The Art Box

The Art Box - Episode 50 - Theatre, Ghost Stories and a GREAT Mom - Meet Bethany Overland-Green

Meet our friend Bethany Overland-Green as we talk about her years of involvement with theatre groups back east, Salt Lake City and now in our own town of Mesquite. A mom of seven we enjoyed our time with Bethany, we learned about ghosts, we laughed a lot, and we cried some. Bethany is the locals, local, the Mom's, Mom and the Love in the Love Family. You will enjoy this episode with a true HERO in our town.

The Art Box Episode 49 - 2023 Artist in Residence Debbie Lambin

Through grants received from the Nevada Arts Council and the National Endowment for the arts, the Artist in Residence program allows the Virgin Valley Artists Association to bring in artists from all over the country to stay a for week in Mesquite sharing their knowledge and expertise. They do this through a series of free workshops and classes.  
This year VVAA is very excited to announce that we received another grant from Nevada Arts Council and The National Endowment for the Arts to host another Artist in Residence in Mesquite.  
Artist in Residence Deborah Lambin, from Carson City will be here from Sunday, Feb. 12 through Saturday, Feb. 18th .   Debbie is a native of Chicago, Illinois, and a paper sculptor with over 40 years of art experience. She also specializes in acrylic paint, watercolors, wood, metal and recyclable materials. She has won various awards throughout the state of Nevada. Her work has been on exhibit in the Clark County Government Rotunda, and she was selected to exhibit in the 2021 & 2022 outdoor art walk at the Clark County Wetlands Park in Las Vegas. In 2021 Debbie was accepted as a Teaching Artist with Nevada Arts Council and she travels throughout Nevada to conduct book art workshops for all ages. She has an online studio MyThousandWords.com which showcases more than 100 fine art book sculptures created by herself and her artist children.  She is also an author who published a children's book in 2020 during the pandemic and is currently working on writing a memoir and a how-to book about book art.
Debbie will be here to teach Virgin Valley residents how to repurpose, recycle and reuse books to create art. 
The workshops will take place in our classroom located at the Mesquite Fine Arts Center, (15 W Mesquite Blvd) next door to our gallery. Deborah's work will be on display in the Gallery.   
Who can attend the workshops? Are they only for the members of VVAA?  The workshops are for all the residents of the Virgin Valley whether they are members of VVAA or not. This includes people who live in Bunkerville, Littlefield and Beaver Dam as well as Mesquite.
Where can you go to see some of Debbie’s work on-line?
You can google her name or go to My Thousand Words. com. The Nevada Arts Council also has a link for her on their page.
https://www.nvartscouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/Deborah-Lambin_Final.pdf https://mythousandwords.com/
This is an incredibly hot art form and we feel lucky to have Debbie as our next Artist in Residence.  
How do we register for her free classes?  
You can register on-line on our website, Mesquitefinearts.com.  

The Art Box - Episode 48 - The Zimmer’s Unplugged

Meet Jackie and Larry Zimmer, the unsung heroes of the Virgin Valley Artists' Association. If you are at any function in our gallery Larry and Jackie will be there, serving drinks, showing you around, setting up, cleaning up and more than likely you will also be able to find a fine piece of their art on the well. You might also find them on the golf course as they are both avid golfers.
Sit back and enjoy our first couple's podcast, it was fun.

The Art Box - Episode 47 - 2022 Holiday Special - Iconic Artists Jan and Floyd Talk Creativity

The Art Box wraps up it's first year with jolly holiday greetings from our hosts, a quick discussion of what is upcoming for 2023 and a gift to our listeners with Jan Hansen and Floyd Johnson talking watercolor, acrylic and creativity. 
A huge thank you to our listeners, our sponsors, VVAA members, the VVAA Board of Directors for your support this year. We are looking forward to a fun 2023.
Remember we are always looking for guests to chat about their creativity, their art, their life and their passions.

