Kansas City painter Jason Needham finds inspiration in the overlooked corners of the Midwest. As the sun rose one recent morning, he was concentrating on a tangle of overgrown vines surrounding a stand of cottonwood trees at Kessler Park in the the city’s Historic Northeast neighborhood. (Photo/ Julie Denesha)
I’ve had a long-standing interest in impressionism, post-impressionism, and early American modernists like Marsden Hartley. All the other obvious influences apply: David Hockney, Neil Welliver, Alex Katz, Lois Dodd, among others. I’m drawing and painting scenes that are very familiar to me: forest scenes just off the beaten path, a pocket of woods with an interstate, parking lot or air-conditioned retreat just behind me. The trick is to see these mundane moments as majestic while allowing the mistakes of hand and misconceptions of eye be as present as the purposeful. I like the paintings to coalesce from a distance but upon close inspection fall apart into marks and the process of making, with the underlaying scaffolding of the image still visible. Each brushstroke becomes a single particle and the painting a wave of time-space. Whether I’m standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon or staring into the corner of a room, the investment in looking is the same. On one end, I’m working areas of my brain that lie deeper than the surface stream of thoughts, the self-narrating voice. On the other end, I’m pondering the fundamental structure of reality.
The Norfolk Arts Center (NAC) invites you to the Board of Directors’ Reception on Tuesday, July 192022
We will recognize the outgoing Board of Directors and welcome the new members. Please invite your family and friends to join us. Wine and hors d’oeuvres will be served.
The NAC will recognize these outgoing board members for their years of service:
Roger Nadrchal, 6 years
Chase Pflueger, 6 years
Austen Hagood, 3 years
Rachel Reiser, 3 years
Mark Zimmerer, 2 years
Traci Jeffrey, 2 years
Mary Pat Hoag, 1 year
We welcome six new members to the NAC Board of Directors: Brent Bossard, Tina Mazuch, Clare Orwig, Tammi Reeves, Beatriz Rodriguez, and Tiffany Tichota.
Thank you for your continued commitment and dedication to the Norfolk Arts Center to carry out our mission.
“This series is a collection and journey of what growth looks like, with each piece revealing a piece of tangled webs inside a mind looking for hope or that splinter of light at the end of a tunnel. Some people simply cannot speak and write what is deep inside, but you can give them some paint and they can make you feel it. My hope is that my art can connect with something inside of yourself, that you may be able to feel inspired to not feel alone and that if you’re in a place where you find yourself laying on the cold tile floor…that God speaks to you and says, “Talitha Cumi.” And places a paintbrush in your hands.”
“The Crucifixion of Illusion”
“Untitled”
“Sprigs”
Sophia Ruppert – Atrium Artist
“In my practice, “material” refers to any object that is human-made and does not naturally occur in nature. Physical things inform every part of our being. they connect us to other times and root us in community. Fabric swaddles us through life, tools aid our labor, dishes hold our food. By nature of necessity, materials chronicle our history as complex individuals and, when dissociated from use, catalogue our existence as artifacts. As I work, I consider our human nature and ask further questions: making up answers when I find none or am unsatisfied with a resolution.”
Second Place – Butch Rohrschneider – Goodbye Tomato
Honorable Mention – Emma Bermel – Misty Morning
Best in Show – Zoe Nielsen – Searching
First Place – Nita Erickson – Oak Seed Tea
Second Place – Butch Rohrschneider – Goodbye Tomato
Honorable Mention – Emma Bermel – Misty Morning
This year’s juror is Beatriz Rodriguez who teaches printmaking and drawing at Wayne State College. Before coming to WSC, Rodriguez worked closely with renowned artist, Mira Lehr and taught at the University of Miami as well as in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Florida. Her work has been exhibited in places such as the Yellowstone Art Museum, Remarque Print Workshop in New Mexico, FAR Gallery in Florida and H Gallery in California. Her work has been published in Saw Palm: Florida Literature and Art as well as in Voyage Magazine Miami.
