Hiding Hibiscus by Cynthia Huff
A group of Twin Cities artists will display their work collectively.
During September, the Edina Senior Center will host the art exhibition Interwoven: A Series in Color, Pattern and Place, created by members of the Creative Arts Collaborative. The group is composed of women artists based throughout the Twin Cities area who regularly exhibit their work in local galleries, coffee shops and art fairs.
The free show will be open from 8–4:30pm daily from September 3–20. The exhibit will be presented in the art hallways of the Edina Senior Center, offering an opportunity to connect with the local community through locally-made art.
Group member and Edina artist Cynthia Huff shares more about the group’s history and upcoming show.
A Walk in the Woods by Alison Sanders
Can you tell us how and why the Creative Arts Collaborative was founded?
About two years ago, Judy Grasamke and Cynthia Jacobs connected on Instagram. Jacobs said, “I wish there was a group where we could get together and commiserate.” So Grasamke said, “I’ll start one!” The two of them invited other artists they knew and other solo artists to join, leading to regular monthly meetings. We’ve toured each other’s studio spaces, attended each other’s openings, alert each other of upcoming opportunities, lent supplies for shows and offered encouragement.
What inspired this specific exhibition at the Edina Senior Center?
We wanted to expand the concept to more of us in the group [after] a previous show in St. Paul. When Nicole Gorman at the Edina Senior Center suggested the title of the show, Interwoven: Stories in Color, Pattern and Place, we all thought it captured how the members have influenced each other, how our individual lives influence our art and that it describes the content of the pieces.
Whispers of the Wind by Marlene Maloney
How did the partnership with the Edina Senior Center come to be?
With the Art Center in transition, the Edina Senior Center was a good option. Last spring, Huff and Grasamke met with Gorman at the Edina Senior Center about a group show. Gorman was excited about the idea, allowing us to show our work to the Edina community.
You exhibit your art collectively versus individually. Does that make your group unique or add to each person’s individual work in some way?
We all individually show our work at venues, but this show is an opportunity to show our work collectively. We think what makes our group unique is how we came together and our individual skills and talents. This group is both professional and personal when typically, groups are one or the other. Also, the chemistry in our group seemed right from day one!
Split Rock Lighthouse by Cindy Lindgren
How do you hope attendees will feel or take away from your exhibit?
We’re hoping this exhibition will be a quiet respite of colorful flowers, nature, a return to childhood, [an invitation] to stop and enjoy and provide a break from our busy lives. Something to brighten the viewer’s day and perhaps inspire a closer look: what medium, the detail. The work will be available for purchase, so we hope someone will want to take a piece home with them and we can continue to make more art.
Meet The Artists
Alison Sanders is a children’s book illustrator with a background in animation who creates vibrant, story-rich worlds from her St. Paul home studio.
Cynthia Jacobs is a St. Paul-based independent artist whose whimsical, colorful paintings and designs celebrate nature.
Cynthia Huff is a mixed-media, Edina-based artist who combines pressed flowers, textiles, stitching and painting to create nature-inspired works.
Judy Grasamke—based out of Edina—creates vibrant, textured paintings using color and mixed media to inspire joy, energy and continual discovery.
Kathy Pope crafts intricate, hand-cut paper designs layered with playful color and pattern to bring joy and warmth to the familiar.
Marlene Maloney creates multi-layered, nature-inspired paintings that explore the harmony of color, shape and space.
Cindy Lindgren is an Edina artist who creates hand-drawn, digitally finished illustrations inspired by the native wildlife, heritage and landmarks of the Midwest.
