Charles City Arts Center holds first reception of 2020

By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

A gathering assembled at the CCAC on Friday for the center’s season-opening art exhibit, to view some interesting images created by a local artist.

The Arts Center, which was closed during January, reopened its doors at the start of February and resumed its artist reception showings this month.

This month’s featured artist is Lori Biwer-Stewart, who hails from Osage and who brought about 30 pieces of her work.

She described her art as “carved and pressed” linocut printmaking. The relief technique requires the use of U and V-shaped knives to cut an image.

“It acts like a stamp. So all the raised areas get the ink, then it’s pressed onto paper,” said Biwer-Stewart.

Much of her art work revolves around female forms and subjects that explore life and experiences from a female perspective.

One of her most recent pieces is called “Remembrance of a Walk” and delves into the hidden beauty that often overlooked items can evoke when an unsuspecting eye finds them. That allure Biwer-Stewart witnessed on a leisurely stroll one day emanated from a discarded wasp’s nest, pinecones and turkey feathers.

“The whole idea of that was that there’s beauty in everything, even things that we throw away. If you look hard enough there’s beauty in it,” said Biwer-Stewart.

Friday’s showing of her work afforded her the opportunity to describe the techniques she uses to create her images to the engaged audience.

“You really don’t see it a lot. It isn’t as common as like oil painting or acrylic painting,” said Biwer-Stewart about her process. “When people understand how much work it takes, it seems like they look at it in a whole different way. They take a closer look.”

Biwer-Stewart has been doing the printmaking for about 25 years. She works at Curries Co. manufacturing in Mason City, where she does desktop publishing and design. She also teaches some printmaking art classes in Osage, where she and her husband, Mike, have lived for almost 30 years.

“We’re very pleased to have her. She’s fabulous,” said CCAC Co-Director Emily Kiewel.

Kiewel is the new co-director at the arts center alongside Jacqueline Davidson. Kiewel started her position in October and Davidson will be back on May 15 to resume her co-director role.

Kiewel said CCAC holds a reception the first Friday of every month and next month’s featured artist is slated to hold a showing on March 6.

The Charles City Arts Council was formed in 1961 and is an umbrella organization for the Stoney Point Players, Charles City Singers, Charles City Community Chamber Orchestra and Artafest.

“It’s one of the oldest arts councils in the state of Iowa,” said Kiewel. “It’s a gem. This place is amazing and all the support it’s had and that it’s been in existence for so long.”

Kiewel said there are around 140 members of the arts center. Kiewel says she stays busy writing grants. She is also hard at work on a membership drive and working to promote upcoming exhibits and events.

On Feb. 22, CCAC will host a fundraising dinner titled “Play It Again, Sam” – an ode to the classic movie Casablanca that starred Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. The Moroccan-inspired dinner will feature live music and prizes for best outfit. Patrons are encouraged to dress up as Bogart or Bergman, but not required.

An “Empty Bowls” fundraiser will take place in March.

Kiewel was also able to get a CCAC website up and running – charlescityarts.org.

“That kept me pretty busy,” she said.

Kiewel said 4,500 people came through the doors of the arts center last year. Most events are free and open to the public.