Artful News January 2026

In This Issue

Writing Your Book of Life: Free Creative Writing Workshops
Meet Our Newest Board Members
​Creative Arts Community Has A New Logo!
Art Donations Needed for Designer Purse Bingo
Get Out There And Take A Class!
Our ​Members In The News

Writing Your Book of Life
Free Creative Writing Workshop Series
​January 15-23, 2026

Victoria McWane-Creek

Jan. 15 Reception
Jan. 17 Workshop for Artists
Jan. 19 Battle Lake HS Workshop
Jan. 19 Lakeview Senior Living Workshop
Jan. 21-22 Community Workshop
Jan. 23 Story Share-out

​An exciting project is happening this month which will positively impact our community. It will involve high school students, senior citizens, and all ages in between. And, there's a special offering for artists, as well. 

Writing Your Book of Life is a series of creative writing workshops hosted by Art of the Lakes and funded by a Lake Region Arts Council grant.

What are these workshops about, and why should they interest you? Not only will they appeal to a broad spectrum of people, they'll explore shared storytelling, deep listening, and personal insight. In short, they'll touch on our words, our stories, and our memories.

The presenter is Victoria McWane-Creek, founder and CEO of Organization 4 Full Participation.

Victoria will help us tell our stories and to deeply listen to the stories of others. In a sense, she'll help us better understand others… and, ourselves.

An opening meet & greet reception, several workshops, and a followup sharing event will be held from January 15 - 23 throughout Battle Lake: the Art of the Lakes Gallery, the Lakeview Senior Living Library, and Battle Lake High School.

The complete listing of workshops, times, and locations are detailed on the home page of the Art of the Lakes website.

• Artists can learn creative writing techniques used for artist statements and telling stories about your work.
• Students, senior citizens and community members can explore written expressions and practice deep listening, shared storytelling and personal insight as they write.​

The public workshops are free of charge, but registration is required. 

Here's your chance to get out of the cold, beat the January blues and enhance your creative writing skills, while connecting with others in your community. We hope you'll join us for these free workshops!

Some activities in this organization are made possible by the voters of Minnesota through grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Lake Region Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage fund.

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Meet Our Newest Board Members

Karalee Brandner

Linda Nine

John Olesen

Art of the Lakes is pleased to announce the addition of three new board members from the community to help lead and manage our non-profit organization.

Karalee Brandner is the Deputy Clerk-Treasurer for the City of Battle Lake, and has been in that role for ten years. Thanks to her extensive experience in performing administrative, clerical, and financial tasks for the city, we will appreciate her guidance as we further develop and grow our programming focused on making the arts an integral part of our community. Welcome, Karalee!

Linda Nine is the Director of Housing at Good Samaritan-Lakeview. Her deep experience in the senior healthcare environment will provide us with valuable guidance as we further develop our programming focused on artful aging, which is a growing part of our mission. Welcome, Linda!

John Olesen is the owner and glass-blowing artist at White Pine Studio. John is a former AOTL board member and board president, bringing a deep understanding of the local and regional arts community and our arts organization. He has been a committed volunteer and leader and brings a lot of energy to our team. Welcome back, John!

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Creative Arts Community
Has A New Logo!

Back in November, we announced that the CAC was being renamed the Creative Arts Community, reflecting the idea that creativity can take place anywhere. Now, the CAC has a new logo that bridges from the old CAC to the new. It looks familiar, but with some vibrant new colors!

As we've transitioned out of a single  building and into the greater Battle Lake community, our creative programming, classes and energy have taken root across town and into the hearts and minds of people everywhere.

Many thanks to Art of the Lakes member Sarah Browne for her excellent design work on the new logo. You'll be seeing more information on what the Creative Arts Community means to you over the coming weeks and months. Stay tuned!

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Art Donations Needed for Designer Purse Bingo

Plans are underway for our annual Designer/Purse Bingo fundraiser in May, 2026. We're seeking donations from our artists for raffle items. If you have a new piece of artwork, please consider donating.  We usually have about ten items in the raffle, and attendees love learning about Art of the Lakes artists through that part of the fundraiser. Contact Shari Prigge at [email protected] if you can help. Thanks!

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Get Out There And Take a Class!

The holidays are over, the ornaments are put away (we hope), so now it's time to get out there. There's so much to offer in Art of the Lakes' Creative Arts Community!

• Intro to Snow Dyeing January 15-16
• Writing Workshop for Artists January 17
• Community Creative Writing Workshop January 21-22
• Let's Make Pasta January 23 (FULL - waitlist)
• Winter Cardinal Woodcarving January 24
• Finger Knitting January 27 (FULL - waitlist)
• Intro to Weaving February 7

register

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Our Members In The News

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.

Come on a creative journey with artist Anna Lassonde as she guides you through Betty Edwards' book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, a 5-week course teaching different drawing skills and techniques for sketching and improving your drawings.​ Details / registration

John F. Shaw’s ceramic container titled ‘EVERYTHING WENT JUST FINE FOR A WHILE’ has been selected for publication in the International Ceramics Artists Network’s 2026 calendar: VASES AND VESSELS. 

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Board Minutes

Board of Directors Minutes December 17, 2025

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Got Artful News?

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