MidCoast has a mission to support regional visual arts and artists--and yet now it is up to ALL OF YOU artists to step up and participate! The Call for Entries for Riverssance is out earlier than in the past in order to help artists plan their art fair seasons. Additionally, the Call for Entries for exhibitions in three different MidCoast venues will provide opportunities for artists ranging from the novice to the professional. MidCoast offers friendly, seasoned experience with installations by staff members Carolyn Krueger and Tony Seabolt. Publicity is placed in this newsletter for all exhibitions. Receptions are provided at Gallery West and Bucktown. No commission is charged. Full details below. Give it a try!

The year 2016 has seen some amazing MidCoast synergy and fun. For Riverssance, chair Michele Darland wanted wings for the "art angels" volunteers and she brought them--see photo for results. Rock Island High School took top prize in the ArtWorks Expo, moving the honor to Illinois from Iowa where it had been for many years. The Gallery HOP! evenings included unique creations by body painter Kimberly Miller of Celestial by Design. Bucktown was fiber bombed, Gallery West was draped with driftwood, and we continued to enjoy and grow from a myriad of interactions with the artistic vitality of the Quad Cities region. Thank you to our supporters, including Jack Wilhoit for all his behind-the-scenes work, and to the hard-working MidCoast board members. In 2017, drop in, participate and find a deeper connection with the visual arts.

 

~ Sherry

Margery Franklin combines two loves--world travel and photography. Wild animals from overseas abound in this exhibition.

Lisa Francescon, photography
Barbara Toner, glass
January - February
Opening reception - January 14, 6-9 p.m.

	by Lisa Francescon

Lisa Francescon has been capturing the relationships and personalities of families and children with her camera since 2004. Over the past three years, her focus has changed and her primary clients now have fur, a tail and whiskers. She creates portrait art of family pets, as well as service and therapy animals.

Francescon received a Master's Degree in Education from Western Illinois University and taught in the public schools for many years. She continues to teach photography classes in her studio. She's a Certified Professional Photographer and will receive her Master of Photography and Photographic Craftsman degrees through the Professional Photographers of America in January of 2017, as well as a member of the American Society of Photographers, one of the most prestigious photographic associations in the world and an association that one must be invited into through photographic achievement.

	by Barbara Toner

Among her many awards and accolades, she's been recognized as one of the top ten photographers in Illinois in both 2015 and 2016 from the Associated Professional Photographers of Illinois. MomentsByLisa.com.

Barbara Toner was born in Philadelphia, but has lived in Bettendorf, for more than 30 years. She discovered the lure of fused glass creation after her retirement, first dabbling in jewelry, then mosaics and plates, and now, new types of bowls. Her coral bowls, created with strips of fused glass, are reminiscent of delicate reef structures. The floriform styles are bowls of rippling folded glass. Toner notes "each is a surprise."

 

Jeanne O'Melia
through January

Jeanne O'Melia infuses charm into her watercolors, drawings, paintings, cyanotypes and mixed media works. 

Suite 103

To augment the wonders of the season, Bucktown offers a retro working  train display generously built and provided by Bucktown's Mrs. B. of  Bereskin's Fine Art Gallery & Studio and "gandy dancer" Dr. B. The train display consists of two separate systems. Dr. B concludes "These are modern scale models with a high level of detail." Thank you Dr. B. for this fun holiday addition!

Final Friday and Wine Walk
December 16, 6-9 p.m.

Hosted by the artists of Bucktown Center for the Arts, wine walk guests may purchase a hand-painted wine glass for $20, which entitles them to a tasting of five wines and light snacks. The evening will include strolling carolers from the Black Hawk College Community Chorale directed by Jon Palomaki, a reception for the Lee Kimball exhibition (see below) and the retro train display.

A percentage of participating gallery sales from the evening will be donated to NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness. This 36-year old affiliate of the nation's largest grassroots mental health organization provides free education and support programs locally to individuals and families living with a serious mental health condition.

Beréskin Fine Art Gallery and Studio Presents the Art of Lee Kimball