Tabletops are elegantly adorned by Cindy Chilton and gracefully laid with torta rustica, creamed grapes, decorated heart cookies and morsels of chocolate decadence--culinary creations of Judy Goff and Jo Ellis assisted by a bevy of volunteers. Barman Alex Boyer pours libations while Board Treasurer, Pat Goff, makes a last minute run to replenish the stock enjoyed by our art-loving crowd. Kelly Heidlage, Receptions Photographer, is everywhere gathering a wealth of images through her sensitive lens.

Carthage celebrities appear including Steve Beimdick, Carthage Citizen of the Year, accompanied by his wife, Mary; Wayne and Miriam Putnam, Carthage Humanitarians of the Year are present, as well as Dan Trogdon, Carthage Artist of the Year, and his wife, Janie.

Jerry Ellis, renowned Carthage artist and emeritus Member of the Board, arrives early. Smiling and laughing throughout, he stays late.

Artists who’ll be featured in future exhibitions are here, including Andrew Batcheller and Tom Jones with their companions. Lively conversations are enjoyed with peers and aspiring newcomers.

Several first-time guests join artCentral as new Members. All through the evening magic and happy memories are made amongst our glittering trove of creativity. Art is purchased.

Applause and congratulations abound as Guest Juror Sally Armstrong’s selections of award recipients are announced by JRAC President Sarah Serio.

Michael Steddum, with his watercolor, “Transparency” receives acclaim as “Best of Show.”

Artists given awards in the category of Two Dimensional Works include Linda Teeter, First Place; Christina Lorenzen, Second Place; and Margie Moss, Third Place.

Awards for the category of Three Dimensional Works go to Jim Bray, First Place; Cindy Head, Second Place; and Sandra Conrad, Third Place.

PASSION remains on display through March 8th. Come as our guest and discover PASSION’S treasures.

You’ll see a wisp of scarlet in a darkened pewter sky, a magnificent bouquet vibrating with brilliant colors and glints of light dancing off pearls strewn on crimson.

You’ll find sparkles like diamonds on still waters, a hidden floor checkered black and white, two bodies entwined behind reflections on a shelf and pale orchids reaching up to kiss our crystal chandelier.

We’re eager to share our treasures with you! Visit during weekend Gallery Hours: Friday-Saturday, noon to 5; Sunday, 1 to 5. For other times call (417) 358-4404. 

Please join us for artCentral’s Opening Reception in Hyde House, tomorrow night at six in the evening. Admission is free to artCentral Members and the public. All are welcome. Awards will be given.

These artistic expressions are as diverse as the artists creating them. Some are stunningly bright and bold, others soothingly subtle and sublime. Some are surprising and others reassuring. Some playfully amuse, while others insistently challenge. Works on paper, canvas and bone with works of wood, fur and clay make this exhibit a multi-media courtship bouquet that artCentral extends to you.
                                                                                          
artCentral not only has art for your enjoyment at Hyde House, we now have three Satellite Galleries: The Vestibule at the Carthage Library, The Downtown at Mother Road Coffee and The Atrium at Sirloin Stockade. To Julie Yockey, Director of the Library, Kara and Ed Hardesty at Mother Road Coffee and Terry and Billie McDonald at Sirloin Stockade, I say an art-felt “Thank You!” for the privilege of curating these spaces. Most all the works displayed are available for sale. Look, see, select and call me at (417) 358-4404 to make your purchase. Help us support our amazing artCentral artists!

Presently showing at Sirloin Stockade is Brenda Sageng’s “Life Evident in the Drift” featuring dramatic interpretations of places and spaces, derelict and resurrecting, filled with light, shadows and possibility.

The current exhibit at Mother Road Coffee, “SweatersUpcycled” is a delightful collection of wearable hats fashioned and framed by Joplin fiber artist Brenda Hayes.

At the Library’s debut exhibition you’ll find my own “Landmarks of Carthage” perched on the Library’s new exhibition easels.

Come tomorrow night to Hyde House. Celebrate PASSION with us at 6 pm with passionate art, libations, Judy Goff’s delightful delectables and Cindy Chilton’s artful tabletop creations and visit our Satellite Galleries, too!