About this year’s work Beatriz said “Amongst this year’s submissions, there were a lot of works that showed a great deal of talent and artistic vision, and I would like to thank everyone who took the chance and sent in their work for consideration. When jurying, I look not only to the works that display a great level of skill, but also artistic maturity, concept and ambition. Amongst the works submitted, I would like to bring special attention to the following pieces. To Butch Rohrschneider’s Goodbye Tomato, for its dynamic use of composition, bold colors and painterly aesthetic, most unexpected in a photograph. To Emma Bermel’s Misty Morning, a perfect capture of what renown photographer Henry Cartier Bresson’s refers to as The Decisive Moment. To Nita Erickson’s unexpectedly harmonious mixture of mediums in Oak Seed Tea. The translucent quality of glass, transitioning to bronze, creating a juxtaposition between the fragile and the resilient. And finally, to Zoe Nielsen’s Searching, which demonstrated a great understanding of the elements of design, as well as technical skill and conceptual depth.”
The Juried Show and Wayne State College Faculty Exhibition will be on display until May 25, 2022
We want to thank all of the artists who applied this year and make sure to stop in and see all of the wonderful art from these artists and participating faculty from Wayne State College
51,300 – piece puzzle project by Gerald “Jerry” and Linda Dahlkoetter
Jerry, who is a resident of the Norfolk Veterans Home, embarked on a challenge in late April 2021 to assemble the project produced by Kodak and Cra-Z-Art. The puzzle consists of 27 separate segments that, when assembled, create a giant puzzle measuring 6 feet tall and 28 feet long.
A longtime puzzle enthusiast, Jerry said he had set his focus on assembling a giant puzzle after his grandson mentioned finding one made by Disney several years ago. By the time they had raised the $600 to purchase it, a puzzle nearly 10,000 pieces larger was available. They opted to get the larger one.
When he got the puzzle last year, Jerry put out word to see if any volunteers in the community would like to help be part of the project. The response was immediate.
“There were a lot of people that volunteered to help me,” Jerry said.
The volunteers were given large boards on which to assemble the segments. One volunteer assembled six. Most others did one. Some, for personal reasons, were unable to finish the segments they began, but the Dahlkoetters said they were grateful for their willingness to help with the project.
“I could do one in maybe a week and a few days,” Dahlkoetter said. “There’s one lady that did hers in less than a week.” Jerry assembled seven segments, a feat made more challenging at the veterans home by the disruptions caused by COVID-19.
COVID complicated Linda’s role in collecting the segments when they were completed, as well, but she mitigated the risk of exposure to the virus by wearing a mask and insisting visitors wear a mask when they came to the house to drop the finished puzzles off, she said,
“If they didn’t bring (the segment) back to me, I had to load it in the car and surround it with blankets and drive about 10 miles an hour home, hoping nobody would rear end me,” she said with a laugh.
Another challenge arose when certain pieces of the puzzle came up missing. The puzzle maker’s instructions were to wait until all of the segments were assembled and then, if there were any missing pieces, to contact the company with the description of which pieces were needed, and the company would send replacements, the Dahlkoetters said,
But they wouldn’t answer the calls,” Linda said,
Linda said she tried multiple times to contact the company and even reached out to the chamber of commerce in the New Jersey town where the company is based, but it was unable to offer additional help.
“I called Kodak, and they said their hands were tied. This company-Cra-Z-Art – they were the ones that had the say in soul,” she said.
Jerry took matters into his own hands by making his own replacement pieces using clay, glue and a blown-up picture of the puzzle. It’s a trick he’s used on other puzzles in the past “There’s always a piece missing, it seems” Linda said,
The annual Norfolk Public, Parochial and Homeschool student exhibition is happening now at the Norfolk Arts Center. Students from Norfolk Public Schools, Norfolk Catholic Schools and St. Paul’s Lutheran school throughout the school year participated in classes and projects and now those pieces and projects are hung in the Gallery and Atrium for all to enjoy. Students and parents where invited to an opening reception on March 12th and now the show is open to the public until April 7.
Thursday, September 9th the artists will join us for an opening reception to celebrate the new exhibitions arrival to our Gallery and Atrium. Social hour will be from 5 – 6 and then the Artists will speak about their respective artwork and will take time to answer questions.
September 2, 2021 – November 25, 2021
Eric Stearns – Gallery Artist – The Evolution of Color
This past year, I’ve been working on developing a brand new color palette of glazes and this show represents the fruits of my labor. My color vocabulary is split between very muted and pastel shades and a brighter, more vibrant color scheme.
