BROOKINGS Join us in honoring the arts, as these groups breathe new life into their collaboration and showcase their work in the very place that fosters their creativity: the B-A-C. Thats the invitation from Eileen Binkley, BAC operations manager and assistant director, to visit an exhibition of local talent, nurtured through the Brookings Arts Council.
She billed the exhibition, which runs at the BAC from May 29 through June 29, a collaborative show for local clubs: Lifers Figure Drawing, a group of all ages and skill levels; Basement Painters, mostly retirees who get together on Thursday afternoons, a really nice group of people; Dakota Prairie Woodcarvers, a group that has been meeting in Brookings for decades and is also open to all ages and skill levels; and finally theres Art Factory, a group taught weekly by Binkley and composed of ADVANCE clients who do lots of free art, collage, and seasonal crafts.
The manager brings a background of 14 years of art education to her post at BAC.
These four groups applied for a show and we are excited to feature them as local groups in our community, she explained. Its a great way for us as an organization to showcase how we use our space. This classroom that were sitting in right now is a shared creative space. It provides opportunities to connect, inspire, collab-orate. And, really, theres nowhere else in Brookings thats doing that, like we do it here. We are a unique organization with opportunities for artists of all ages.
Supporting local artists
I think now more than ever its really important that w get out and support our local art organizations, such as the Brookings Arts Council, Binkley stressed. We are a non-profit organization. We do get a large chunk of our funding from the South Dakota Arts Council through a grant. And if the NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) loses its funding at the federal level that will impact whether or not we can stay open.
The exhibit opens with a reception from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday at the BAC, 524 Fourth St. Wed love to see and welcome everybody, any age, Binkley urges. Bring your kids, bring your grandparents. Everyone is welcome. Its a nice way to get out of the house, have some fun, meet some local artists.
The reception offers a way to get involved. Think of it as a recruiting tool: you see a group that strikes your fancy, talk to its members. You can gauge the appeal of these groups by visiting with their members, many of whom have been getting together over members. The groups are relaxing, friendly and low key: members move at their own pace as their talents and muses move them.
The Back to B.A.C title, Binkley explained, was tied to COVID: During the pandemic, a lot of these community organizations felt the strain and some of them stopped meeting for awhile.
And now we feel like were back on track. Were meeting weekly or monthly, were getting vibrant new members and were just really pleased with the amount of creative, shared energy thats happening at the Brookings Arts Council.
Binkleys bottom line for the BAC: We want people to know, we want our commu-nity to know were doing these things, were active, were making an impact. And again, nowhere else in Brookings offers these unique opportunities; and theyre all free.
Interested in getting involved with BAC? Then email [email protected] or call 605-692-4177.
Contact John Kubal at [email protected].
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