Perrysburg arts club concept appears to beckon to various prospects

3/22/2006

Area artists wanting to gather with like-minded people for discussions and lessons could be drawn to a new club getting started in Perrysburg.

Members of the Perrysburg Area Arts Council have organized the club for professional and amateur visual artists. It plans to meet monthly.

Their organizational meeting in February brought together 26 people from around the area, including Toledo, Maumee, and Oregon, as well as Perrysburg.

We ve had a very good response, said Annette Jensen, an arts council board member who volunteered to head the new club.

We have a very diverse group of professionals, amateurs, and art supporters who want to come together to further the arts in the community, she said.

Marti Zallocco, executive director of the arts council, said the club meetings will give artists a hands-on opportunity to try different things.

Artists in a variety of media expressed interest in the club, Ms. Jensen said. She s heard from sculptors, potters, people who paint with watercolors and oils, and multimedia artists.

You name it, we ve got it, she said.

The club meetings could be instructional, with people learning new techniques or refining old ones, or more like workshops.

Ms. Jensen said work sessions could include setting up a still life for everyone to produce in his or her own medium. Other work might range from silk painting to weaving to jewelry making.

Some workshops would be on related topics like marketing and Web design.

She s also hoping to offer lectures and demonstrations by well-known artists or gallery owners.

The arts council hopes the club will bring together people with a common interest.

I m finding that a lot of people are interested in just networking with each other, Ms. Jensen said.

Club organizers have big plans. Eventually, as we become stronger, we re hoping to attract regional and national artists to do workshops, Ms. Jensen said.

Someday the club could even have its own gallery space, physical or online. Another idea is an art festival, in which artists come into town and have about three hours to paint local sites.

The group plans to meet on the third Wednesday of the month from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the cafeteria of the Commodore Building in downtown Perrysburg beginning April 19. The April meeting will include a lesson on the basics of drawing.

The majority of people at the organizational meeting wanted to gather during the day. Ms. Jensen said they plan to add evening meetings later.

Dues are $25 a year for arts council members and $35 for nonmembers.