Even cowboys and cowgirls love art. And if you are a lover of Remington or Picasso … love abstract, realism or the newest medium on the horizon … you certainly want to encourage newcomers into the world of creativity. Jamestown’s own Fine Arts Association, via The Arts Center downtown, will be hosting its annual gala on the last day of February as a means of fundraising to keep its programs running through the year.

The theme this year is “Wild, Wild, Arts,” and it will be in the Harold Newman Arena, located at 1004 Seventh St. NE on the campus of the University of Jamestown. Doors will open at 5 p.m. for social hour and a delicious dinner will be served, followed by musical entertainment, auctions and ending with a dance.

Tickets can be reserved by going online to

[email protected]

. Tickets run $120 per person, with half a table costing $750 and a full table is $1,500. This is the time to gather your besties and go celebrate the arts, while enjoying a night on the town. Information on the invitation says to wear your best cowboy/western gear. So this is when you dust off the Stetsons and sew the fringe back on that shirt. It’s time to lasso the little filly and get ready to swing for art.

The arts are vitally needed in our community as well as worldwide. Especially now. Mental health problems have risen since the pandemic (and before, according to a number of health experts). Art and hands-on activities have been used to help mediate disconnects due to needed reductions of in-person classes during the worst of the pandemic. The Arts Center has had a positive mental impact through “healing with hands” as it maintained classes before, then and since.

There have been classes in watercolor, acrylics and oils, ceramics and sculpture, papier mâché sculpting, and even making edible art. Classes in sewing, jewelry making, woodcarving and printmaking have found loyal followers too. Exhibits featuring quilts and fabric arts, small arts, large arts, welded arts, and too many media to mention have made living in Jamestown healthy and as enjoyable as could be found in any large city. Community arts are among the top assets for people choosing a place to buy or build a home. Businesses benefit from any town with fine arts available. And the fine arts include more than visual arts media: It includes music, theatre, dance, and even culinary arts.

With The Arts Center enlarging its space on Second Street Southwest, it will allow for more after-school classes, additional space for its new culinary co-op with the vocational center, which will help flesh out food options beyond fast food and short-order cooking. Gourmet offerings, and even history of culinary arts will be available. No, we are not New York City or Los Angeles, but we have many travelers who want to know the types of foods they should expect when going abroad. And when they return home, they want to know how to make the dishes they enjoyed while traveling to other countries.

And no, we don’t have classes in the Louvre with artists showing how to copy the Mona Lisa or a Van Gogh, but we do have talented instructors filling those shoes for our city’s youngsters at The Arts Center. There have been some very talented artists-in-residence who have helped those kiddos find their niche in the world of art. Anna Brock, the current AIR instructor, is among the very best. She was in my art classes when she was a University of Jamestown student. To say I highly recommend her to teach is an understatement.

Brock is on a level playing field of the best artists in my classes. Over my 40-plus years teaching, there were art students like Brock who came into the program knowing the media and ready to expound beyond the curricula. During my last year, she and one other student were on their way to become the teachers-to-be in their graduation class. It will be a gift to the community’s youngsters having her here to teach art. And the gala on Feb. 28 will help keep her here and advance the programs for people seeking a broad range of interests.

Reserve tickets online or stop by The Arts Center to get them (or to enroll someone or yourself in a class). Remember, classes fill quickly. If you cannot attend the gala, then donate to help. Donations are always welcomed and needed.

If anyone has an item for this column, please send it to Sharon Cox, PO Box 1559, Jamestown, ND 58402-1559.

Sharon Cox retired in 2020 after 28 years at the University of Jamestown, including as department chair and professor of art.