The Art Box - Episode 46 - Introducing January 2023 Artist of the Month Linda Birks

Linda was born and raised in Midland, Michigan, and moved to Grand Junction, Colorado, where she met her husband, Rod. Upon retirement, Linda and Rod sought a warmer winter climate and the beauty of the desert. Their search brought them to Beaver Dam, Arizona. They lived as snowbirds dividing their time between Colorado and Arizona until moving permanently in 2019.
Art was never on Linda’s radar, but one day in 2000, walking down Main Street in Grand Junction, she wandered into a gallery that gave stained glass classes. She loved and admired stained glass, never thinking it was something she could do. She took one class in the copper foil method and was hooked. Still working, Linda didn’t have the time for more lessons but spent weekends at home practicing and learning, adding fused glass to her skills, and purchasing a kiln. She loves the many colors, glass textures, and their relationship with light and finds it both fun and rewarding to work on and complete her glass projects.
Having the time since retiring, Linda has been able to take a few glass classes in person and online and has added wire working and jewelry to her skill set, which, again, is entirely self-taught. At home, it’s always about trying new techniques and learning by trial and error.
Linda’s art may be found in several private collections locally and throughout the US. She feels lucky to have found the Virgin Valley Artists’ Association with like-minded artists, classes, and the Mesquite Fine Arts Center.
Linda says, “If it puts a smile on your face I did it right.”
 

The Art Box - Episode 45 - Announcing 2023 Artist in Residence Debbie Lambin

Linda Harris the VVAA Director of Educational Programs announces the Schedule for our 2023 Artist in Residence Debbie Lambin.
Artist in Residence Program with Deborah Lambin. 
Through grants received from the Nevada Arts Council and the National Endowment for the arts, the Artist in Residence program allows the Virgin Valley Artists Association to bring in artists from all over the country to stay a for week in Mesquite sharing their knowledge and expertise. They do this through a series of free workshops and classes.  
This year VVAA is very excited to announce that we received another grant from Nevada Arts Council and The National Endowment for the Arts to host another Artist in Residence in Mesquite.  
Artist in Residence Deborah Lambin, from Carson City will be here from Sunday, Feb. 12 through Saturday, Feb. 18th .   Debbie is a native of Chicago, Illinois, and a paper sculptor with over 40 years of art experience. She also specializes in acrylic paint, watercolors, wood, metal and recyclable materials. She has won various awards throughout the state of Nevada. Her work has been on exhibit in the Clark County Government Rotunda, and she was selected to exhibit in the 2021 & 2022 outdoor art walk at the Clark County Wetlands Park in Las Vegas. In 2021 Debbie was accepted as a Teaching Artist with Nevada Arts Council and she travels throughout Nevada to conduct book art workshops for all ages. She has an online studio MyThousandWords.com which showcases more than 100 fine art book sculptures created by herself and her artist children.  She is also an author who published a children's book in 2020 during the pandemic and is currently working on writing a memoir and a how-to book about book art.
Debbie will be here to teach Virgin Valley residents how to repurpose, recycle and reuse books to create art. 
The workshops will take place in our classroom located at the Mesquite Fine Arts Center, (15 W Mesquite Blvd) next door to our gallery. Deborah's work will be on display in the Gallery.   
Who can attend the workshops? Are they only for the members of VVAA?  The workshops are for all the residents of the Virgin Valley whether they are members of VVAA or not. This includes people who live in Bunkerville, Littlefield and Beaver Dam as well as Mesquite.
Where can you go to see some of Debbie’s work on-line?
You can google her name or go to My Thousand Words. com. The Nevada Arts Council also has a link for her on their page.
https://www.nvartscouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/Deborah-Lambin_Final.pdf https://mythousandwords.com/
This is an incredibly hot art form and we feel lucky to have Debbie as our next Artist in Residence.  
How do we register for her free classes?  
You can register on-line on our website, Mesquitefinearts.com.  

