Putnam County Visual Arts Exhibit opens Saturday with support from arts commission

Greencastle Arts Council and Putnam County Museum volunteers are putting the final polish on a project that has become a shared point of pride: the Putnam County Adult Visual Arts Exhibition. With support from the Indiana Arts Commission (IAC), the fourth annual exhibit will open to the public on Saturday, July 8, with a free reception from 2–5 p.m. at PCM (1105 N. Jackson Street).

This year’s adjudicators, Bob and Ellie Haan, founders of The Haan Museum of Indiana Art in Lafayette, will arrive in Greencastle on Friday afternoon. Once their judging is complete, they will be guests of the Arts Council for dinner at The Doc’s Inn. The following day, they also will attend the Saturday afternoon reception at PCM when the prize winners will be recognized.

In addition to First- and Second-place prizes, funds received through the IAC support an annual Purchase Prize for the Putnam County Museum, which is designed to grow the museum’s collection over time.

This year’s show, co-chaired by Suzanne Hassler and Lavinia Hale in collaboration with PCM director Lisa Mock, will run through Sept. 22. After the show closes, ballots for the final prize, the People’s Choice Award, will be counted and that winner announced.

The current exhibit includes more than 50 works by 40 area artists, representing a diversity of talent and creative mediums from 2-D painting, drawing, photography, printmaking and fiber arts, to 3-D sculpture, jewelry making and stoneware ceramics. All the works submitted are created by artists who have lived, worked, studied or were born in Putnam County. With assistance from the IAC, the organizers also were able to extend an invitation this year to participants in the inaugural IU-Putnamville Prison Arts Initiative.

“During the IAC’s panel review this spring, the Arts Council was commended for its ability to ‘do a lot with a little’—which we humbly hoped was an indication of our funding being renewed,” Hassler said. “Gratefully, not only was our award amount increased, we unexpectedly were notified that the Putnam County Adult Visual Arts Exhibit also had been chosen as an Indiana Arts Trust Project, a special designation that one does not apply for but rather is selected.”

The Arts Trust, supported by donations through the sale of Celebrate the Arts license plates, is distributed to one Arts Project Support grant recipient from every county in which there is a funded application. Beneficiaries are selected based on exemplary commitment to community, education, economy and health. As an Arts Trust recipient, the state also assists the grantee with promoting their project.

“Putnam County has an incredible depth and range of visual as well as performing arts talent,” the president of the Arts Council continued. “Each year new work, by established and emerging artists, is brought to our attention that is definitely deserving of a wider audience. Each year the circle grows. It is rather thrilling, really. Something in which we can share local pride.”

Both the opening reception and the exhibit at PCM is free to all. Museum hours are 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Monday–Friday. While visiting PCM, director Lisa Mock encourages guests to “Be sure to pick up a ballot and vote for the People’s Choice Award while you are here!”

For additional information, visit the PCM or GAC websites: putnamcountymuseum.org and greencastleartscouncil.org. These activities are made possible in part by Arts Illiana and the Indiana Arts Commission, which receives support from the State of Indiana and the National Endowment for the Arts.