What's New at Peaceacre

Peaceacre is now permanently located inside the Arts Council Gallery at 206 West 10th Street, Lamar, just west of the historic town square. The Gallery is the coolest place to visit in Lamar, but the hardest place to define. Is it a working art gallery, featuring a continually changing display of artwork and photography by local and regional artists? YES! Is it a shop, offering a wide variety of handmade items crafted by local artisans? YES! Is it a gourmet bakery? YES! Is it an incubator for artists and craftspeople seeking an inexpensive, low-risk opportunity to start the creative business of their dreams? YES! Is it an artistic community center where groups of people, from writer’s circles, to fiber arts fans, to Open Mic Night musicians and poets and beyond can meet to share and explore their interests in a comfortable, nurturing, and even “funky-cool” setting? YES! Is it a FREE WIFI hotspot? YES! Is it an arts classroom, with a special focus on providing free art classes for children? YES! Is it a concert venue, featuring live music by area musicians across a wide spectrum of musical styles, from folk, to jazz, to classical, to rock and roll, and more? YES! 

And now, it is also the exclusive home of Peaceacre!  The Gallery is open Wednesday through Friday from 11:00 AM to 5:30 PM. Come check it out! Lots of new stuff!

COLLEEN BRAND TO BE APRIL FEATURED ARTIST AT THE ARTS COUNCIL GALLERY

Local artist Colleen Brand loves color, and the vibrant hues in her many nature and travel inspired paintings seem to literally leap off the canvas, drawing the viewer into scenes that challenge us to experience, as if for the very first time, the profound, yet whimsical beauty of the world around us. Whether the subject is a Puerto Rican rain forest hut (complete with hot tub!), deer grazing in a Southwest Missouri wood, or her beloved schnauzer "Pookie" peeking slyly from the window of a passing car, Colleen's paintings show us, not only what these images "look like" to the eye, but how they "feel" when the eye, heart and imagination work together to catch a glimpse of the magic hidden beneath life's surface.

Colleen was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1940. She moved to Jasper, Missouri in 1970, and later to Lamar. Her first job in the area was at Judy's Cafe in Jasper, followed by 30 years of service with O'Sullivan Industries. She worked for several years at Summer Fresh, Wal-Mart and Lamarti's, and even moved briefly to Tallahassee, Florida to work in construction, before returning to Lamar and retiring in 2009.

She got her start as an artist when she opened "Herbs R Food & Gift Chalet," a store on the Lamar Square selling herbs, gifts and handmade ceramics. Her friends Steve Ortner and his wife taught her how to make the ceramics, and she took naturally to painting small decorative scenes on items before their final glazing. Upon retirement, she rediscovered her talent for painting, and now gives full expression to her love of nature, travel, life and color on canvas instead of pottery. In the few short years since taking up the brush in 2009, she has produced more than 150 paintings.

Her work will be on display throughout the month of April in The Arts Council Gallery at 206 W 10th St., Lamar, on the northwest corner of the Square. An artist's reception will be held Saturday, April 2nd, from 2 PM to 4 PM at the Gallery, with hors d'oeuvres, drinks and sweet treats catered by The Wild Plum Cafe and Colleen's granddaughter, Brandi Beam. Both Saturday's reception and the full April art show are free and open to the public. All are invited to come and meet the artist Saturday afternoon, and to enjoy her work all month.