Ideal weather draws crowd to 58th annual Fine Arts Show

CRESCO - A crowd gathered in Beadle Park and enjoyed near-ideal weather Sunday for the 58th annual Cresco Fine Arts Show.

The show featured 13 vendors representing a variety of artistic media, from glassware to pottery, from watercolor painting to jewelry. A tent was set up to showcase art created by Crestwood High School students.

The judge for this year’s show was Shannon Dallenbach Durbin, executive director of ArtHaus in Decorah. 

“This is my first time here, and I was really impressed with the distances a lot of the people had come,” she said. “There is a lot of variety; it feels like there is one of everything in all of the artwork here.”

She continued, “There is a lot of really great school projects that are included that I was really excited to see. I am a former art teacher, and I am excited to see the quality of art coming out of the schools.”

Following is a list of prize winners and comments by Durbin:

 

Student Art 

Honorable Mention: Abbey Fencl: “The person I picked for honorable mention was Abbey Fencl. She has a color pencil tiger that I thought was really great. This piece filled the space with a lot of intensity. She had a lot of colors besides just orange that created a lot of depth. I loved the wrinkles on the nose of the tiger as well.

Student Art Third Place: Logan Albert. “For third place, I chose Logan Albert’s Different Perspectives photograph. He took a photo with a glass ball. He was able to think about the composition of holding the ball along with the second composition inside because he has both flowers and thought about the flag poles in the background, too.:

 

 He has good color and quality in his print.”

Student Art Second Place: Summer Knight: “For second place, I chose the charcoal silverware piece done by Summer Knight. There were several silverware pieces, which was great because that has a lot of reflections and curves in it, so that kind of artwork is really hard to capture but Summer did a great job with attention to detail. She had super dark tones and shadows and you could see the curve of the spoon head-on.”

Student Art First Place: Abbie Bergan: “I chose Abbie Bergan’s Pointillism portrait. This piece shows so much mood to me. The technique is so well done that you can even see freckles. The composition was really done, too.” 

 

Vendors

Honorable Mention: Dean Schwarz’s & Family, pottery. “Dean Schwarz & Family have beautiful pieces in all different price ranges and a lot of skill after many years of work. One of my favorite parts of the day was hearing some of the stories that were in each piece. I really enjoy the Schwarz pottery.”

Third Place: Darla Ellickson, jewelry: “She has really great new styles of jewelry with her folded silver that she is using in both pins and necklaces. I also like seeing her signature style of her earloops and a really great display on the booth.”

Second Place: David Prehm, watercolor painting: “I chose David Prehm and his watercolor paintings. He has a beautiful style and I loved hearing about his new work with his black bear pictures and some of the book illustrations. It was fun to hear he is working on teaching some of the birch tree techniques to children.”

First Place: Connie Rodgers, jewelry: “I chose Connie Rodgers with ‘Fancy That.’ Her assemblage jewelry shows a great eye for composition. Beyond that, Connie is also making her own glass and commissions it from people who she wants to support. She has a collection of brass that she finds and changes into her own style. It was great to hear her share her knowledge with people looking at her jewelry.”

Best of Show: Art Ciccotti, glass: “I chose Art Ciccotti, who has a glass display. I was really interested in learning all of the different methods he uses in a lot of different ways. He shows a lot of appreciation for the market along with his own artistry and I love that he has some photos of the process that he is excited to share.” 

 

Artist Impressions

Following is a sample of artist impressions of the day:

Darla Ellickson: I think it’s one of the nicest days we’ve ever had here. This is absolutely perfect weather and I think we have a nice crowd, too.” I talked to a gentleman who lives in Spillville and his business card is from Arizona and he knew my parents from Calmar. It’s interesting, the connections we make with people here. We love running into people at this show who know members of our families.”

Dean Schwarz’s grandchildren joined him for the Cresco Fine Arts Show and spoke about what upholding their grandfather’s artistic vision means to them:

Sophie Schwarz: “Having the ability to work with our family is a great opportunity A lot of people our age don’t get to learn art in this way. It gives us all an advantage because we are already learning these skills at a young age and it’s very special.”

Maggie Schwarz: “I agree with my sister Sophie. It’s really important to carry on traditions, especially traditions that have been carried through the generations of your family. I think it’s not something any ‘normal’ teenager really gets to experience. I think it’s important and an honorable thing to be able to do.”

Will Schwarz: “We are in the process of learning the different techniques and forms to becoming pottery masters. It takes a long time to carry it over from the old Bauhaus tradition from Germany, which our grandfather (Dean Schwarz) studied with some of the master artists that fled the Nazis in the 1930s, specifically Marguerite Wildenhain. Our grandpa Dean became her principal disciple and eventually became a pottery master. Art has always been a big part of our lives. I think all of us are wanting to go into careers where we get to explore art and find ways to share with other people.”

