Dane Gallery welcomes Wilbraham Art LeagueDate: 2/4/2016 INDIAN ORCHARD – Climb the stairs to the second floor of the Indian Orchard Mills and you’ll find yourself transported to another place.
To the right, a black Labrador plays in deep snow and to the left the sun starts peeking over the hills by a frozen lake, but ahead in the distance a blue jay sits perched confidently on a tree branch and mayflowers are in bloom.
No, you aren’t in a strange new dimension or at the cusp of a major climate shift. You’re at the Wilbraham Art League’s newest exhibit at the Dane Art Gallery.
“The Dane Art Gallery is a large, well-lit venue that is very well-known for art in this area,” Wilbraham Art League President Linda Lastoff said. “We always really enjoy showing here.”
On display through Feb. 27, the show features 40 different local artists with works ranging from oil paintings to sculptures to quilts.
“Any art you can think of, we have an artist who does it,” Lastoff said.
“[Art works] for this exhibit could be any size; there were no restrictions,” she explained. “This show exhibits the very large to the very small.”
The gallery is open to the public free of charge from noon to 4 p.m. Some works are for sale, while others are for show purposes only.
“There will be artists sitting here every weekend to talk to people who come see the exhibit,” she said.
The show at the Dane Gallery is just the second 2016 event in what is a very busy schedule for the Wilbraham Art League at different venues in the Pioneer Valley.
“We try to show every month,” Lastoff said. “We’re extremely busy.”
In January, the Art League hosted an exhibit at Ruth’s House in Longmeadow.
Upcoming shows include its Sweeheart Small Works Show at the Wilbraham Senior Center, which will be on display through March.
“It’s a small works show, which means nothing is larger than 12 [inches] by 12,” Lastoff said. “We have at least 20 artists signed up for that one, so that should be a lot of fun.”
The Art League also regularly has artwork on display at the Senior Center’s meeting room, Christ the King Lutheran Church on Main Street in Wilbraham and at Wilbraham Town Hall.
Founded in 2007, the Wilbraham Art League welcomes artists from throughout the area; you don’t have to be a resident of Wilbraham to join. Membership is $25 for individuals, $50 for families and $10 for full-time students. Wilbraham Art League brochures, distributed throughout Wilbraham and the surrounding area, include a simple registration form, which may be mailed in.
“We have distributed a lot of these lately and I think that’s probably why in the last couple of years we have doubled in size,” Lastoff said. “We now have about 90 members right now.”
The group meets the second Tuesday of every month at the Wilbraham Senior Center. After a short business meeting and a social period, the meeting features a demonstration by a local artist.
“It’s open to the public; even if you aren’t a member and want to come to the meeting, please feel free. We welcome everybody,” Lastoff said. “As far as our demonstrators, we try to have it as diverse as we can throughout the year.”
For more information on the Wilbraham Art League, visit the group’s website, www.wilbrahamartleague.org, or its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pages/Wilbraham-Art-League/234623539920730.
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