Many of the color combinations on my pieces are directly influenced by nature. The chemicals chlorophyll, carotenoids, and anthocyanin are collectively responsible for shades of green, orange, and purple in foliage. These and many other chemical compounds direct how certain light wavelengths are reflected or absorbed to show the colors your eyes can see.
Although I’m using a different variety of chemicals to achieve these colors, the process is very similar. Chemicals are used in various combinations and percentages in my base glaze to achieve the colors I’m looking for. I’ve created hundreds of test batches of glazes that were carefully applied to test tiles and fired. These test tiles were then narrowed down to about 40 different shades and colors to consider for my latest body of work.
Tessa Petersen – Atrium Artist – Outlines
I work with the medium of oil paint on wooden panels as a means of subverting the views of women present in traditional portraiture. I paint portraits of women with whom I am or have been close, but I also paint acquaintances, and occasionally, strangers. Since I usually know these women, I have an idea of their personalities and behavioral tendencies, so I use this knowledge to paint them with autonomy and subjectivity. I paint them to show them as real, relatable people, not just objectified things in which to take pleasure in staring.
Another idea that my work deals with is fashion and patterning. I often change the clothing of a subject to make the painting more aesthetically pleasing and to be representative of some aspect of her personality or identity. Fashion and the decorative arts are also areas which typically have been associated with women and the feminine, which fits in with my interest in gender.
Photography also plays and important role in my practice. The basis for my paintings are photographs which I have taken. I always take them in social settings, so most of the time people are unaware because I take them with an iPhone. This allows me to get authentic, candid shots of people experiencing a brief moment. The paintings partially function as pieces of my memory and are about the social relationships in my life which I capture with this candid photography. In this regard, my work also has a connection to social media imagery.
The images I take and paint from are the type of images you might see a person post on Instagram or Facebook while on a night out. They relate to the way in which women use social media, as a way to take control of their own image and how they are shown. They have a snapshot, candid quality and are often cropped in a way which is more indicative of social media photography than traditional portrait painting. These images are so ubiquitous in our mediated world, we become numb to them and they all blend together. I transfer them into paint so they can feel unique again. I try to bring the best of both worlds, painting and photography, into my work: the solidity and timelessness of painting with the immediacy and authenticity of photographs.
Saturday April 10 was the opening reception for our 14th annual Juried Show and the response was amazing. Although our Juror could not attend winners were announced, refreshments were handed out and inspiration was shared between guests and artists. Many of the selected artists were in attendance and the collective talent of all involved made this a very competitive show for the artists and a very beautiful show for guests to enjoy.
Best in Show – Double Donut Teapot with artist Leroy Von Glan
First Place – “Tear” David Quady
We would like to congratulate our winning artists for this years Juried Show. Our top spot Best in Show goes to Leroy Von Glan with his ceramic work “Double Donut Teapot.” 1st Place went to David Quady’s oil painting “Tear”. 2nd place went to Holly Ann Schenk with her acrylic painting “Back Window” and an honorable mention goes to Rod Beyke for his shredded paper collage “Bob Marley”
Second Place – “Back Window” Holly Ann Schenk
Honorable Mention – Bob Marley with Artist Rod Beyke
The 14th Annual Juried show will be up until May 27 and as always, the gallery is free and open to the public. The Norfolk Arts Center is open Tuesday through Friday 10 am – 6 pm and Saturday from 10 am – 2 pm.