The Art Box - Episode 44 - Creativity at the Library with Vanessa Giebink

Please note this episode was recorded on September 1, 2022 thus our conversation about 100+ degrees.
Vanessa Giebink works for Las Vegas-Clark County Library District as the Computer Lab Department Head at the Mesquite Library Learning Center. She is nearing her 5 year work anniversary. Her educational background is in business management and library science, which together are her passion. Her latest endeavor is joining the Virgin Valley Artist Association (VVAA) board.
Vanessa attended middle and high school in Mesquite, NV. This is her hometown and where she plans on staying to raise her two kids. She is married to a local paramedic firefighter. They also have a mini goldendoodle, who is very much a part of the family. She enjoys learning more about Mesquite and the community of people that are moving in every day. The more time she spends getting to know members of VVAA, the more interest she has to discover and create.
Working at the Mesquite Library has opened doors for her to better understand the needs of the community. Libraries around the world understand the importance of arts in the library and how that transfers into artistic literacy. Vanessa enjoys attending and promoting the wonderful programs put on the VVAA. She feels the VVAA Art Box Podcast gave her an opportunity to share her passion for working at the library and share some of the insights as to what the Mesquite Library offers the community.
We did talk about NFT's on this episode, if you would like to learn more use this link: https://www.simplilearn.com/tutorials/blockchain-tutorial/what-is-nft

The Art Box - Episode 43 - Ten Minutes with Denise Sims

Come visit with our friend Denise Sims as she explains her Christmas Floral design workshop using pine & cedar greens, flowers and ornaments to make arrangements. Flowers, greens, ornaments and vases will be supplied and participants will create two beautiful arrangements to take home. Supply List : Floral tools-shears, stripper, gloves, apron. Participants may have supplies/tools needed from her previous class.

The Art Box - Episode 42 - Meet Sue Fritzke

The Art Box recently had the pleasure of interviewing Sue Fritzke superintendent of Capitol Reef NP in Utah.Steve had the pleasure of serving as the 2022 Artist in Residence at Capitol Reef under Sue's direction and we lucked out having Sue as a gest.Sue, a 38-year veteran of the Park Service, tells us about growing up in a family that focused on nature and our public lands. At one time she was deputy superintendent for four Northern California parks, all in the East Bay: Eugene O’Neill and John Muir National Historic Sites, Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial, and Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park. We hone in on some great Rosie the Riveter stories, red back packs, orchards, climate change, art, floods, her dislike of the color red and her passion for the Artist in Residence Program.A natural resources professional by training and experience, Sue began her NPS career in 1985 as an interpretation ranger at Yosemite National Park. She also served at Mount Rainier National Park before moving into biological science, prescribed fire and vegetation ecology posts for the next 11 years at Yosemite and then Redwood National and State Parks.Sue next served as supervisory resources manager at Yosemite (1998-2003) before moving to the Bay Area to be branch chief for vegetation management at Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Muir Woods National Monument and Fort Point National Historical Park (2003-2011).Since 2015, she has been a participant in the NPS Superintendents’ Leadership Roundtable. She earned her bachelor’s degree in environmental studies and physical geography from UC-Santa Barbara and her master’s in physical geography and plant ecology from Oregon State University in Corvallis. A master gardener, Fritzke also taught a course in park horticulture at West Valley Community College in Saratoga, CA.
Join us for a fun chat with an amazing human.

The Art Box - Episode 41 - Ten Minutes with The Mesquite-Toes Tap Team

Join the Art Box team as we interview Marge Westwood, Director of the The Mesquite-Toes Tap Team based in Mesquite, Nevada. Marge will tell us about her group and their upcoming shows.
The Mesquite-Toes make several appearances in Mesquite throughout the years.They perform an annual Christmas Benefit and support many local charitable and civic functions by either performing and/or volunteering.They culminate their dance season every April with a multi-performance dance spectacular where all of the teams get to show how spectacular they are!The team has performed throughout Nevada, Utah, and California and also in venues much further from home - New York City, Branson, MO, and even during Mardi Gras in New Orleans. They have presented shows for Holland America Cruise Lines on several occasions and always to standing room only crowds.The Mesquite-Toes Tap team is a senior dance team that uses practices and performances to promote the health and teamwork of the dancers. The team in an all-inclusive group and welcomes anyone to join.  Through performances and shows, the team emphasizes that one can be active at any age.  Seniors are inspired to "be all that they can be". The team is a non-profit, primarily senior dance team which promotes both the physical and mental health of its dancers.