Hallways to galleries
If you slow down and take in what’s around you as you walk the halls of Kidron Bethel Village, you may feel a bit as though you are on an art tour. Over the last few months, the art in the campus’ main building has become much more intentional thanks to a resident Art Committee.
Appointed by Executive Director Jennifer Traglia, independent living residents Janet Friesen, Virgil Penner and Kathie Podliska have been curating art in hallways and other spaces to make resident spaces more interesting and stimulating.
“Our task was to help curate exhibits and highlight resident art,” said Friesen. “Some of the art that was here before had been here for quite a while. It’s good for changes to happen. It’s enriching and stimulating for people to have something to look at that’s fulfilling and interesting.”
For their first step, the committee worked primarily in hallways of each of the three floors of Village Heights. They moved some existing pieces to different locations so a different audience would see them as they walked the hallways, and added some new pieces by Podliska and Friesen.
In time, the committee would like to make the first floor Village Heights hallway an evolving gallery, switching out the pieces several times each year with a focus on resident artists.
“There are several residents on campus who are artists and exhibit frequently,” said Podliska. “We may feature one or two artists for a period of time and then switch them out. Many people walk the first-floor hallway everyday – residents, staff and visitors. We want it to be ever evolving; ever changing.”
Each of the members of the art committee are experienced artists themselves who continue to thrive with their art in retirement.
Friesen earned an M.A. in art from San Jose (Calif.) State University and spent her career teaching at both the high school and collegiate levels, and worked in a museum. Her emphasis has been print making, and she’s audited several semesters of print making at Bethel College since being at Kidron Bethel Village.
Podliska is mostly a self-taught artist who occasionally took courses as she found time, and did some work in graphic design. She most enjoys painting, sketching, pen and ink and watercolor mediums, and has several abstracts currently on display on the first-floor hallway.
Penner is also largely self-taught and has created his whimsical landscape paintings as a hobby for many years. He enjoys being creative with whatever task he undertakes. With career experiences as a high school teacher, coach and businessperson in the local area, his connections are vast.
“It’s exciting to have so many artists in a community our size, and it’s an honor to be able to feature their work,” said Podliska. “Giving people the chance to look at, consider, create and enjoy art is so exciting and important in creating connections and community.”