Join our mindfulness painting class, where you’ll immerse yourself in the present moment through the therapeutic act of painting. Guided by our experienced instructor, you’ll explore various techniques to quiet the mind, cultivate creativity, and express yourself authentically.... Read More
Program is at Max Capacity Register for Waitlist Here The Norfolk Arts Center’s After School Art Club for kids in grade school through Jr. High is an exciting and educational program designed to provide students with a creative... Read More
Fresh Fridays are our reimagined open mic, music, poetry, and art nights with a vibrant new identity. Join us for an exhilarating evening that revels in the magic of music, the power of poetry, the humor of comedy,... Read More
Join us for a delightful evening of creativity and relaxation as we invite you to paint and savor wine in the company of fellow art enthusiasts. Unleash your inner artist and craft a beautiful, nostalgia-inducing, masterpiece that will... Read More
Posted: September 7, 2022 by webmaster
Jason Needham Gallery Exhibition
Jason Needham – Gallery Artist
Understory – Landscape Paintings
September 1 – November 23
I’ve had a long-standing interest in impressionism, post-impressionism, and early American modernists like Marsden Hartley. All the other obvious influences apply: David Hockney, Neil Welliver, Alex Katz, Lois Dodd, among others. I’m drawing and painting scenes that are very familiar to me: forest scenes just off the beaten path, a pocket of woods with an interstate, parking lot or air-conditioned retreat just behind me. The trick is to see these mundane moments as majestic while allowing the mistakes of hand and misconceptions of eye be as present as the purposeful. I like the paintings to coalesce from a distance but upon close inspection fall apart into marks and the process of making, with the underlaying scaffolding of the image still visible. Each brushstroke becomes a single particle and the painting a wave of time-space. Whether I’m standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon or staring into the corner of a room, the investment in looking is the same. On one end, I’m working areas of my brain that lie deeper than the surface stream of thoughts, the self-narrating voice. On the other end, I’m pondering the fundamental structure of reality.
Posted: July 14, 2022 by webmaster
Norfolk Arts Center Board of Directors Reception
The Norfolk Arts Center (NAC) invites you to the Board of Directors’ Reception on
Tuesday, July 19 2022
We will recognize the outgoing Board of Directors and welcome the new members. Please invite your family and friends to join us. Wine and hors d’oeuvres will be served.
The NAC will recognize these outgoing board members for their years of service:
We welcome six new members to the NAC Board of Directors: Brent Bossard, Tina Mazuch, Clare Orwig, Tammi Reeves, Beatriz Rodriguez, and Tiffany Tichota.
Thank you for your continued commitment and dedication to the Norfolk Arts Center to carry out our mission.
“Bringing People and the Arts Together”
Posted: June 4, 2022 by webmaster
Summer 2022 Exhibitions
June 2 – August 24, 2022
Tammi Reeves – Gallery Artist
“This series is a collection and journey of what growth looks like, with each piece revealing a piece of tangled webs inside a mind looking for hope or that splinter of light at the end of a tunnel. Some people simply cannot speak and write what is deep inside, but you can give them some paint and they can make you feel it. My hope is that my art can connect with something inside of yourself, that you may be able to feel inspired to not feel alone and that if you’re in a place where you find yourself laying on the cold tile floor…that God speaks to you and says, “Talitha Cumi.” And places a paintbrush in your hands.”
Sophia Ruppert – Atrium Artist
“In my practice, “material” refers to any object that is human-made and does not naturally occur in nature. Physical things inform every part of our being. they connect us to other times and root us in community. Fabric swaddles us through life, tools aid our labor, dishes hold our food. By nature of necessity, materials chronicle our history as complex individuals and, when dissociated from use, catalogue our existence as artifacts. As I work, I consider our human nature and ask further questions: making up answers when I find none or am unsatisfied with a resolution.”
Posted: May 2, 2022 by webmaster
15th Annual Juried Show Winners Announced
This year’s juror is Beatriz Rodriguez who teaches printmaking and drawing at Wayne State College. Before coming to WSC, Rodriguez worked closely with renowned artist, Mira Lehr and taught at the University of Miami as well as in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Florida. Her work has been exhibited in places such as the Yellowstone Art Museum, Remarque Print Workshop in New Mexico, FAR Gallery in Florida and H Gallery in California. Her work has been published in Saw Palm: Florida Literature and Art as well as in Voyage Magazine Miami.
About this year’s work Beatriz said “Amongst this year’s submissions, there were a lot of works that showed a great deal of talent and artistic vision, and I would like to thank everyone who took the chance and sent in their work for consideration. When jurying, I look not only to the works that display a great level of skill, but also artistic maturity, concept and ambition. Amongst the works submitted, I would like to bring special attention to the following pieces. To Butch Rohrschneider’s Goodbye Tomato, for its dynamic use of composition, bold colors and painterly aesthetic, most unexpected in a photograph. To Emma Bermel’s Misty Morning, a perfect capture of what renown photographer Henry Cartier Bresson’s refers to as The Decisive Moment. To Nita Erickson’s unexpectedly harmonious mixture of mediums in Oak Seed Tea. The translucent quality of glass, transitioning to bronze, creating a juxtaposition between the fragile and the resilient. And finally, to Zoe Nielsen’s Searching, which demonstrated a great understanding of the elements of design, as well as technical skill and conceptual depth.”
