Q & A with the 50th Annual Northern Lights Judges

By Cynthia Maya | March 7, 2024

How the Northern Lights Judges Make History Every Year It is as big as it sounds: it’s White Bear Center for the Arts’ 50th Annual Northern Lights Juried Art Exhibition. Just 10 years after its creation, Northern Lights was considered one of the most prestigious art shows in the area and one of the most…

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WBCA Launches Paid High School Internship Program

By efuelling | February 27, 2024

Inside White Bear Center for the Arts’ administrative office, high schoolers are busy at work, learning how to install exhibits, design promotional materials, and work in arts administration. Seven students from local high schools recently accepted positions as interns at White Bear Center for the Arts through an internship program called “Studio Repose.” The internship…

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Chris Scholl Welcomed as White Bear Center for the Arts’ next Executive Director

By efuelling | July 19, 2023

It is with tremendous enthusiasm that White Bear Center for the Arts (WBCA) announces Chris Scholl will be its next Executive Director, beginning on August 7. In Chris’s words, “I was first an artist myself, and later realized that my gifts as an administrator are greater than as an artist. Since then I’ve used my…

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Capturing Summer through Plein Air Painting

By admin | June 14, 2023

We spend so much of the year dreaming about Minnesota summers. Going to the lake, long evenings spent outside, and finally seeing that glorious sun. But when it gets here, doesn’t it always seem to slip through our fingers? Somehow we blink and all of our lofty goals of spending every second hiking or in…

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An Abundance of Love: Artist Highlight with Genie Hien Tran

By admin | April 27, 2023

Genie Hien Tran (Trần Phan Minh Hiền) is an interdisciplinary artist and designer based in Minneapolis, MN. She was born in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and recently received her MFA degree in Visual Arts at Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Her work takes the form of collage, painting, installation, and writing in order…

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A Creative Streak: The Artistic Journey of Ken Baltes

By admin | October 20, 2022

Ken Baltes was a familiar face around White Bear Center for the Arts for many years. He began taking art classes with teaching artist Lisa Fertig in 2013, but his interest in art started long before then. Ken Baltes always had a creative streak, which might seem in contrast to his 50-year career in computer…

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Studio Coffee Tries Plein Air

By admin | September 30, 2022

Neil Johnston is a familiar face around White Bear Center for the Arts; every Friday he facilitates Studio Coffee, a class where folks come together to drink coffee and discuss all sorts of art-related topics. Neil recently attended the Port Wing Plein Air Painting Festival in Port Wing, Wisconsin, along with some members of Studio…

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For the Love of Clay

By admin | April 14, 2022

How Nancy Saathoff Supports the Diversity of WBCA Nancy Saathoff has been involved with White Bear Center for the Arts since the 1970s, back when the organization was still the White Bear Arts Council. As an art teacher at Mahtomedi High School, Nancy was drawn to WBCA as a place where she could learn from…

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Storytelling through Photography

By admin | January 5, 2022

Awa Mally Artist Highlight Photographer and artist Awa Mally grew up in north Minneapolis, in a neighborhood composed mainly of immigrant families. As an immigrant herself, having moved from Togo at the age of seven, she felt a strong sense of community with her neighbors. “I feel like my identity as an immigrant influences my…

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The Journey of Scott Lloyd Anderson

By admin | December 3, 2021

Scott Lloyd Anderson learned at an early age to value realism in his art. Growing up near Chicago Illinois, Scott was praised for drawing accurately, and he grew up enamored with early 20th century illustrators. When it came time to decide what to study at school, he chose graphic design, and spent 20 years as…

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