SUBMISSION GUIDELINES The Owatonna Arts Center is accepting submissions for the Steele County Art Exhibition until May 3. The show will run May 5-26. Exhibitors must be adult residents of Steele County or members of the Owatonna Arts Center, and may submit up to three original pieces. Visit
oacarts.org
for registration form and a full list of guidelines. 2891cf71-42b2-4b71-89c0-88dcdb4435d0
Throughout the year, the Owatonna Arts Center displays works from central and southern Minnesota and beyond, but every May the gallery is reserved exclusively for local artists.
The Arts Center is currently seeking submissions from local artists for the 71st Steele County Art Exhibition, which debuts May 5.
For OAC Artistic Director Silvan Durben, the exhibit presents an opportunity to not only see the latest work from familiar artists in the area, but to discover the artists hiding in plain sight.
“We’ve always had a who’s who of familiar artists, and it’s a launching pad too. We end up seeing a lot of new artists who may not be recognized,” said Durben. “An individual who may not be known eventually becomes kind of a local star in the visual arts world.”
Steele County residents 18 years of age or older may submit up to three pieces. The OAC is accepting submissions until May 3.
The annual show has been a fixture at the OAC since the institution’s early years, but its origins date back much earlier.
According to local historian Nancy Vaillancourt, it was first held in 1952 as the Steele County Art Show. Originally, it was hosted by the Owatonna Public Library in the Gainey Room on the third floor, which regularly hosted art classes and exhibits at the time.
The show moved to its current home sometime between the art center’s founding in 1974 and Durben’s hiring in ‘77.
Shortly after Durben joined the Arts Center, the late Jean Zamboni — who was both an artist and a major patron of the arts locally — promised he would be impressed by the talent in Steele County.
“She was correct and still is correct,” said Durben.
According to Durben, the exhibition was dominated by landscape and wildlife art in the ‘70s. He still finds those genres relevant today, especially in light of 21st century environmental concerns, but he’s also seen a wider range of styles emerge alongside them.
“Abstract work now has become much more acceptable than it was 50 years ago. That was not what artists around here were doing at the time,” said Durben.
Since it began, the exhibition has only missed a single year. The COVID-19 pandemic erupted mere weeks before the show was scheduled to debut in 2020, forcing the arts center to cancel it. Missing a year was “bizzare” for Durben, who left the previous exhibit up so the gallery wouldn’t be empty for a month.
Durben is excited to see the exhibit continue to evolve each year.
“I think the arts are redefining new aesthetics. Artists are breaking rules, finding new ways of doing things, new ways of expressing themselves,” he said.
To keep the show “fresh and new,” the Arts Center asks artists to only submit pieces from the past year.
Over the years, the exhibition has included work from well-known local artists like Jim Killen, the celebrated wildlife painter who died in January, and Lillian Colton, whose crop art earned her fame at the Minnesota State Fair.
While Durben welcomes the show’s regulars to participate again, he’s particularly hoping to see submissions from artists who’ve never exhibited their work publicly.
“I don’t want this to be a closed show where it’s just the people who have always shown. I want and I’m looking for new artists too. It’s an opportunity for them to show in a professional setting,” he said.
The Steele County Art Exhibition is sponsored by Federated Insurance.
Most Popular
Comments / 0