Art crawl to feature eight different locations throughout the greater Vergas area

By Robert Williams

Editor

Take a drive down the beautiful Vergas backroads while enjoying the unique art studios and fall colors on the second annual Back Roads Art Crawl Saturday, Sept. 21, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

The Art Crawl is free of charge and includes a dozen artists at eight locations this year. There will be a door prize drawing at each location and the premise of the event is to spend the day in and around Vergas enjoying a variety of art disciplines, along with stopping into local restaurants.

“It’s a fun day to spend in Vergas,” said Vergas Arts Club Chair Carol Albright. “You might start with breakfast at the Loon’s Nest and you could have lunch at Billy’s and dinner at Spanky’s or The Blackboard or Skål Bar and Grill, or you could go back to Billy’s. You could just spend the whole day in Vergas.”

The Art Crawl includes a blacksmith demonstration at Jody Marquardt’s farm located at 33454 Sybil Lake Road, Vergas. Marquardt is the creator of the metal loons that can be found around town.

Playing with clay will be encouraged at Carol JS Albright’s studio, 1210 East Frazee Avenue, Frazee. This location has a Frazee address but is in the city limits of Vergas. 

The turning lathe will be going at Dan Modrow’s Turning Nature studio, 34804 Sybil Lake Lane. Leona Rogers will demonstrate paper flower making with papers from Germany and Italy at her Long Lake studio. 

Forest Edge Gallery presents artists of multiple disciplines from painting to sculpture and more. The drive alone out to the gallery is worth the trip, whether one takes the long gravel road or the more adventurous try the minimum maintenance back road. Both routes end at the spectacular sculpture garden outside the studio.

“It’s really a fun drive; it’s like an oasis there,” Albright said.

Artists at each location will be available to answer questions and sales tables will be available at some locations for visitors to purchase art.

“I think it’s fun and inspiring to be able to see where the artists work and that there is a variety of artists sort of tucked back in the woods,” said Vergas Arts Club Chair Carol Albright. “People might not know about these folks if we didn’t have this art crawl.”

Two new stops this year include Billy’s Corner Bar and Brianna Mae Designs, both on Main Street, downtown Vergas. 

Brianna creates handmade jewelry in her downtown space. 

Billy’s will feature a book signing by author, Lucinda Michalski, who recently published S.O.S.; “a thriller based on lies, deceit, and murder.” Michalski has received a great response to her release that ties Vergas, Frazee, Perham and other local areas into the novel’s plot. Rose Lake is the center of all the intrigue and area readers have responded positively to all the fictionally hidden spots that are recognizable in the book.

“It’s going to be a beautiful fall day and it is always fun to see what artists have created,” Albright said.

The Art Crawl is sponsored by the Vergas Arts Club in conjunction with the Vergas Community Club. Visit the Vergas Community Club’s Facebook page or vergascommunityclub.com for further information.

Following are addresses for each artist’s location:

• Carol JS Albright/clay art- 1210 East Frazee Avenue, Frazee (But in the City of Vergas)

• Jody Marquardt/blacksmith- 33454 Sybil Lake Road, Vergas

• Dan Modrow/Turning Nature- 34804 Sybil Lake Lane, Vergas

• Leona Rogers/paper flowers- 37253 Delight Lane, Frazee, Long Lake

• Forest Edge Gallery- 46461 295th Avenue, Vergas (Helena Johnson, Patrick Shannon, Kris Domier, Karla Urbach, Marlys Bucholz Pearson) 

• Butch Pavlacky/Lost Highway Pottery- 27015 470th Street, Vergas

• Brianna Mae Designs/Jewelry- Main Street, Vergas

• Lucinda Michalski/author/book signing, Billy’s, Main Street, Vergas