Mary Blotti Anderson Exhibit Opens In Fairfield’s b2 Gallery

In April, the Fairfield Center for Contemporary Art in downtown Sturgeon Bay will open the doors to the newest exhibition by Door County artist Mary Blotti Anderson. Titled “Mary Blotti Anderson: Of the Great Lakes, Bays & Fields,” the exhibition will open on Tuesday, April 1 in the lower-level b2 Gallery.

Anderson will host a free opening reception in the b2 from 6:30 – 8 pm on Thursday, April 3. Refreshments will be served, and the artist’s featured works will be available for purchase.

Anderson, a graduate of the University of Minnesota at Duluth, said the exhibition reflects her lifelong love of the Great Lakes region.

“I am of the Great Lakes and bays and fields,” she explained. “As children, we loved to go down by the canal with our parents and watch ships from all over the world go into Duluth Harbor under the quaint old Aerial Lift Bridge.

“So much do I love the lakes, that when it came time to choose a place to interview for my first teaching job, I looked at places by the Great Lakes shores and came to Door County, which is surrounded by water,” she continued.

The exhibition comprises a mix of Anderson’s old and new artwork, including four new pastels.

“It contains marshes, big ships and tugs and harbor and overlook scenes,” she said. “I rowed on a rowing team in college, and they are in one of the pictures. Other scenes are of the round hay bales that dot our fields each summer. The shadows of the late day inspired a purple and yellow scene of the field.”

“Of the Great Lakes, Bays & Fields” also includes a separate section, in the b2’s closet space, containing portraits of the artist, her family and others. Anderson has set aside a special table for children to draw their own pictures, and she invites Fairfield visitors to “enjoy this trip in Door County.”

“Mary Anderson: Of the Great Lakes, Bays & Fields” is scheduled to run in the Fairfield’s b2 Gallery through Saturday, May 3.

The Fairfield Center for Contemporary Art is open free to the public, 10 am – 5 pm Wednesday through Saturday during the offseason. For more information about the art center and its upcoming exhibitions and events, call 920.746.0001, send e-mail to [email protected] or visit http://www.fairfieldcenter.org.