The exhibit is set to closed Friday, May 30. A special closing reception will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in 4 Pillars Gallery at The Grand Center for Arts & Culture on May 30.

“Lunation: 29 Days of Darkness & Light,” focuses on the relationship of humans to the cosmos, and more specifically women to lunar rhythms. Emily Hoisington conceived and organized the project with 28 different artists.

“I really loved the range of visual and conceptual responses,” Hoisington said. “Some literally showed the moon, like Diana Eicher’s or Rebecca Alm’s. Others used text, like Olga S. Ricalde Moreno, or interpreted literature like Laura Brown’s inspired by Italo Calvino’s “The Distance of the Moon.” I also appreciated the metaphoric and indirect, like Sonja Olson connecting the new beginnings of the new moon to a snake shedding its skin, or Bridget O’Malley showing moonlight shining through bare tree branches, casting shadows on snow.”

All of the artists were local to Minnesota at the time Hoisington conceived of the project, which was back in 2013. According to Hoisington, artists ranked their choices among the eight phases of the moon (new moon, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full moon, waning gibbous, last quarter, waning crescent) and then were assigned a specific day of the lunar cycle, keeping in mind the percent of the moon illuminated on that day as they designed their print. 

Lunation: 29 Days of Darkness & Light group printmaking show on display until May 30th at 4 Pillars Gallery in The Grand Center for Arts and Culture downtown New Ulm.

The prints and books took about year to complete. In addition to the Lunation prints, Hoisington invited artists in the to display some of their more recent works for this show.

“This show was a wonderful opportunity to show “Lunation” again, alongside new artwork created in the years since,” Hoisington said. “There was no theme or prompt for the new artwork; I told artists that they could exhibit any recent work. I loved seeing in the additional new artwork how the ripple effects of this collaboration and other inspirations in each artist’s life have continued.”

Some of the artists on display with the Lunation prints are Hend Al-Mansour, Bridget O’Malley, Abbi Allan, CB Sherlock, Carol Rhoades Inderieden, Lynda Monick-Isenberg, and Rebecca Alm.

The show is currently open to the public during regular business hours: 10-4 Tues-Fri and 11-4 on Saturday until the closing reception on May 30. For more information, please contact The Grand Center for Arts & Culture at 507-359-9222.

Hend Al-Mansour, Goddesses’ Fest, screenprint. A vivid display of the richness of Islamic art, telling a story of women who claimed their power.

Hend Al-Mansour, Goddesses’ Fest, screenprint. A vivid display of the richness of Islamic art, telling a story of women who claimed their power.

Abbi A. Allan, The Quantum Physics of Care in Pink Collar Jobs #6, mixed media.

Rebecca Alm, Vinelines/Sticksketches: Wisteria #1. Handmade paper, walnut dye, beeswax, vines.

CB Sherlock, Courtyard #1, Chine collé and relief print—a reflection of the world around her.