Newsletter April 2022

In This Issue

• Gallery Opens May 1
• ​Framing Discount Offer
• Show Your Jewelry in the Gallery
• Paint en Plein Air in 2022
• Studio Tour Deadline Extended
• Featured Artist Benefits​
• ​Notes & Links

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Gallery Opens May 1

Ah, Spring!
Snow is melting, plants are awakening, snow birds are flocking back, and our lovely gallery in downtown Battle Lake is about to re-open! Our Spring hours are 11am to 5pm Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in May, beginning Sunday, May 1.

Get ready now
As lakes area art lovers anticipate this exciting 2022 season, it's time for artists to take action.

• Spend some time now to refresh your work and get it showroom ready. (See the framing and jewelry articles below.)
• Deliver new art to the gallery by April 29.
• The gallery will be re-staged on May 3.
• A gallery cleaning day will be announced soon... watch your email and consider helping out!

Themed art displays
The back of the gallery will feature themed art again this year. To make it more fun, our guests can vote for their top three favorites each month. Winning pieces will be featured in the front of the gallery the following month. So get your creative juices flowing and let’s have some fun! All themes will be open to 2D and 3D art. Tentative theme names:

• May, Art of fishing- Fish, fishing, lakes
• June, Summer blooms- Flowers
• July, Flying high- Birds
• August, This fine land- Landscapes

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Framing Discount for Members & Buyers

2D artists: Do you need frames for your work? Bridgette's Main Frames in Perham is offering a 20% framing discount to AOTL members for any piece that will be on display in the AOTL gallery. This is a new benefit for members! Show your AOTL member card to request the discount (we'll email details soon on how to access your personalized card).

​Art buyers: Bridgette's is also offering a 10% framing discount on unframed art bought from the AOTL gallery. Just bring in the receipt from your purchase. 

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Show Your Jewelry in the Gallery

By Sandy Thimgan, jewelry co-ordinator
Four tips for all jewelry artists who'll be displaying in the AOTL gallery this season — 

1. Time to check your inventory and remove those pieces that've been there more than two years - please don’t make me do that!
2. Bring in new items to enliven the jewelry displays - I know you have new and beautiful pieces ready to be purchased.
3. If you have silver pieces that have been in the gallery, please polish them up! A tarnished piece of jewelry won’t sell!
4. Be sure you have your items tagged and priced when you bring them to the gallery. If you've been trained in tagging, please help us out by doing that when you bring new pieces. If you don't know how to tag, I’d love to teach you!

Looking forward to seeing new jewelry for this season! Happy Spring.

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Paint en Plein Air 2022

Our second annual Prairie Lakes en Plein Air Festival promises to celebrate the art of outdoor painting in a grand way! The excitement kicks off June 19 with our Opening Reception.

Interest in this event has been high, and artist sign-ups are already well underway. There are a limited number of openings to participate, so if you're not yet registered please do so today. Register here.

We're also pleased to announce that our Prairie Lakes festival is now part of a new Minnesota Plein Air Collective. This is a cooperative effort by Art of the Lakes and the Grand Marais and Red Wing plein air organizations. Joint activities are being planned now, including a possible combined exhibit.

Open the doors - it's time to go outside!

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Studio Tour Deadline Extended to April 8

Register

​Due to “glitches” some of you have been experiencing in the online registration process, we're extending the deadline. For most, the online registration process works beautifully but for those of you who run into problems please email Kristi, [email protected], and she'll get you registered. We're sorry for the hassle and hope you will hang with us as we seek answers. We want you to join us this summer!

[Hint: Be sure your browser settings (Preferences) allow cookies and cross-site tracking. Safari in particular seems to be very picky about this. Try changing these settings, or use another browser such as Chrome.]

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The Benefits of Being a Featured Artist

By Donna Westerling, featured artist coordinator
I'd like to give a plug for being a Featured Artist at AOTL! I've coordinated this for the past ten years, and I've seen some changes over time. Here's some background you might find helpful.

The old days
When I joined AOTL about 14 years ago, it was very hard to get a chance to be a Featured Artist. It was somewhat competitive, and the waiting list was long. When I first took on this role, I never had a hard time filling spots. Because of demand, I even had to limit how often people could sign up.

But now...
Something has changed. It may be as simple as a shift in membership, but I'm having difficulty getting people to sign up. I can say that for 2022 we're finally filled! Now, I'd like to start a list of names for those interested in being Featured in 2023, so I thought some info would be helpful.

Unparalleled benefits
Being a Featured Artist is a great way to showcase your artwork. It can help you get more customer feedback, and is especially rewarding if you schedule your gallery shifts during your time of being featured. Customers love to meet the artists and this would be a chance for you to talk about your process.

How we schedule
Time slots are scheduled May through August. The slot in May is for the whole month. For June through August, the slots are the 1st to the 15th, and the 16th to month’s end.

Featured Artist display process
The only requirement to be a Featured Artist is that you be a current AOTL member. There's a designated wall for your display, and you can design the display however you want. It's your responsibility to put up and take down your display. If you like, you can arrange for a reception for yourself. You can also try to get recognition in the Battle Lake Review.  

Interested?
If you're being nudged to step up for this, I'm happy to answer any questions, and to start my list of candidates for 2023.  It's a huge opportunity, and now is your chance!
​[email protected] or 612-386-2868.

Finally, thanks to all who have volunteered for this in the past! To those scheduled in 2022, welcome! An email with details and the 2022 schedule will be coming soon. Think Spring!

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 Notes & Links

Spring Member Meeting. Watch your email announcing our annual member meeting this Spring. A late May or early June date is anticipated.

March 2022 Board Minutes
​Board of Directors list
AOTL Contacts list
​Facebook page

​Got News? Send hot tips to Tom Kuder [email protected]