Bev Jackson Cotter, Art Is…

I am not ready to even begin thinking about jingle bells and ho-ho-ho and all that stuff. The fall weather has been so beautiful that it’s hard for me to shift gears and begin thinking about Christmas.

Fortunately, there are some volunteers at the Albert Lea Art Center who think further down the road than I do.

Preparations are in high gear for the annual Holiday Festival of Trees that will be opening right after Thanksgiving.

This Christmas tradition has lasted almost 25 years, and for many people, it is one of the special places where family and friends gather as a part of their own holiday tradition. For anyone who has not experienced this event each year the three Art Center galleries are filled with holiday decorations sponsored by area businesses, organizations, schools and friends. Each group decorates its own tree with a special theme, and the creativity is amazing. Artistic talent surfaces in many ways, and this season gives people who don’t consider themselves artists a chance to shine.

As a new feature this year, many of the decorated trees will include coordinated holiday table settings. I am looking forward to seeing what will be included and where the creative mode will take this idea.

Since I am not directly involved with this project, I do not get in on all of the work involved in bringing it together. I do know that it doesn’t just happen. All of the trees and the decorations owned by the Art Center are stored in huge boxes in various donated secure storage areas in town. Prior to the event, Janelle Vanengelenburg and her “fabulous” Sentence To Service crew members lift and haul and set up all of the artificial trees and take the boxes back to storage. (The word “fabulous” was used by Donna Widenhoefer, chairwoman of the festival, after watching how hard they all worked the day the trees were set up.) Then community members make arrangements to do their decorating while other Art Center volunteers plan fun treats for the open house.

Everything will be ready for public showing by Nov. 26. The exhibits open the day after Thanksgiving, so while you are out shopping for bargains, plan to take a break and visit the Art Center.

Also — now pay attention ’cause this is important — the Christmas open house will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 28. That’s the day when very special holiday goodies will be served, Lang & Lang will provide music for the afternoon, and the air will be filled with the jingle bells and ho-ho-hos that I mentioned earlier.

As I was perusing Norman Rockwell’s biography recently I came across a painting that will NOT be shown at the Festival of Trees. It is of three Christmas carders and was done for the Saturday Evening Post cover, Dec. 8, 1923. It shows a long, lean violinist, a shorter, round gentleman playing a horn, and a young red-haired boy singing with gusto. The title of the piece is “Christmas.. .sing merrily” and Rockwell’s sense of humor surfaces in his description of the friends who posed for the painting. He says, “Dave Campion couldn’t play the violin, nor could Pop Fredericks play anything. Bill Sundermeyer had no ear for music.” Their talents matter not. It is a wonderful painting.

While the Festival of Trees will not have Norman Rockwell’s painting, a violinist or a horn blower, it will have all of the gusto that you need to get your holiday season off to a grand start. See you there!

Bev Jackson Cotter is a member of the Albert Lea Art Center where the annual Festival of Trees will be shown from Nov. 26 to Dec. 31. The open house will be from 1 to 4 p.m on Nov. 28.