Artful News April 2026

In This Issue

Who's Driving This Bus?
Designer Purse & Cooler Bingo Fundraiser May 8
Battle Lake Student Art Exhibit April 11-20
Sign Up Now for Adult Classes in May & June
Summer Art Camp for Kids Open for Enrollment
Outdoor Painters: 3 Galleries. 3 Months. Triple Exposure.
Artful Morsels, Galore!
​Our Members In The News

Who's Driving This Bus?
Sunday April 12, 2 pm, First Lutheran Church

On April 12, the Andria Theater Seniors on Stage invite you take the road trip of a lifetime!

​Join four ladies – Jill, Beverly, Elsie, and Fawn as they take the “road less traveled” in Jill’s Winnebago RV camper while towing a 1970 American Motors Gremlin car. Take the trip with three best friends and a new “friend” who is an out-of-towner. What could possibly go wrong?

​Tickets (Bring some friends!)

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Designer Purse & Cooler Bingo Fundraiser, May 8

tickets

It's back by popular demand, and this year we've added some hot coolers to the designer purses you can win! There'll be some great art and other raffle prizes as well.

The event will be held May 8 at First Lutheran Church in Battle Lake. Doors open at 6, bingo starts at 7. Reserve your spot at the fundraiser by pre-purchasing pasta bar dinner tickets ($25). Limited seating is available, so reservations are encouraged.

Bingo packets must be purchased at the door (cash only); $15 for 15 games. 

This is a fundraiser for Art of the Lakes Association, and your support is greatly appreciated!

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Battle Lake Student Art Exhibit April 11-20

An exhibit of art by Battle Lake students will be featured at the Art of the Lakes Gallery from April 11 through April 20, 2026. Battle Lake art teacher Amanda Callahan has curated artwork from her students across all grades from K through 12.

The exhibit will be open Saturdays from 11 am to 3 pm, and Sundays from noon to 4 pm. A closing reception will be held in the Gallery on Monday, April 20 from 3:00 pm until 5:30 pm. The reception is free to attend, and all are invited.

This is the first school year in which art has been offered as a regular class in the Battle Lake curriculum. Art of the Lakes is proud to support this wonderful and important addition to the community!

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Sign Up Now for Adult Classes in May and June

details/register

Michael Holter

We have a fabulous lineup of creative classes this summer, starting right around the corner in May. Many of these offerings have "early bird" pricing that ends two weeks before the class date, so the time to act and save is now!

May classes

• Plantable cards (homemade seed paper)
• Flower card with alcohol ink
• Becoming a writer
• Hardanger for beginners & refreshers
• The art of taking care of business
• Barn quilt painting (new designs)
• Colorful roosters & beautiful birds
• Wine spritzers & summer mocktails
• Acrylic painting with Stephen Henning

Coming up in June
Fourteen more classes are on offer in the month of June! Use the Details/Register button to learn more.

​Of particular note, renowned watercolor artist Michael Holter will teach a 3-day class on Watercolor Impressionism June 9, 10 and 11 at Glendalough State Park. The early bird pricing deadline for that class is May 1. Full details on Michael's class can be found our Classes page.

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Summer Art Camp for Kids
​Open For Enrollment

enroll

This July, kids in grades 2-3 and 4-5 can get away to art camp without leaving town! The Art Camp will be held at First Lutheran Church in Battle Lake.

Four fun sessions are available for grades 2-3, each from 1-3 pm.

• Mosaic coasters
• Acrylic painting
• Zentangle
• Hiking sticks

For grades 4-5, seven different classes are available, each from 10 am to noon:

• Mosaic coasters
• Slow stitching
• Photography
• Acrylic painting
• Zentangle
• Hiking sticks
• Skateboard painting

Classes are just $10 each until May 15, or $15 each after that. Class dates are listed on the enrollment page.

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Outdoor Painters: 3 Galleries.
​3 Months. Triple Exposure!

By Stephen Henning
​Artists participating in this year’s Prairie Lakes Plein Air (PLPA) event will benefit from a unique opportunity: their work will be seen across three prominent Otter Tail County galleries over the course of three consecutive months.

The exhibition begins at Art of the Lakes Gallery September 25 through October 25, where freshly created plein air works will be showcased at the height of the fall season. For the month of November, the exhibition travels to Kaddatz Galleries in Fergus Falls, expanding its reach to a broader regional audience. Finally, in December, any unsold work will be featured at the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center—placing your paintings in front of new collectors during the holiday season.

This extended exhibition format effectively triples your exposure—and your opportunity to sell.

