Distant Cousinz performed at B&W ball

By Hope Wallace

Distant Cousinz performed at our Black & White Ball on Saturday night and if you haven’t seen this high-energy group, you have completely missed out. We have hosted them twice. Saturday, they brought down the house. The entire crowd was on their feet, shouting for an encore, then a conga line ensued. It is exciting to promote great artists visual and musical and equally fulfilling watching smiling faces and people having fun whether they are dancing, painting, or simply looking at the quality art the Wassenberg Art Center brings to this fortunate community. To all who made us a part of your evening, to our tireless staff and volunteers who made it happen, thank you.

The Ohio Watercolor Society exhibit is on view until February 28. This is a strong exhibit with new styles, colors and substrates being explored. These award-winning paintings will go on to compete for the American Watercolor Society awards and we wish our fellow Ohio (and surrounding) artists a hearty good luck with all their painting endeavors!

Our next exhibit coming up makes us a little warm and fuzzy. Paws de résistance opening on March 12 and on-view through April 10 is an art exhibit about one of our favorite things in the world, pets. A call for entry has been issued to many artists to bring us their impressions of their furry, feathered, or scaled friends. Better yet? An adoption table for the Van Wert County Humane Society will be present at the opening reception and your friendly canine companion is invited. (leashes on and vaccinated please!)

In April we’ll have the Annual High School Invitational and May will be breezing in with something a bit different. Stay tuned!

Wassenberg Art Center current class line up: 
ArtNight, Thursday from 6–9 p.m. bring a friend, drink some wine and be a maker. We will provide project ideas and perhaps some materials to get you started.

Watercolor Technique (ongoing)Tuesdays 10 a.m.–noon, ages 15–150. Instructor: Pat Rayman Students will learn some of the classic and time-tested watercolor techniques for a solid base and further their watercolor painting skills. Wet on wet, dry brush and other tricks will be demonstrated and explored. This class is ongoing but we encourage you to jump in anytime. $35 members, $40 non-members. Materials required: Watercolors, watercolor paper (140 lb), brushes, palette (we use foam/paper plates), drawing pencil, eraser, permanent black pen.

Would you like to gather with friends for a private art party? They are great for corporate team building too! Give our Event & Program Coordinator, Megan a call and we can line something up for you. Our paintings are original and we encourage exploration and experimentation with all our V & P guests. We even provide custom themes and can customize a project for your group.

For more information on exhibits or to sign for classes and events visit wassenbergartcenter.org. The Wassenberg Art Center is located at 214 S. Washington St. (former Van Wert Armory). We can also be reached by telephone at: 419.238.6837, email: info@wassenbergartcenter.org and our website is: wassenbergartcenter.org.