Dalton Brown: “When you’re going about creating art in terms of a big family, there is a lot of support about the things you can do. You have some more leeway and freedom so I think that’s an important part about how this survives into the future.”

Rebecca Pittelko of Potter’s Nod: “This is my second year and it’s been great; it’s a beautiful day and a lot of people are out looking at things. This is such a great show and the Fine Arts Council takes such good care of us, like when they stop by with water bottles for us. I think as someone who comes as a vendor, that makes a big difference. You hear people greeting each other and it seems like a community-wide event. It’s a great show.”

She said her newest artistic venture did well at the art show:

“I’ve done Sgraffito for a long time but now I’m working with more color on the inside and that has been a hot seller today.”

David Prehm: “People are very nice in Cresco and I think that’s what brings the artists back. It’s nice to see the student work, as well. They have talented kids and a good art teacher in Cresco and that’s important.” 

Connie Rodgers, ‘Fancy That’: We sell a little bit of everything here and we come back to this show because of the people. We love Cresco. We were in Okoboji yesterday. We loaded up and got here at 9 p.m. and slept in the parking lot at Fareway. That is how much we love this show.”

She talked about how she creates her art:

“We travel to Europe once or twice a year and collect vintage unused glass beads and glass stones that were made in the 1930s and 1940s, along with old brass. I assemble it to make Art Nouveau-inspired jewelry. I go near Venice and collect glass rocks and I come back to Iowa and I make beads and design jewelry with that. I go to the Czech Republic and I have a couple of bead makers that make custom beads for me using vintage molds.”

She says getting through airport customs with her finds is a challenge:

“My husband travels with me and I give him all of that, beads and brass and put it in his backpack. I go through customs, grab a book and sit down and wait.”

Art Ciccotti, Ciccotti Art Glass: I make hand-blown glass. Not all of it is hand-blown; some of it is gathered like the large paperweights. We make sea horses, fish, blown hearts; I’ve been doing this for about 34 years.”

Ciccotti said he’s been a vendor at the Cresco Fine Arts Show three times. He says the small-town charm brings him back and he should know: He lives in an even smaller town.

“We like the small-town atmosphere in Cresco. It’s very relaxed. We live in a really small town of 15 people; Napier, Iowa, outside of Ames. We live in an old farmhouse and built a larger studio. We do workshops and people come from all over.”

A total list of vendors included: Jeff Carolan, Decorah, mixed media; Art Ciccotti, Ames, glass; Molly Dillon, Fort Madison, photography; Darla Ellickson, Decorah, jewelry; Edward Mietz, Granger, Minn., glass; Kevin and Mary Ann Neuzil, Cresco, metal; Pamela Novotny, Protivin, acrylic; Felicia Pecinovsky, Cresco, glass; Rebecca Pittelko, Rochester, Minn., ceramics; David Prehm, New Hampton, watercolor; Connie Rodgers, University Park, jewelry; Dean Schwarz & Family, Decorah, pottery and Leonard Zeller, Cresco, wood.

 

Additional Events

The Forte Milers Barbershop Chorus serenaded art show attendees. Boy Scout Troop 63 served lunch. The youth of Immanuel and First Lutheran churches served milkshakes at the Moo Mobile. The Country Winds Manor Auxiliary sold a variety of pies (ice cream optional) with proceeds going to support the Country Winds Manor music program.

Silver Chord volunteers from Crestwood High School led the children’s activities.

The Cresco Fine Arts Council includes Loraine Hubka, Chair; Gretchen Becker, Joan Buttjer, Sue Easler, Sally Godwin, Amber Howard, Chris Roesler, Janet Rustad, Linda Schorr and Sara Stromseth-Troy.

Friends of the Fine Arts Show include: Alum Line, Inc., Billmyer Furniture & Flooring, Black Hills Energy, Amy Bouska, Camp-Site RV, Casey’s General Store, CIA Insurance, Cresco Bank & Trust, Cresco Building Service, Cresco Travel & Tourism, Cresco Wa-Tan-Ye, Cresco Wildlife Club, Culligan/Kerian Water Store, CUSB Bank, Jim and Jodi Dean, Erickson-Prochaska Realtors, Fareway Stores, H&S Motors, Jeffrey and Shirley Haw, Hawkeye Sanitation, Dale and Catherine Holstrom, Howard County Business & Tourism, Dan and Julie Huiskamp, Hvitvid & Associates, JP Accounting, Bootie Kapler, Milton Krueger, L&S Masonry, Marti & Co., O’Henry’s Stitches and Prints, Oak Creek Dental, Ruppert’s Ace Hardware and V&V Insurance. 

The 59th annual Cresco Fine Arts Show is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020.