If you haven’t signed up for PLPA 2026 yet, now is an excellent time to do so. Register now to be part of one of Minnesota’s most dynamic plein air events.

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Artful Morsels, Galore!

MSHSL Day of Art Volunteers! Thank you!
Many thanks to the volunteers and organizations who helped make the Minnesota State High School League Regional "Day of Art" in Battle Lake a resounding success! Friday, March 27 was spent showing over 90 regional high school students and their teachers the city's public art and teaching them some new creative skills.

Kudos to Jon Hartman, Marjorie Quammen, Lisa Hystad, Paul Johnson, Reba Gilliand, Lyssa Lovejoy, Jill Beithon, Sandy Thimgan, Sean Scott, and Bonnie Pfeiffer. Also, thanks to Art of the Lakes Gallery, NeverBetter, Battle Lake Senior Center, and First Baptist Church for providing space for the many activities. This was a true community event, and you rocked!

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Gallery Training for Displaying Artists
By Peggy Olson
I'm looking forward to a great 2026 season at the Gallery. For those of you who are new to the group and plan to exhibit art, you need to be trained for your volunteer shifts. We'll cover the basic tasks of opening the building, readying the point of sale counter, ringing up a sale, closing duties, and locking up. Training will take about 45 minutes. Current members who'd like a refresher are welcome to attend.

Right now I have two dates set aside for training, Saturday April 11 at 10:00am or 2:00pm and Friday April 17 at 10:00am or 2:00pm. Please let me know which day and time you prefer. If these dates don't work for you, we can find a time that will.

Please contact [email protected] or 612-360-0697 by April 9. Thank you - Peggy Olson, Volunteer Coordinator

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2026 Featured Artists

• May still available
• June 1-15, Wade Lehmkuhl
• June 16-30, Jodi Peterson 
• July 1-15, Dean Curtis
• July 16-31, Judi Celaschi 
• Aug 1-15, Greg Gerhart
• Aug 16-31, Shanna Cramer
• Sept.  2026, Calvin deRuyter 

Thank you to all who have volunteered to be a Featured Artist this year. An email will be coming soon, detailing some particulars about this. We still need an artist for the month of May. If you can help with this, please contact Donna Westerling 612-386-2868 or [email protected]

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Our annual Member Meeting will be held May 21 at the Gallery. Doors will open at 5pm.

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​Gallery Spring Cleaning will be held April 23 at 1pm. Volunteers encouraged and welcome!

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Our Members In The News

On the Rocks, Susan Seaborn

Art of the Lakes members are among the most active and accomplished artists and art supporters around! Here's a selection of news about just some of them.

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Becky Albright will have two of her Gyotaku Fish Art works on display at the 52nd Invitational Art Show. Located at Charles Beck Gallery in Waage building, Minnesota State Community and Technical College Fergus Falls, MN.  March 26-May 16. Free and open to the public. Reception May 16.

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Ruth Hanson, Faythe Mills and Shanna Cramer are also among those in the MN State Invitational Art Show in Fergus Falls. 

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Ruth Hanson is the Featured Artist at the Red Door Art Gallery in Wahpeton, ND now through May 2 with her show of Wandering Expressions. She also has 3 paintings in the Red Door's show The Glory of the Season. Artist Reception is April 16 from 5-7 pm.

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Shanna Cramer has launched a new business, I Do Wedding Painting, offering live wedding painting for couples who want something more lasting than a photograph. Shanna creates a large-format oil painting on-site during the ceremony or reception. Learn more and see her gallery at idoweddingpainting.com.

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Faythe Mills has five pieces of artwork in the Red Door Art Gallery and Museum in Wahpeton, ND March 23-May 2 with a reception April 19, 5-7pm.

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Susan Seaborn was the judge of awards for the Fine Art Show and  Sale of the Gilbert Visual Artist League in Gilbert, Arizona this March. What an honor and a challenge to judge 138 pieces of art in eight mediums!

Susan Seaborn’s watercolor On the Rocks was chosen to be included in the 51st annual Western Federation of Watercolor Societies exhibition. This exhibition is hosted by the Colorado Watercolor Society this year. The juror was Xi Guo. The show is open from May 9 to June 27, 2026 at the Curtis Center for the Arts in Denver, Colorado. Western Federation of Watercolor Societies is a coalition of 10 regional watercolor societies in the Western United States.

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Board Minutes

Board Minutes March 18, 2026

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Got Artful News?

Please email stories and images to Art of the Lake's newsletter editor, Tom Kuder. Deadline is two days before the end of each month. Thanks!