The Juried Show and Wayne State College Faculty Exhibition will be on display until May 25, 2022
Posted: April 19, 2022 by webmaster
15th Annual Juried Show Artists
Cole Beebe
Emma Bermel
Rod Beyke
Danielle Dewees
Nita Erickson
Brian Finn
Brooke Gettman
Jerene Kruse
Mike Lynch
Bobbie McWilliams
Zoe Nielsen
Clare Orwig
Butch Rohrschneider
Danika Rowe
Kaci Schacht
Diana Tweedy
Alberta Wagner
We want to thank all of the artists who applied this year and make sure to stop in and see all of the wonderful art from these artists and participating faculty from Wayne State College
Beatriz Rodriguez – This Year’s Juror
Carolyn Albracht
Francine Fox
Sarah Lemmon
Leroy Von Glan
Last Updated: March 23, 2022 by webmaster
World’s Largest Puzzle Showcased at the Norfolk Arts Center
51,300 – piece puzzle project by Gerald “Jerry” and Linda Dahlkoetter
Jerry, who is a resident of the Norfolk Veterans Home, embarked on a challenge in late April 2021 to assemble the project produced by Kodak and Cra-Z-Art. The puzzle consists of 27 separate segments that, when assembled, create a giant puzzle measuring 6 feet tall and 28 feet long.
A longtime puzzle enthusiast, Jerry said he had set his focus on assembling a giant puzzle after his grandson mentioned finding one made by Disney several years ago. By the time they had raised the $600 to purchase it, a puzzle nearly 10,000 pieces larger was available. They opted to get the larger one.
When he got the puzzle last year, Jerry put out word to see if any volunteers in the community would like to help be part of the project. The response was immediate.
“There were a lot of people that volunteered to help me,” Jerry said.
The volunteers were given large boards on which to assemble the segments. One volunteer assembled six. Most others did one. Some, for personal reasons, were unable to finish the segments they began, but the Dahlkoetters said they were grateful for their willingness to help with the project.
“I could do one in maybe a week and a few days,” Dahlkoetter said. “There’s one lady that did hers in less than a week.”
Jerry assembled seven segments, a feat made more challenging at the veterans home by the disruptions caused by COVID-19.
COVID complicated Linda’s role in collecting the segments when they were completed, as well, but she mitigated the risk of exposure to the virus by wearing a mask and insisting visitors wear a mask when they came to the house to drop the finished puzzles off, she said,
“If they didn’t bring (the segment) back to me, I had to load it in the car and surround it with blankets and drive about 10 miles an hour home, hoping nobody would rear end me,” she said with a laugh.
Another challenge arose when certain pieces of the puzzle came up missing. The puzzle maker’s instructions were to wait until all of the segments were assembled and then, if there were any missing pieces, to contact the company with the description of which pieces were needed, and the company would send replacements, the Dahlkoetters said,
But they wouldn’t answer the calls,” Linda said,
Linda said she tried multiple times to contact the company and even reached out to the chamber of commerce in the New Jersey town where the company is based, but it was unable to offer additional help.
“I called Kodak, and they said their hands were tied. This company-Cra-Z-Art – they were the ones that had the say in soul,” she said.
Jerry took matters into his own hands by making his own replacement pieces using clay, glue and a blown-up picture of the puzzle. It’s a trick he’s used on other puzzles in the past
“There’s always a piece missing, it seems” Linda said,
The assembled puzzle is on display from
March 10 – April 7
Last Updated: March 23, 2022 by webmaster
Norfolk Student Exhibition
March 10 – April 7
The annual Norfolk Public, Parochial and Homeschool student exhibition is happening now at the Norfolk Arts Center. Students from Norfolk Public Schools, Norfolk Catholic Schools and St. Paul’s Lutheran school throughout the school year participated in classes and projects and now those pieces and projects are hung in the Gallery and Atrium for all to enjoy. Students and parents where invited to an opening reception on March 12th and now the show is open to the public until April 7.
