Connect with VIVA to see how the artists interpreted this year’s theme.

At the beginning of each year, VIVA Gallery takes a month to celebrate the talents of its members with a themed show. As always, the show will be unveiled on the first Thursday of the month which falls on January 7th. This year’s theme is “Connections.”

Some of the pieces of participating artists directly exemplify the idea of connection. M’Lou Wilkie has created a stained glass art piece featuring trees intertwining with each other and the moon. Mark Herring’s painting is a visual representation of a friend’s seven chakras. He placed his hands on the different chakra points of that friend, then took his visual images from each point and combined them into a composition on canvas. Anne Tedeschi offers a very personal watercolor painting of her second cousins who live in Kenya. They are twins, and the grandchildren of her only sibling, a brother who died quite young. The twins are a living connection to her beloved brother.

Other artists interpreted the connection theme as an opportunity for collaboration. Kathy Aaker and Kindred WazeeGale worked together on a beautiful handmade shoulder bag that illustrates Kindred’s skill with deerskin and Kathy’s woven and needle felted angora and alpaca weaving. Charna Schwartz and Nan Marshall connected their talents in pottery and jewelry making. Tom Rhorer has incorporated his stunning nature photography into placemats and runners that enhance the beautiful cups, bowls and vases of the gallery’s skilled potters. And Angela Feltes offers a weaving using local fiber, hand spinners and fiber mills showcasing the area’s finer community. And some artists took both approaches. Member artists Ken and Michelle Workowski and daughter Alena Mack made a natural connection with family members Kya and Marissa to create a large stained glass and wood sculpture representing the powerful connection between nature, their family and their relation to the elements.

The “Connections” pieces will be featured in a live Instagram stream on January 7th at 5:00pm and the show, along with many other works of VIVA’s 25 member artists, can be seen at the gallery throughout the month of January. The gallery is located at 217 South Main Street in Viroqua. For more information, contact the gallery at 608-637-6918 or info@vivagallery.net. The gallery’s First Thursday reception remains on hold.