Center in the Crowley School. Several art pieces from Artists of the Plains will be on public display there during this time in July. Another goal of the SECO Art Trails is to share art, whereby each gallery has work displayed from each of the four galleries, a mix and match if you will! More details will be available in future columns regarding the progress of this exciting new coalition.
We want to give special thanks to Janet Fredericks for all of her assistance in getting the SECO Art Trails underway. She is also the liaison for Artists of the Plains. Thanks Janet!
Another round of thanks goes to Love and John Liebl for donating railroad ties to create a flowerbed around the gallery signpost! Ethel Richards, with recruitment from her family, will plant flowers soon. She has an especially green Aussie thumb, so be sure to stop by to see what’s bloomin’, and drop in and say "ga day", you’ll be more than welcomed!
Featured Artist
Debra (Penn) Immer is the treasurer for the Artists of the Plains Art Club. She is a talented acrylic painter who has been painting since 1995. Debra has a gift for creating amazing depth in her paintings, many of which hang in the gallery. In part, it’s in her genes (Mom is Lill Penn and older sister is Sandy Jones!) Debra grew up mainly in Eads, but graduated high school in Las Animas. She is married to Walt Immer and she has two grown daughters and six grandchildren. Debra is Kiowa County’s deputy treasurer and has worked in that office for 16 years. Some of her favorite hobbies are gardening and walking. She is also very active in the Eads Assembly of God Church. We appreciate her skills in taking care of the financial business of the club, and we certainly applaud her talent as a painter. Please stop by the gallery and view her artwork.
Artists of the Plains Art Gallery is opened Wednesday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Please drop by and look around. Give your eyes a wonderful treat, or just set a spell and chat with a working artist!