Last Updated: September 7, 2021 by webmaster
Stearns, Petersen Fall Exhibitions Bring Color to the Art Center
Thursday, September 9th the artists will join us for an opening reception to celebrate the new exhibitions arrival to our Gallery and Atrium. Social hour will be from 5 – 6 and then the Artists will speak about their respective artwork and will take time to answer questions.
September 2, 2021 – November 25, 2021
Eric Stearns – Gallery Artist – The Evolution of Color
This past year, I’ve been working on developing a brand new color palette of glazes and this show represents the fruits of my labor. My color vocabulary is split between very muted and pastel shades and a brighter, more vibrant color scheme.
Many of the color combinations on my pieces are directly influenced by nature. The chemicals chlorophyll, carotenoids, and anthocyanin are collectively responsible for shades of green, orange, and purple in foliage. These and many other chemical compounds direct how certain light wavelengths are reflected or absorbed to show the colors your eyes can see.
Although I’m using a different variety of chemicals to achieve these colors, the process is very similar. Chemicals are used in various combinations and percentages in my base glaze to achieve the colors I’m looking for. I’ve created hundreds of test batches of glazes that were carefully applied to test tiles and fired. These test tiles were then narrowed down to about 40 different shades and colors to consider for my latest body of work.
Tessa Petersen – Atrium Artist – Outlines
I work with the medium of oil paint on wooden panels as a means of subverting the views of women present in traditional portraiture. I paint portraits of women with whom I am or have been close, but I also paint acquaintances, and occasionally, strangers. Since I usually know these women, I have an idea of their personalities and behavioral tendencies, so I use this knowledge to paint them with autonomy and subjectivity. I paint them to show them as real, relatable people, not just objectified things in which to take pleasure in staring.
Another idea that my work deals with is fashion and patterning. I often change the clothing of a subject to make the painting more aesthetically pleasing and to be representative of some aspect of her personality or identity. Fashion and the decorative arts are also areas which typically have been associated with women and the feminine, which fits in with my interest in gender.
Photography also plays and important role in my practice. The basis for my paintings are photographs which I have taken. I always take them in social settings, so most of the time people are unaware because I take them with an iPhone. This allows me to get authentic, candid shots of people experiencing a brief moment. The paintings partially function as pieces of my memory and are about the social relationships in my life which I capture with this candid photography. In this regard, my work also has a connection to social media imagery.
The images I take and paint from are the type of images you might see a person post on Instagram or Facebook while on a night out. They relate to the way in which women use social media, as a way to take control of their own image and how they are shown. They have a snapshot, candid quality and are often cropped in a way which is more indicative of social media photography than traditional portrait painting. These images are so ubiquitous in our mediated world, we become numb to them and they all blend together. I transfer them into paint so they can feel unique again. I try to bring the best of both worlds, painting and photography, into my work: the solidity and timelessness of painting with the immediacy and authenticity of photographs.
Last Updated: May 18, 2021 by webmaster
Juried Show Winners Announced
Saturday April 10 was the opening reception for our 14th annual Juried Show and the response was amazing. Although our Juror could not attend winners were announced, refreshments were handed out and inspiration was shared between guests and artists. Many of the selected artists were in attendance and the collective talent of all involved made this a very competitive show for the artists and a very beautiful show for guests to enjoy.
We would like to congratulate our winning artists for this years Juried Show. Our top spot Best in Show goes to Leroy Von Glan with his ceramic work “Double Donut Teapot.” 1st Place went to David Quady’s oil painting “Tear”. 2nd place went to Holly Ann Schenk with her acrylic painting “Back Window” and an honorable mention goes to Rod Beyke for his shredded paper collage “Bob Marley”
The 14th Annual Juried show will be up until May 27 and as always, the gallery is free and open to the public. The Norfolk Arts Center is open Tuesday through Friday 10 am – 6 pm and Saturday from 10 am – 2 pm.
Posted: April 6, 2021 by webmaster
14th Annual Juried Show
Meet the Artists selected for the 14th annual Juried Show by our esteemed Juror Johntimothy Pizzuto.
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