| Crabtree
is featured artist
Central Idaho Art Association (CIAA) 51st Annual Spring Show is May 3 (9:00am – 5:00pm), May 4 (9:00am – 7pm) and May 5 (10:00am - 4:00pm). A special evening, Friday—May 4, features the music of Rick Weholt and complimentary wine and cheese. 
A Silent Auction closes Saturday at NOON. This year a NEW VENUE for the show is the SUPER 8, 801 SW 1st Street/Highway 95, Grangeville, the show will beheld in the Super 8 Motel entry Conference Room. The CIAA is honored to have Lauretta Crabtree as its Featured Artist. Mrs. Crabtree has extensive education in art both as a student of art with a Masters’ Degree in Art Education and as an educator for over thirty years. Lauretta followed her mother’s example in art and as a child of three or four, she especially enjoyed drawing little pigs. She said her father raised pigs in Nebraska. Her passion, however was drawing horses and wildlife. She employed a wide range of art media: oil, acrylics, pastel, watercolor and clay. Her ceramics included both pottery and free style. She loved sculpturing people because the human face, especially the ears she found both a challenge and a fascination. “Everyone’s ears are different,” she says. During her life she took all the art classes she could. In high school her art teacher, Arnold Westerhood, at Charles Francis Adams in Clarkston inspired her and contributed to her art development. He later taught at Lewis Clark State College (LCSC) where she also took his classes and appreciated his support, saying, “He even gave me paint brushes and some other supplies.” She said going the first year at LCSC saved her money when going on for her three-year bachelor degree at Eastern Oregon College where she graduated with honors. Mrs. Crabtree earned her Masters Degree at the University of Idaho. She financed herself during college the years, teaching one year at a one-room country school, working as a counselor in Montana, then again teaching in a California country school for two years. During her teaching career, Mrs. Crabtree organized shows for her students. She believed that an art show should be polished, and she included music during the show.She married while in California, then she and her husband moved to Idaho where she taught at Kooskia for the bulk of her career. Always she took art classes, every summer, some were night classes. She said, “I would drag the kids along with me.” Mrs. Crabtree displayed art, winning many awards, at the universities, and at private art shows. She displayed locally. One of her memorable moments was when she worked at the LaGrande city library who sponsored an art show that she’d entered. When she entered the display hall, she noticed that there were flowers everywhere and many people, she was then awarded prize money for a scholarship. Mrs. Crabtree and her late husband enjoyed ranching. They had three sons, Carl, Lawrence and Ray. Mrs. Crabtree is also famous for her horsemanship and ballroom dancing. CIAA Art Show and Sale is open to the public. For more information contact Linda Stubbers at ciaa.idaho@gmail.com or phone at 208-962-3346. |
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