We passionately wish to have you among us! Join today as an artCentral member to receive newsletters and keep up with all artCentral’s exciting happenings. Pick up a Membership mail-in envelope at supporting businesses around Carthage and Joplin or at Hyde House; call me (417-358-4404) or our Membership Chairwoman, Gail White (417-310-7262); or join online with a couple of clicks at our website: http://www.artcentralcarthage.org/join.html.  

Won’t you come and join in artCentral’s fun, beautiful and invigorating dance? Being an artCentral Member is easy. You can pick up a Membership mail-in envelope at supporting businesses around Carthage or at Hyde House; call me (417-358-4404) or our Membership Chairwoman, Gail White (417-310-7262); or visit our website and join online with a click at http://www.artcentralcarthage.org/join.html.

Dancing is definitely an art form practiced throughout our community. Dr. Chad Wagoner knows all about dancing. He dances with the stars! Besides being my compassionate GP, he’s an accomplished astral photographer. While in his exam room for my annual wellness visit, again I see his art on the wall—one of his exquisite photographs of the swirling firmaments. I lose myself in this picture as my kind, competent nurse, Kayla, mom of three, gives me the injection for my pneumonia booster. Instead of an “ouch!” I feel only bliss, while lost in the heavenly dimensions of Dr. Wagoner’s art.

The dancing heavens always give me bliss. Lately on our crisp, clear nights, I’ve been going outside to look up. (I know artCentral Board Member Jackie Boyer is doing this, too. I smile seeing her rhapsodic Facebook posts lauding the wonderment of our winter moon.)

February, the month of love, is a grand month for watching dancing in the evening sky. Above us there’s lovely aligning going on. Dazzling Venus, the sky’s brightest planet, and modestly-bright Mars are pairing together in the western sky after sunset. Magnificent Jupiter, the sky’s second-brightest planet, beams low in the east as darkness falls. Ah, the magnificence of heavenly partnering!

You’ll see heavenly partnering in all our artCentral Galleries, as we begin our Exhibition Season with PASSION, presented by the artists of the Joplin Regional Artists Coalition and generously underwritten by KOKA and CHERRY’S Art Galleries. With years of experience making and exhibiting their art in many media, these artists know how to make an Exhibition dance. In PASSION each artist depicts a subject of passion that moves or challenges, comforts or gives cause for celebration.

Join us for libations, Judy Goff’s delectables and Cindy Chilton’s tabletop creations at our Opening Reception at 6 pm on Friday, February 20. Admission is FREE. Donations are welcome.

Anticipate, choreograph your dance card and come twirl with us and artCentral’s shining stars. JRAC artists are terrific dance partners!

My family lives beside the village park which, after the death of my parents, is named Baker Park in their honor. Complete with a water feature and walking paths, swing sets and jungle gyms, as well as a basketball court and a miniature baseball diamond, today this award-winning pocket playground continues to host growing families in this quiet starter neighborhood.

While I live in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn, I have autumnal use of a two-story, white Vermont farmhouse belonging to generous Arkansas friends. Tall and straight she stands, with views over the pond and the dirt road that descends, past the Rockefeller mansion of their cousins and the graveyard of tilting stones, then over the covered bridge into Woodstock.

Returning to my roots from NYC, I settle briefly in a green-shuttered, white Dutch Colonial on a street sloping to the Medical School. Here I see my parents through their end times. Later in Fayetteville, I pass several months semi-setup in a white, porch-wrapped landmark on Block Street from which folk music perpetually pours.

Today I’m all about Hyde House, the big, beautiful, elegant home of artCentral. This white jewel is a treasure entrusted to Carthage by our benefactress, Katherine Hyde. Ms. Hyde, an aspiring painter, wanted her home to be used in perpetuity to promote, exhibit, teach and foster art in our community. Every day artCentral’s Board of Directors and I aspire to honor Ms. Hyde’s wishes. Please, won’t you join with us and make Hyde House your home, too?

Become an artCentral Member! Your Membership donation helps support our daily operations and the expansion of our Classes, Workshops and Activities for children. You can pick up a Membership mail-in envelope at supporting businesses around Carthage or at Hyde House or visit our website and join online at http://www.artcentralcarthage.org/membership.html. Call our Membership Chairwoman, Gail White at (417) 310-7262 to join, or call me at (417) 358-4404.

Our grand, white Hyde House is here to be shared and spacious enough for everyone. There’s definitely room for you. Don’t hesitate. Join artCentral today and make this art-filled house your home where you belong.