Oct. 25 will be a big day for the arts for the Nelson County Arts Council in Pekin, N.D., with a talk about its "Animals: Them and Us" art exhibit followed by a party to honor NCAC Supporter of the Year Kay Moon of McVille, N.D., and other volunteers.
The Nelson County Arts Council will open "Animals: Them and Us" on Sunday; it will run through Oct. 30 at the Pekin City Auditorium.
The exhibit is part of the Rural Arts Initiative of the North Dakota Museum of Arts, Grand Forks, and at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 25, Matt Wallace of NDMOA will talk informally about the works of "Animals: Them and Us" and the artists' perspectives of their work.
"Animals: Them and Us" is one of five exhibits provided by the North Dakota Museum of Art as a Rural School Initiative, and organizers of Oct. 25 events in Pekin invite area schoolchildren who come for the talk to stay for the Volunteer Recognition Gala that will follow. Both events will be free and open to public.
The gala, beginning at 3 p.m. Oct. 25 in the Pekin Community Center, will feature food, fun and entertainment by New Rockford, N.D., musician Brian McGraw.
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"We are totally dependent upon those that take time to serve on the organization's board and those that work with us on events throughout the year," Brenda Bjorlie, director of the Nelson County Arts Council, said in a news release. The gala gives the arts council and the public a chance to say "thank you" to volunteers, she said.
The NCAC began awarding Supporter of the Year four years ago. This year's winner, Moon, has been involved with the Nelson County Arts Council since its first art show in Pekin, a news release said.
Her presence and verbal encouragement helped in the decision to organize the Nelson County Arts Council. She has served on the Board of Directors, washed dishes, cooked, served and cleaned, and used her talent as an artistic designer of quilts and scrapbooks to create hors d'oeuvres tables and room décor for NCAC events.
Moon and her husband, Darrell, have been continuous participators in the Pekin Days Art Show Purchase Award program and have helped support the Stump Lake Fine Arts Youth Camp.
The gala theme is "Travel America," chosen because of how Moon enjoys traveling the roads of North Dakota and the U.S. The gala will serve hamburger sliders with toppers, Coke, lemonade and coffee, and homemade pie.
McGraw, acoustic guitarist and vocalist, the gala's entertainment, has worked as a stage and film actor, vocalist and musician since childhood, and plays hits from 1950s through 1990s rock, country, pop and gospel tunes, and his own originals.
McGraw and his wife, Rose, moved from Baltimore, Md., to New Rockford in 2006 to raise their children. They soon were involved with the New Rockford Opera House where McGraw has acted in five productions, starting with playing Noah in "Noah's Ark." In November, he'll have a role in the musical "Cold Feet."
McGraw has been hired by Dakota Prairie Regional Arts Center in New Rockford as technical stage director and marketing director.
