There are 90 years of artists at the Landscape and Memory local artists show, with both artists as young as seven and as old as 96. The wide range of work, including two sculptures of the Eiffel Tower and one giant puzzle, is on display for the month of June.
On the young side is Josephine Bjerland, who sketched images inspired by dance and her imagination. Sketching since three, the young artist is happy to have the chance to show her work in the gallery, something she didn’t think would be possible before.
“I never thought I would be able to put it a gallery before.”
The show itself is inspiring for Bjerland, because it was such a varied selection of work.
“I think it’s so amazing how different everybody’s mind works... It’s nice to look at them, compare them to mine, and how different and similar they are.”
Bjerland would love to have a career of an artist, though she admits that might not necessarily be possible, and encourages everyone who has the desire to make art.
Representing the more mature end of the age spectrum is Val Morhart from Canora, who paints acrylic scenes that represents both words of the show, landscapes about memories of old farms and scenes. The goal is to make work that represents the “good old days,” taking old farm buildings and painting scenes depicting them when they were well used and in their prime. His goal is to keep the memories of these old farms fresh.
“If it isn’t put down on a canvas or in a photo, it’s going to get lost.”
While he will sometimes just go with a broken down building, Morhart is more interested in the memory of the buildings themselves. He wants to make work that reminds people of when these structures mattered to someone.
“I like to take it and put something in there that says there was actually a family that lived here, there were good times here, children growing up and stuff like that.”
He has had people say they recognize the time and place he’s trying to evoke with his work, something he views as the most rewarding part of the process.
“What I like is when people come up to me and say ‘I lived that, I know what you’re saying here.’”
Morhart is a fan of the local artist show, especially when it comes to encouraging people to create work in the community. He thinks it’s especially important to have an outlet for kids to put art out
“There are a lot of young kids who can really put out when it comes to art, they’re really good. This is all they need, a little push to get them going in the right direction.”
