ABOVE: Red Rock Center for the Arts Director, Sonja Fortune, hangs Nancy Katzer’s "Peaceful Surroundings." The exhibit opened this week.

FAIRMONT- The Red Rock Center of the Arts in Fairmont opened its annual community art showcase earlier this week. The exhibition features pieces from a collection of local artists across a variety of mediums.

While other Red Rock exhibits may feature larger collections produced by one or two artists, this exhibit intends to showcase a larger variety of pieces made by artists living in the Fairmont area. In order to make the series more accessible to hobbyists or other individuals who would be unable to fill an entire exhibit, participants in this exhibit were allowed to submit a maximum of three pieces.

Sonja Fortune is the director of the center and organized the exhibit.

“We believe everyone is an artist, whether their craft is in painting, drawing, fiber arts, woodworking, woodcarving, and so forth. We hope that people want to display their works with others in the community as well to inspire them to do their own works of art,” said Fortune.

In addition to displaying current local artists, another goal of the exhibit is to prompt more community members to express themselves.

“It’s a way to inspire people and encourage them to be creative, maybe try something new, something they haven’t tried before. Creating your own artwork is also a great way to release some feelings or emotion other than in words,” said Fortune.

Altogether the exhibit features over 20 works from seven artists across three mediums.

Nancy Katzer is one area artist whose works are on display. For about 20 years she worked as a professional artist painting stage backgrounds in Minneapolis. Since she retired she’s returned to painting fine art. In addition to painting as a hobby she’s also involved in the Going Hog Wild project and chairs the center’s artist’s club.

“It’s very wonderful that they came up with this to allow people in the community who do art, but don’t have a lot to do or sell to be able to do this art show,” said Katzer.

Katzer is continuing to paint landscapes on canvas, but has also expanded to a wider range of subjects.

“I love nature and that’s one of my favorite things to paint. I think it’s very peaceful, it’s very beautiful, it’s God’s creation, and it’s very nice to paint,” said Katzer.

Tod Tessum is another artist whose works are on display. Before settling down in Minnesota he traveled across the country with a company building grain elevators. Throughout his life he’s been experimenting with different artistic mediums.

“I’ve been drawing ever since I was a little kid, I don’t always hit the mark, people don’t always like what I do, but it’s a sign of the times and I need to do this. I spend hours and hours doing this,” said Tessum.

Tessum uses art to capture both aspects of his own life and the world at large, and the pieces he has on display symbolize his perspectives.

“Art reflects history, art reflects our society, and it needs impact. Art says something,” said Tessum.

Vernette Buckmeier-Turner is a hobbyist photographer and a longtime local whose works are featured in the exhibit.

“I was born and raised in Fairmont and it is my favorite place in the world. I love photography, I think that it’s very fun to capture moments and you look back and it brings memories back to you, and I see a lot of beauty in the world,” said Buckmeier-Turner.

Buckmeier-Turner says her subject choices are heavily influenced by the world around her.

“I love flowers, I love nature, I look to go out and look for animals, and I just love finding the uniqueness of the world. You’ll catch a picture of something and you’ll see it in a different way,” said Buckmeier-Turner.

Jon Riggs lives adjacent to the Red Rock and contributed several woodworking pieces. He started experimenting with woodworking while working as a technical writer. In 2000 he built his workshop and began to teach himself woodworking. In the years since he’s worked on a variety of projects using different tools and techniques.

“I call myself a maker. I can make things, but I see some stuff that’s absolutely gorgeous in woodworking. I might attempt something like that someday, but I don’t feel I’m that good at what they do,” said Riggs.

While he’s hesitant to call himself an artist in the traditional sense, Riggs does see a comparison between his work and conventional studio art.

“In some ways it’s almost like sculpting. You’ve got an idea in your head and you remove everything that’s not what you want, but you do use more power tools in woodworking than you do with sculpting. Basic design, pleasant lines, good proportions, those things are in every kind of art and that’s also true in woodworking,” said Riggs.

The exhibit will be displayed through the end of the month.