Enjoy the Mount Vernon Art Walk this Saturday from 11am – 4pm.  Refreshments will be served.

There are three blocks of shops and galleries with art to browse, enjoy and purchase (if you find something you absolutely must have).  Enjoy light refreshments along the way.  You might also be tempted by the shortbread at First Brick, lunch at Palisades Cafe (serving food from 11am-2pm), and coffee and home baked goodies at Fuel.  On the Art Walk you may start at any location and visit the art stops in any order you’d like.  See the map below for a list of locations and stops.

Visit with the Artists of East End Art Gallery:

11-11:45ish – Patty Ankrum​, watercolor painter.  Patty has been a fixture on the Iowa music scene for many years.  She began painting after taking a Mount Vernon Parks and Rec watercolor class. She has found the creative process for music and watercolor to have much in common.
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12-12:45ish – John Chehak​, acrylic painter.  ​Architectural shapes and forms (both realistic and abstract) make up most of Chehak’s Midwestern landscapes.  Whether rolling hills, farms with bright red barns, or a twisted, dusty road, Chehak paints “one heck of a picture of the Midwest—and in nearly every style you can imagine, to boot!”

​1-1:45ish – Barbara Lau, ​our first literary artist​, ​poet, playwright.   Barbara ​will be here at this time to sign her poem​.  Author of prize-winning poetry book “The Long Surprise.” Winner of NEA Artistic Excellence award for the full-length drama, “Raising Medusa.”

Also at 1pm – Lianne Westcot.  Lianne says, “I love the Midwest countryside and its vignettes and vistas. I am a native Iowan and my parents were trained horticulturalists. Growing up in rural Iowa, the countryside was an important part of life. I find inspiration in the farms, fields, and nature areas of the local countryside.”

2-2:45ish – Barbara Weets-Caudill​, watercolor painter.  Barbara says, “My watercolors are inspirations from nature. I paint plants, birds and animals in a stylized dry and wet brush technique accentuating the natural patterns.”

3pm – Sri Rao.  Sri says, “Brilliant colors enhance the feeling of happiness, joy and appreciation of beauty in life. I have constantly experimented with various mediums to learn and enjoy the different combinations of what can be created”.

Also dropping by earlier in the day – Mike Ryan​, oil painter.  ​Michael is a native of Iowa and has chosen to chronicle this very special part of the world with his paintings. Trained as an abstract painter but turned to landscape painter many years ago. Many abstract elements remain essential to his paintings. Elements like strong color,strong design, aggressive paint marks and larger size are earmarks of Ryan’s work.

Also, Elizabeth Rhoads Read, oil painter and fiber artist will be stopping by (times not certain at this moment).​

1. First Brick Art Gallery – 224 First St SW
2. One Tree Wood – Under Lincoln Wine Bar on 2nd Ave
3. Palisades Cafe – 125 First St NW
4. Iron Leaf Press – 102 First St SW
5. Liberty Iron Works – 117 First Ave NW
6. Fuel…Art & Espresso – 103 First St NE
7. Ruth’s Twig Room – Old School Shops 221 First St NE
8. East End Art – Old School Shops 221 First St NE