WINDOM -- If you gotta have art, you might want to drop by the Cottonwood County Historical Society, where more than 40 oil paintings, charcoal drawings, stained glass model buildings and portraits by local art teacher Joseph LaCanne are on display.
The exhibition, titled "You Gotta Have Art," will be in the Remick Gallery of the historical society until Aug. 22.
"I always had an interest in art," LaCanne said, remembering elementary school art classes. "The kids would always gather around me to see what I was drawing... it always stayed with me."
LaCanne grew up on a farm near Morristown and graduated from high school in Faribault before joining a monastery, the Holy Cross Congregation of Teaching Brothers. He continued his art education at several schools, including the Cleveland Art Institute, and completed his bachelor's degree in education at Mankato State University.
He taught art in Windom public schools for 32 years and continues to teach part-time through a grant program, introducing students to artists Tomie dePaola, Leonardo da Vinci, Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh and Michelangelo.
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The exhibition includes LaCanne's work from 1964 to 2009, encompassing some assignments from art classes and images of familiar local landmarks, such as the Cottonwood County Courthouse.
The courthouse painting, done with oils on masonite using brushes and a palette knife, took LaCanne about six months to complete. He was inspired by an image of the courthouse on a tapestry and sketched the building from the tapestry, as well as from photographs taken by his wife, Barb. LaCanne even circled the building, taking visual notes and sketching more.
"I like to do buildings, but usually with charcoal," LaCanne said, noting the challenge of getting the perspective on the courthouse correct.
LaCanne's exhibition also features portraits in conté crayon, floral still lifes in oil and delicate landscapes.
"I tend to be semi-realistic," LaCanne said of his style. "I like realism, but I also like the element of abstraction -- not pure abstraction, but enough that not everything is there the first time. (Art) should intrigue you."
While LaCanne was pursuing his degree, one of his teachers had a definite preference for abstraction, prompting his students to take several steps back from realism toward the abstract.
Two of LaCanne's paintings, "Clown in Oranges" and "Clown in Blues," show a more abstract style that encourages the viewer to take a second look. "Patiently Waiting" shows three children, realistically painted enough to be easily recognizable as kids, but created from abstract shapes and blocks of color.
Later, LaCanne became interested in stained glass. One of his first large glass projects, "Bald Eagle," was created in 1997, and since then he has started on a "City in Glass." The town includes a school, a general store and barber shop, a church and a courthouse, and LaCanne intends to expand the village when he has time.
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Lately, LaCanne has been creating figures using Super Sculpey, a type of sculpting clay that can be fired in a conventional oven rather than requiring a kiln.
So far his gallery of figures includes Scrooge from "A Christmas Carol," Mother Theresa, Jesse Ventura and his grandson Trenton, wearing a set of too-large penny loafers and a Superman costume. LaCanne also created a Sculpey three-dimensional take on Grant Wood's "American Gothic."
"You Gotta Have Art" will be at the Remick Gallery, which is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. through 4 p.m. Saturdays, through Aug. 22.
The Remick Gallery is located in the Cottonwood County Historical Society building, two blocks west of Minnesota 60 on the corner of Eighth Street and Fourth Avenue in Windom.
