EVENT LINK: https://www.kulcher.org

FEE: Free

A CIRCLE OF FRIENDS: A Tribute to Cheryl Bannes & Her Creative Community

DECEMBER 2 - DECEMBER 31
Artist Reception: Sat, Dec 13 @ 1-3pm.

The New York Mills Regional Cultural Center proudly announces Circle of Friends, a special gallery exhibition honoring the work of former Artistic Director Cheryl Bannes and some of the vibrant community of artists who have shared in and shaped her creative journey. The exhibition will be on display from December 2-31, 2025.

Featuring artwork by Kent Scheer, Sandra Daulton Shaughnessy, Dawn Rossbach, Laura Grisamore, Brad Wegscheid, and Cheryl Bannes, Circle of Friends presents a rich and varied collection of painting, mixed media, collage, metal work, and assemblage. Together, these works form an expressive visual conversation about collaboration, influence, and the deep connections that sustain artistic practice.

A public celebration honoring Bannes and her personal creative community will take place on Saturday, December 13, 2025, from 1–3 PM. Guests are invited to meet the artists, enjoy light refreshments, and experience the exhibition in a welcoming and festive atmosphere. 

The Cultural Center Gallery and Gallery Receptions are always FREE to see and open to ALL, thanks to the generous support of members, sponsors, and donors.

EVENT LINK: https://www.therourke.org/jonathan-rutter-fragile-things.html

FEE: Free

Jonathan Rutter: Fragile Things

On view in the East Gallery from 5 December 2025 - 26 January 2026

Member Preview
          6:30 to 8 p.m. Friday 5 December 2025
Public Opening
          1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Sunday 7 December 2025
               Artist Talk at 2 p.m. 

Jonathan Rutter is a painter, tinkerer, collector, arts administrator, designer, and curator living and maintaining a home studio in Moorhead, MN. He received his BA degree in Studio Art with an emphasis in Painting from Minnesota State University Moorhead and his MFA degree in Painting from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

Artist Statement
            If I had the words to say it, I wouldn’t need to paint it . . . but I’ll try. In my practice, I spend a lot of time with my subjects and canvases—giving over my full, undivided attention. Allowing myself to become completely absorbed in the things I’m looking at is reflective, meditative, and pleasantly analytical, and helps me to appreciate just how wonderful and strange observable reality—and perception itself—truly is. Attending to the subtle color variations and scars on the skin of a pear, the impossibly fine tendrils of a plant, the light casting across a human figure or the tines of a fork, the exquisite sutures zigging across a monkey’s skull . . . all of these details and more speak to the unlikely journey of these subjects and how precious they are in their impermanence. Existence is weird, lovely, and fragile: look closer and take it in!

          --Jonathan Rutter, 2025