Exhibits on display at Arts Place locations

One features the work of local enthusiasts.

The other asks a question about life.

Arts Place recently launched its first Staff & Family Show at its Jay County Campus while Kate Homan’s Proximity & im(Permanence) shifted from the Portland location to Blackford County Arts Center in Hartford City.

The regional arts organization has never had a display focused on its own employees. But when visual arts director Allison Smiley had a gap in the Weaver Community Gallery schedule, she had an idea.

“I was like, well, I give everybody else in the community the chance to display their work, but I haven't really asked anybody from Arts Place,” said the Ridgeville resident. “So I thought, well, we'll just see if anybody's interested.”

When head receptionist Teresa Penrod mentioned that her daughter is a photographer, the idea expanded to include the families of the staff as well.

“Everyone was really excited,” said Smiley. “I started off with just a couple people that I knew did craft shows and it was really positive from them. So then I just asked everybody if anyone had anything they wanted to put in, they could.”

That request brought in a wide variety of items, from the photography of Penrod’s daughter Melinda Byers and Arts Place receptionist Greg Ashley to a mug painted by Ella Roussey, whose mom Shawnda is the Jay County center director, to an ice-dyed scarf from executive director Carolyn Carducci.

Penrod brought quite a bit of variety all by herself, including dozens of ceramic ornaments, angel ornaments, pot holders, scrubbies, blankets and jar openers that she makes out of her leftover fabric. 

“Because I hate to throw it away,” she said. “Same way with the necks on the little scarves, on the little snowman ornaments.”

Her items also feature decorative plates — she starts with a glass plate, decorates it with fabric and then covers it with Mod Podge.

“I make it because I do craft shows,” said Penrod, explaining that she got started with the local Delta Theta Tau show, took a break for a while and then returned. “I do six craft shows a year. … And I really enjoyed doing it. It's a hobby I like to do.”

Homan is an Indianapolis-based artists who grew up in Portland just a few blocks from Arts Place. She works in watercolor, acrylic, and ink to woodworking and hand-engraved glass.

She said the style of her work in Proximity & im(Permanence) helped me meditate on the question, “How do we face what overwhelms us?”

“Painting block by tiny block reminds me that we meet whatever comes not just with grand and immediate gestures but also with ongoing, deliberate steps, making perhaps small but intentional contributions to progress every single day,” she added. “Working to understand how one rectangle’s presence and qualities impact those in proximity to it reminds me that our personal efforts must work with and be enriched in return by those from others.”

Proximity & im(Permanence) runs through Feb. 17 while the Staff & Family Show will be on display until March 13.

Both exhibits are free and open to the public during regular Arts Place hours. The Jay County Campus, 131 E. Walnut St., Portland, is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday and Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday. 

For more information, visit myartsplace.org.