Opportunities to Enjoy and Create the Arts

Norma C. Wilson, President, Vermillion Area Arts Council

            The only event scheduled at Washington Street Arts Center during the month of February is the meeting of Vermillion Area Arts Council’s Board of directors, scheduled for Monday, February 13, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.  You are welcome to join us.  Our meetings are essential to fulfill our purpose of providing support for artists of all ages and creating opportunities for members of the Vermillion community to enjoy and appreciate a wide variety of arts. During February, Brandie Holland will be teaching Baton Twirling Lessons in our building Sundays, beginning at 2 p.m.  She and her students will also be there Sunday March 4 at 2 p.m. and Saturday, March 10 at 5 p.m.

            Throughout the month of February, there will be a variety of arts exhibits and performances you won’t want to miss at the University of South Dakota. Grete Bodogaard’s tapestries are on exhibit at I.D. Weeks library.  The yearly Stilwell Student Exhibition on February 10 will be at USD’s Warren M. Lee Center for Fine Arts from 5-7:30 p.m. That evening you can also view “Salon de Refuse” in Drawing Room 172, featuring work denied entrance to the Stilwell Student Exhibition.  Vermillion Literary Project’s Poetry Festival is scheduled throughout the day on February 23^rd, and the National Music Museum’s Brown Bag Lunch concert, “A Touch of Brass,” will be from 12:05-12:55 on February 24^th.  Check USD’s Calendar for other events.

            The deadline for submissions of poetry, prose, or visual art to be considered for the upcoming book on “What Makes a South Dakotan?” has been extended to February 29.  The book will be released in September to celebrate the 40^th anniversary of the South Dakota Humanities Council.  There’s still time for Vermillion writers to be part of this project, and it’s easy.  Just go to the South Dakota Humanities Council’s homepage; click on “What Makes a South Dakotan?; and you will find instructions on how to submit your work.  Please contact me if you need further information about this project: Norma.Wilson@usd.edu, (605-624-9279).

           

            During February, VAAC volunteers will be working to clear some of the clutter from our building to create more space for storage and other uses. We’re looking forward to the spring art classes for children that will begin in March at Washington Street Arts Center and our annual St. Patrick’s Day Event, scheduled for Saturday, March 17. Grace Freeman’s Irish Dancers will perform for that event. Please check our online calendar and our Equalizer column the first week of March to find out about upcoming VAAC events.