Art Fusion is the name of the newest exhibit in the Evansville Art Center Gallery. It is a wonderful collaboration between visual artists Olivia Hoppe and Beth Jacobson, whose dissimilar media and techniques bring a true feast for the eyes! 

Olivia Hoppe grew up taking as many different art classes as she could at Aitkin High School and later at Central Lakes College in Brainerd, MN. She also learned a lot from her father who did a variety of Mountain Man/American Indian crafts. She and her husband live on a farm near Miltona, MN . 

Olivia does a combination of pen and ink drawing with either acrylic paint, watercolor, or colored pencil added in depending on the surface she is working on. Those surfaces include wood slabs from her husband’s sawmill, cattle bones from their farm or locally sourced, and hardshell gourds that she grows and processes. She also forages for materials like sticks, birch bark, deer horns, and whatever else she feels she can find a use for in her work.

Beth Jacobson has been painting since the 1960’s. In recent years she has focused on acrylic Americana paintings and pastel portraits, but she also does landscapes.

Her education included The Famous Artist Schools and 3 years of commercial art when moving to the country changed her goals for a season. She then turned to the fine arts. Beth says she observed many older artists doing beautiful work, so she knew she could return to doing it in her retirement after raising 6 children. We are so glad she did!

Art Fusion opens on Friday, May 29 and runs through June 27. It may be seen during select Wednesday’s New Arts Café (watch for more information coming soon!), Thursdays from 3:00 to 6:30 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m..

An Artist Reception will be held on Friday, June 12 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Gallery.