O P E R A

The Opera House hosted 12 art exhibits during 2023:Shannon Wirrenga exhibited her paintings, primarily in oils, inspired by lessons of faith and nature; Imaginative Eyes, a unique and creative art exhibit featuring four artists in their own style currently attending Trinity Bible College, Aubree Bohrer, Rachel Naylor, Alecia Underwood and Autumn Shamala; South Dakota artist Reva Graves' exhibit - A Doodle Daily - featuring digital art prints; EPS Art Grant Student Show featuring art by Ellendale Public School K-6 students; Linda Whitney of Valley City featured a collection of mezzotint prints celebrating indigenous culture and traditional dance; Cate and Riley, watercolor artwork by Cate (Monroe) & Riley (Goehring); Deana Novak's Jack of All features works in gouache, cyanotype, ink on watercolor, pen on photo, mixed media, and more; Let It Bee, the work of Mitch Melberg, who operates an apiary in Williston, included many close-up images of honeybees and bumblebees at the apiary; Wet plate photography exhibit by Shane Balkowitsch featured 38 prints from the collection: Northern Plains Native Americans: A Modern Wet Plate Perspective; Art On Leather featured the works of Doug Enberg creating art by burning leather; EPS Artist in Residency Student Showcase featured Ellendale Public School middle and high school students artwork. All exhibitions were free of charge.

Wishek native Ron Vossler - Humanities scholar, author, speaker, and retired university professor talked about his experiences at UND-EB in the mid-1960s, and how it influenced his thought and career. Vossler's presentation at the Opera House described our common humanity through stories and humor related to his German-Russian heritage. There was no admission charge.

Photography artist Shane Balkowitsch conducted a wet plate photography demonstration at the Opera House. Wet plate photography is an old-fashioned photographic process in which the image is formed on a wet plate rather than a dry film. The plates were coated with a liquid emulsion which contained silver chloride crystals. The exposed film is immersed in this emulsion, and the image is 'developed' in a chemical bath. The developed negative is placed on a piece of glass and the developer solution removed. The image on the glass is then treated to harden the emulsion, and the print is fixed with a fixing agent, which turns the emulsion into a permanent image. Some of the attendees were chosen by lot to have their glass plate portraits done and were gifted the finished plate by the artist. There was no charge for admission.