Grand Re-Opening!—Art Presence Art Center announces its Grand Re-Opening in December. A big thank you goes to the volunteers who helped us prepare the walls: Tony Laenen, Ginna Gordon, Debbie Earley and John Sack. Dan Hawkins—with help from Jim Earley—who prepared the walls for the sheetrock, and the subcontractors, Rob Childs, Jack Baumgarten and Tim Mosere. Don’t miss the new and improved look of our gallery!

Our December exhibit is Holiday Treasures, featuring a wide range of creative works selected for their suitability as gifts. The show opens on Friday, December 1, and continues through December 31. You’ll find many artistic treasures to wrap and give to loved ones and colleagues this year. From hand-carved miniature carousel horses to glass art, fabric art, and fine art, this show has it all for the holidays. Dolores Ribal also shows a collection of her new works in the main gallery.

Anne Brooke’s newly-published coloring book will be available for purchase. “Color Historic Jacksonville” is 8 1/2” by 8 1/2”, which can be colored with your choice of colored pencil, crayon, marker or oil pastel, and costs $19.95. All proceeds from the sale of “Color Historic Jacksonville” benefit Art Presence Art Center.

Join us for a festive reception, on Saturday, December 2, 1:00-3:00pm. Matt and Rebecca Stuart of Minstrel Streams will play live music, and authors Tom Glassman and Sharon Mehdi will read from their books. Sharon reads from the new release of “A Curious Quest for Absolute Truth.”

January-February Exhibits—Say it in Six. In our front gallery, the Calligraphers’ Guild presents pieces that tell a story in 6 words for January and February. This unique project started as a competition with Hemingway’s name attached. The Guild took up the challenge to create these unique and tersely written “stories.”

Naked Art. Our tradition of offering unmounted, unframed art for prices to tempt any collector continues in 2018! Perfect to begin the New Year by adding to your collections or refresh your home décor. Give yourself the gift of art and frame it your way!

Naked Art and Say it in Six open Friday, January 5 and continue through Sunday, February 25. Our first reception of 2018 takes place on Saturday, January 6, 1:00-3:00pm, with author readings by Tony Laenen and John Sacks. In his book, “The Journey,” Laenen tells about his family’s escape from Holland in 1941.

Art Presence Offsite Exhibits—Remember to enjoy these exhibits of works by Art Presence members before they conclude at the end of December:

Walt Wirfs’ exhibit of graphite drawings in the Jacksonville Library.

Patrick Beste’s show of abstract paintings at Pioneer Village.

Shan Lollis’ show of acrylic figure drawings at the Medford Public Library.

Life Drawing Sessions—Life Drawing resumes this month! Grab your pencils and sketchbook and meet us in our upstairs classroom each Monday from 1:00-3:00pm to sharpen your skills by drawing professional models from life. Just $10 per session!

Reserve our upstairs room for your class, workshop or meeting! Contact Anne Brooke at 541-941-7057. As always, you can find the above information and more on our website, https://art-presence.org.

Featured image is Holiday Treasures in progress by Patricia Wormuth