Prairie Camp 2012 – THE WONDERS OF THE PRAIRIE WETLANDS featuring puppet & mask making with Twin Cities artists Esther Ouray & Julie Kastigar Boada.
Grades 1 – 6, June 11 – 23rd, 9:15 am – 3:30 pm

$160/all day. 1/2 day option (for 6 & 7 year olds, 10:30 am – 2 pm/$100)

Six additional puppetry workshops for community members will be offered on June 5^th, 6^th & 7^the from 6:30 – 9:30, June 12^th, 14^th & 19^th from 6:30 – 8:30. Learn how to walk on stilts, build masks, manipulate puppets or participate in any way you like. Location: To be announced.  Come to one or all!!

FINAL DISPLAY & PUPPET PAGEANT AT THE MORRIS AREA WETLANDS, JUNE 23^rd at 1 pm.

Final rehearsals for community members will be on June 21^st & 22^nd from 6 – 8 pm and June 21^st from 10 – noon.

For registration information, contact PRCA at 585 5037 or prca@prairierenaissance.org. You can also contact the camp director, Ferolyn Angell at ferolynangell@hotmail.com. Need based scholarships are available.

This activity is funded in part by the Minnesota arts and cultural heritage fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.

Closing Reception Thursday, May 10th 5 to 6:30pm. Come join us for refreshments and talk with the artist.

The grant funds will bring puppet and mask artists Esther Ouray and Julie Kastigar, from St. Paul, to work with the annual PRCA Prairie Camp teachers, students and the surrounding community in June of 2012. The grant will also fund need based scholarships for children to attend camp.  Prairie Camp (June 11 – 23, 2012) is an all day art camp for children grades 1 – 6 and takes place in Morris. The project will culminate in a “Puppet Pageant”, where the students will use the puppets and masks that they have built to tell a story about the prairie wetlands environment.  The final event will be held at the Morris WMD on Saturday June 23^rd at 1 pm.

The PRCA and the Morris WMD will be reaching out to community members within a 30 – 40 mile radius to participate in puppet and mask making workshops prior to the pageant, so that as many people as possible throughout the region may participate.  Details of the deadline to sign up, time commitments, requirements and associated costs will be coming out soon.  Informational brochures will be sent home with school children and there will be more information on the PRCA website http://www.prairierenaissance.org , on the PRCA and Morris WMD Facebook page, and in local newspaper and radio advertisements.   Anyone familiar with the work of the Heart of the Beast Mask & Puppet Theatre of Minneapolis/St. Paul http://hobt.org/ already knows that this will be a fantastic experience for young and old.

Malena has been painting for over thirty years. Her work captures both inner, personal landscapes and the beauty of the countryside that surrounds us. Malena is also a musician who writes music, sings, and plays accordion. CD’s of some of her songs are also for sale at the PRCA gallery.

Malena is the owner (and janitor) at her home studio, The Loose Tooth Cowgirl Saloon of Art at the Easy Bean Farm where she grows vegetables for CSA with husband Mike Jacobs and two children, who are all pleased that it has finally snowed a little!!

The winners are…
1-2-3 Year Olds: Mari DeVries
Preschool and Kindergarten: Owen Hentjes
1st and 2nd Grade: Jula Weyer
3rd and 4th Grade: Sara Hoffman
5th and 6th Grade: Shannon Kill

Thank you to everyone who was entered in the contest!

2011 PRCA Fundraiser

Pepper born and raised in the Pope County area, has worked 12 years at Lane Studio in Glenwood and has taught photography at the University of Minnesota Morris. In January of this year, she earned the coveted “Master of Photography” title from the Professional Photographers of America. She owns Heirlooms Gallery in Glenwood.

“My goal as a photographer and artist is to try and capture life’s fleeting moments so that others can see what I see,” Pepper said, “Experiences that unfold before you will never again be repeated exactly the same way. I want to seize this moment in time, and capture its reality!”

Some of the photographs in the exhibition, as well as cards and prints of her photos, are for sale at the PRCA Gallery. A reception to meet the artist is being scheduled.

Everyone invited.

Faythe Mills of Glenwood, illustrator of the book, Missing My Best Friend, will be showing her work at the Gallery until Sept. 17th. Missing My Best Friend helps children deal with grief and was written by Minnesota author Norma Thorstad Knapp. Copies of the book will be available. Some of Faythe’s artwork is for sale.

Refreshments and coffee will be available.

First place winners followed by their category are as follows:

Blue Heron by Claudine Grove, Alexandria (Wetlands). Messenger of May by Sylke Boyd, Morris (The Color Yellow). Still Beautiful by Shirley Weeding, Chokio (Historic Architecture). A Shady Place by Shirley Weeding, Chokio (The Natural World). Page Lake Algae by Vicki Dalager, Morris (Abstract). Rainy Bliss by Sylke Boyd, Morris (Children). An Eye for the Big City by Kevin Viratyosin, 16, Morris (Youth).

Honorable mention for each category:

Springing to Life by Samantha Massmann, Morris (Wetlands). Folding Bike by Sami Bishop, Starbuck (The Color Yellow). Bearing the Cross by Samantha Mossmann, Morris (Historic Architecture). Busy Bee by Claudine Grove, Alexandria (The Natural World). Blue Ice by Phyllis Joos, Hancock (Abstract). Jessa by Shannon Stewlow, Starbuck (Children). Untitled by Abby Travis, 15, Morris (Youth).

The People’s Choice Award was awarded John Jones, Morris, for his photograph titled Rays on Pelican Lake.

Winners receive a PRCA gift certificate. The winner of the Wetlands category is awarded a bird house donated by the Morris Wetland Management District.

The Juried Show will be on display in the PRCA’s art gallery at 630 Atlantic Avenue until the end of July.