Written by: Eric Peterson

In 2016, we had our first That’s What Eye Saw exhibition of photography. 

In our first year as an art center, we had started an event’s committee to handle events.  The December preceding the show, we had a little Christmas party for our members at Gail Fonnest’s home.  Ben Andersen approached me (Eric Peterson, current Board Chair) a the party asking what an artist’s resume was, as the head of the new event’s committee was asking submitting artists for the “That’s What Eye Saw” exhibition was requiring the artist resume as part of the entry.  I spoke to the committee head asking her to ease up on the requirements as most of these artists had never participated in an art show.

Well, that didn’t sit too well with this committee head, and she quit.

Read more: An Events Committee makes a difference…

Written by: Eric Peterson

Utilizing Technology to Expand Our Reach…

Until the year 2020, the Wyoming Area Creative Arts Community impacted the lives of hundreds of visitors each year with incredible displays of regional artists artwork in the Hallberg Center for the Arts.

Then in early 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic hit, initially having to close the art center and reschedule some exhibits.  The organization was faced with the problem of how to continue revealing the talent of regional artists.

At the same time, Eric and Karla Peterson were living in Florida and trying to sell their home in Wyoming, MN.  Paul Hoppe, the current Wyoming Police Chief was getting ready to retire from law enforcement and had been diving into real estate, had taken on the task of representing Eric and Karla in the sale of their home.

Read more: Overcoming a Pandemic with Technology

Written by: Eric Peterson

Eight years ago, just three months after the Wyoming Area Creative Arts Community purchased the Hallberg Center for the Arts, we made our first attempt at a collaborative exhibition. 

We had just purchased a gridwall system (this replaced the easels that artists brought to the gallery) to display artwork in the center spaces of the main gallery.  Still didn’t have much for lighting and had purchased a few battery-powered lights to attach above some artwork.

Nobody knew who we were or what we had accomplished, so we really didn’t know how this would go.  The art center didn’t have a security system or Internet.  We now had 58 member artists.

Read more: Eight Years after a Black & White Experiment