Members Exhibition opens Friday at Moses Lake Museum

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Museum & Art Center’s Members Exhibition is in its fourth year, and it’s breaking records, said Gallery Coordinator Veronica Talbot. 

“It’s over 160 pieces, with over 50 artists,” Talbot said. “We have quite the array (of media). We have acrylics, we have oils, we have wool wreaths. We’ve got a skull.” 

Yes, a skull. A sheep’s skull with long curling horns, painted in a Southwestern motif. The same artist, Sarah Smith, had contributed Christmas wreaths made from wool, from Smith’s own sheep, Talbot said. 

The Members Exhibition is designed to let members of the museum have a turn at displaying their own work. Some of the artists have been members for many years, Talbot said; others, like Smith, are new and exhibiting for the first time. 

Another artist showing for the first time was Herelene Eaton, whose mixed media pieces sparkled with bits of mirrors to depict clouds of space dust. 

There were some more traditional entries as well, like “Splinter,” an acrylic painting by Mary Rowland that shows two little girls, one removing something from her bare foot; and “Garden Visitor,” a bright oil painting of a flowerbed with a barely noticeable raccoon checking out the blooms, by Rose Lundberg. 

Talbot was in the process Monday of working out what art pieces would go where. Each contributing artist will have at least one piece on display. Talbot hoped to get everything on the walls, she said, but with so many entries, it wasn’t a sure thing. Some of the smaller entries will go together on a collage wall, she said.  

“(This year’s) is our biggest number of entries and I'd like to display as many pieces as possible,” Talbot said. 

The Members Exhibition has had a Youth Division for artists 17 and younger all along, Talbot said, but this is the first year she’s seen entries for it. That division has 12 entries in all and will have its own wall. 

The exhibition will open Friday with a reception, according to an announcement from the museum. Slices Pizza will cater, Talbot said, and there will be no-host wine and beer and live music. 

The museum is also holding a sale on its store items and consignment arts through the end of the year. 

“We’ve got 25%-50% off items throughout the store, and … a lot of consignment artists,” Talbot said. 

The museum reached out to local artists and artisans this time of year, she explained, and encourages them to bring in work to be sold on consignment. There are jewelry, pottery, crystals and homemade aprons on display. In addition, the museum’s own stock of children’s games and puzzles and the museum’s iconic stuffed mammoth. 

“With an interesting showcase of diverse mediums, this event promises an experience that will charm everyone,” the museum wrote in the announcement. 

Moses Lake Museum & Art Center 

Annual Members Exhibition 

4-7 p.m. Nov.14 

401 S. Balsam St. 

www.moseslakemuseum.com 

    This skull is one of the more unusual pieces in the Members Exhibition at the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center.
  

    “Splinter,” an acrylic painting by Mary Rowland, shows two little girls dealing with a problem every child who’s every played outside barefoot can identify with.
  

    Longtime Moses Lake Museum & Art Center member Rose Lundberg painted this oil piece “Garden Visitor.”
  

    “Shell Parade,” by Janet Saukko, which hadn’t yet been put out on display Monday, is built into its own stand so it won’t have to be hung on the wall at the Members Exhibition at the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center.