GALLERY 96: Photography walks and plein air art

BY NOELLE OLSON EDITOR

Plein air painting workshops and photography walks will be the focus of the Gallery 96 Art Center this summer.

“‘Plein air’ means to paint outdoors on site and truly see and capture what is in front of the artist,” said Tom Reynen, Gallery 96 president. “Photography walks are meant to provide photographers of all levels opportunities to refine their photo-taking techniques and explore features of their cameras or, in particular, their phone cameras.”

Reynen said these workshops would not be possible without a grant from the Shoreview Community Foundation.

“The idea that we talked to the foundation about was to explore the Shoreview parks more, and we wanted to get more people to exhibit in the show and at the community center,” Reynen said. “It’s inspired by the beauty of Shoreview’s parks, and a different park will be featured each month. This is the second year and last year, we had almost 100% full for all three sessions.”

The first session will be at Heritage Park featuring the new home of the Shoreview Historical Society — the Lepak-Larson home.

“A lot of people don’t know about the Lepak-Larson house and the Texaco gas station,” Reynen said. “We thought that it would be interesting this year to paint or photograph the house and gas station other than just landscape scenes.”

Reynen, a photographer, and Gallery 96 artist Amy Clark will conduct the events and provide guidance. The finished paintings and selected photographs will be displayed in the Shoreview Community Center glass cases after the workshop series.

Reynan said all skill levels are welcome, and people must be 16 years or older to participate. Registrations are open to everyone in the community, not just Gallery 96 members, but are limited to one session per individual per year. “So bring your friends and spread the word,” he said.

Class sizes are limited to 25 for each painting and photography session. All art materials will be provided. People should bring water, sunscreen and bug repellent. Painters need to bring a folding chair or stool. Reynen noted that people should wear comfortable shoes. Photographers can either shoot with their cameras or phone.

“We added photography walks this year to encourage photographers to explore the parks as well,” Reynen said. “These plein air painting and photography experiences will be a multisensory journey for the artist’s mind and body.”

To register, visit www.gallery96.org and look for membership and event registration.

Shoreview Press Editor Noelle Olson can be reached at shoreviewnews@presspubs.com or 651407-1229.

If You Go

Details of the Gallery 96 art workshops are as follows:

• Session 1: 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday, June 24, Heritage Park at the Lepak-Larson house.

• Session 2: 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday, July 29, at Island Lake Park.

• Session 3: 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 19. Location to be determined.

• The 2023-24 projected budgets for nutrition services, community service, capital and debt service funds will be included as part of the final budget documents that will be presented to the Mounds View School Board for approval at the June 20 school board meeting. “We are in the process of reviewing some of the legislative decisions and unpacking some of those,” said Bernice Humnick, executive director of business services. “Some of these will actually be handled during the revised budget process, because when we start with nutrition services, that was a change with free meals passed. However, there’s no clarification on how the state will provide the state revenue at this time.” Details will be available on the budgets and finance page at mvpschools.org after the June 20 meeting.

• Enrollment projections for the 2022-23 school year indicate an anticipated enrollment of 11,270 students. Humnick said next fall’s class size projections do not exceed current class size averages. Staff will continue to monitor any changes throughout the summer. To review the report, visit https://bit.ly/43ID1OL.

• Superintendent Chris Lennox gave a final report on the 2022-23 district operational plan (DOP). The DOP is the annual administrative work plan of the district. It is directly related to the district’s vision and the school board’s strategic directions for the year. Superintendent Lennox reported that all of the goals had been met, and commended the staff and board for their hard work.

• Treasurer Shauna Bock read the list of gifts the district received this period. There were nine gifts for school programs totaling $4,710 and 16 gifts received for the Ralph Reeder Food Shelf totaling $33,882.10.

The next Mounds View School Board meeting is at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 20, at the District Center, 4570 Victoria St. N. in Shoreview.

Noelle Olson