Annual WAGE exhibit opens July 27 at WCA

Wayne Artists Group Effort will hold its annual exhibition at Wayne Center for the Arts with an opening reception on Thursday, July 27 from 5-7 p.m.

The name and theme of this year's exhibit is "Kaleidoscope." Anyone in the group can suggest a theme, and the members vote to make a selection each year. "Kaleidoscope" was suggested by Dianne Morrison.

"How we interpret the theme is up to us," WAGE founder Susan Shie said. "We don't jury our shows, so however you interpret a theme is fine."

There is one WAGE show per year, and anyone who has attended at least four of the group's last 12 monthly meetings is eligible to place works in the show. Because the show is not juried in any way, anyone who qualifies on the basis of attendance may enter art in the exhibit.

"We're a support group and want to respect however each of us works on our art," Shie said. "We don't take attendance at meetings, so everyone is responsible for monitoring whether they've attended enough meetings to be in the next show."

The show consists of a spectrum of artistic media and techniques including painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, prints and mixed media. Some of the artwork displayed will be for sale to the public. Participating artists are Kelly Aboulkacem, Patricia L.K. Anderson, Barbara Baldner, Monica Bongue-Bartelsman, Julie Fisher, Janice M Gallagher, Angel Haller, Kristin Lorson, Ed Marthey, Joanne Murray, Jason Rakich, Shie and Jenna Berg Waggoner.

Aboulkacem's piece, "Mesmerizing View Into the Past," was chosen as this year's featured work for the show invitation. The selection process was by vote. Shie said all members who wanted to compete submitted a printout of their work, and the group voted on it at its May meeting.

"Kelly submitted both of her pieces for the show," Shie said, "and they came in first and second in our vote."

To create the artwork, Aboulkacem found an app to use with her phone's camera that creates photos with kaleidoscopic, geometric images instead of one simple view of a subject. Within the app there are many ways to manipulate how the kaleidoscope will be formed, so there are a lot of personal artistic choices to be made in using it to create art.

The Wayne Artists Group Effort is a support group for local artists. It was founded in 1986. The group holds monthly meetings at the Wayne Center for the Arts, where members share their most recent artworks.

"We give positive feedback to each other regarding the art being shared," Shie said. "We also have a time at the start of the meeting for eating and talking among ourselves. We've developed deep friendships through WAGE."

WAGE is a support group with no dues or officers. They currently have 51 members who work in a variety of 2-D and 3-D media. WAGE accepts new members. Anyone interested may call the Wayne Center for the Arts at 330-264-ARTS or email Shie at susanshie@gmail.com.

"If an artist wants to join WAGE," Shie said, "they're in. There's no judging if you're good enough. We take you in, and you've suddenly got a bunch of local artists as friends."

Find WAGE on Facebook at WAGE Art. There also is a private page for members.

The public is invited to the opening of the Wayne Artists Group Effort annual exhibit, "Kaleidoscope," at Wayne Center for the Arts, 237 S. Walnut St., Wooster. Light hors d'oeuvres and wine will be served. The exhibit will run through Aug. 17. Wayne Center for the Arts hours are Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The show is free.