Beautiful Art Objects for Everyday Use on Display at Whitby Gift Shop and Gallery

More than a dozen artists and artisans will have work on display and for sale at the show “Functional & Beautiful: Usable Art Objects for Everyday Living,” which opens at Whitby Gift Shop and Gallery at Saint Benedict’s Monastery on Sunday, September 11, 2011.

Judi Grooters has brought together artists from around the state of Minnesota for a packed show of handmade items fit to grace any home. The exhibit will include “fun and funky” pieces by local fabric artist Lucy Senstad, owner of Aunt Annie’s Quilts and Silks in Avon. Other local artists include potter Lisa Carlson and weaver Jeri Olson-McCoy.

Still more artists are new to the area. Kate Scherfenberg of Pomme de Terre Pottery in Battle Lake, Minn., will have ceramic items with whimsical decorative motifs, including butter dishes, vases, serving dishes and more. Minneapolis interior designer and weaver Marian Quanbeck Dahlberg will have exquisite, hand-woven linen towels for sale, and Bob Carls of Ripple River Gallery in Aitkin will have wood sushi platters, small usable vessels and large bowls of turned wood to offer.

If you’re interested in beautiful, well-designed, functional items for your home, you will enjoy this upcoming show. From large, one-of-a-kind furniture pieces by Marshall Brewer to bottle stoppers, wood utensils and knitted pin cushions shaped like cupcakes, there will be something for everyone.

The exhibit at Art and Heritage Place’s Whitby Gallery runs from Sunday, September 11 through Sunday, October 23. Hours for the gallery on the grounds of Saint Benedict’s Monastery are Tuesday – Friday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m., and Saturday – Sunday, 1–3:30 p.m. The gallery is closed Mondays. For more information, call Sister Ione Jesh at 320-363-7113.