A detail shot of Carapace by Dan Volenec. Photo: White Bear Center for the Arts
Every year, White Bear Center for the Arts hosts Northern Lights, a juried art exhibition. This year, a new artistic voice emerged from the crowd: Dan Volenec, whose piece Carapace won this year’s Best of Show award. Carapace, a sculpture that is a delicate balance of strength and grace, is a 4-foot-tall lapis-blue turtle shell that shimmers with gold veins and weighs only about 7 pounds.
At the Northern Lights Community Reception earlier this year, Volenec shared a message with the crowd: “I attempted this piece ten years ago, but failed. Now, 10 years later, it’s winning a Best of Show award.” He ended with the advice, “Don’t give up!”
Stories like this reflect the spirit of Northern Lights, an exhibition that not only celebrates the finished products but also the journeys taken to create these works of art.
Cynthia Maya is the marketing associate at White Bear Center for the Arts. Learn more at whitebeararts.org.
