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Jessica Turtle Creates a Community Mural at WBCA
It’s in the name, but you wouldn’t believe the connections made over a community mural. Over the course of five days, Jessica was joined by over 100 people to paint on WBCA’s 14 x 43 foot, east-facing wall. The motley crew included artists, students, WBCA staff members, board members, writers, and even a group of…
Read MoreCrop Art Students Head to the State Fair
Something seedy is growing at White Bear Center for the Arts. Under the expert guidance of Marta Shore, Assistant Superintendent of Crop Art and Scarecrow at the Minnesota State Fair, a group of artists honed their skills as they learned how to create crop art and submit their work to the State Fair. Starting in…
Read MoreMexican Clay Makes a Pilgrimage to Minnesota
White Bear Center for the Arts is prepping to host the Mata Ortiz Pottery Sale again for the first time since its run in 2019. From September 18-21, renowned artists from the small village of Mata Ortiz, in the Northern state of Chihuahua, Mexico will display their pottery at WBCA for a special four-day sale. …
Read MoreQ&A with Into Nature Judge Michele Combs
When Michele Combs took her first painting class at 38 years old, she couldn’t have guessed she’d become a renowned, award-winning plein air painter. She began her painting journey in an acrylic painting class at the Minnetonka Center for the Arts, the art center where she ended up teaching. When she entered her first painting…
Read More“Ode to my Umi”: Celebrating Black Motherhood, Ancestry, and the Revolutionary Power of Rest
The newest exhibit in White Bear Center for the Arts’ Ford Family Gallery, “Ode to my Umi,” honors Black motherhood and ancestral wisdom. But the curator of the show, 2023-2024 Emerging Curators Institute Fellow Eshay Brantley, wants to make one thing clear: this exhibit is for everyone. Directly influenced by the women in her family…
Read MoreThe Power of Plein Air: The Benefits of Doing Art in Nature
Seeing sunbeams after the long dreary winter days, have you been finding your home or studio lacking in inspiration? You might want to try art en plein air. En plein air is a French expression, meaning simply, “in the open air.” As with most things when said in French, it gains a romantic quality. But…
Read MoreThe Joy of Creating
From the time the earliest humans marked their handprints on the walls of caves, art-making has been synonymous with the human experience. Even in our busy days, we find ways to make art: doodling, humming, dancing, taking pictures, or even composing beautifully written emails. We do art because it feels good, in ways deeper than…
Read MoreQ & A with the 50th Annual Northern Lights Judges
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…
Read MoreChris Scholl Welcomed as White Bear Center for the Arts’ next Executive Director
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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