IMPERIAL — The California Mid-Winter Fair’s all-ages annual art exhibit was being housed at the Plaza de la Cultura building this year, a marked difference to previous years’ locations. The exhibit has offered a more accessible, organized and centralized location for guests to admire local artistic talent.

All art tells a story and Plaza de la Cultura gave artists an opportunity to put their work on display while simultaneously giving lovers of art an opportunity to appreciate that work. 

Upon entering the Plaza de la Cultura building, guests will first notice a tribute display to the late Mary Alexson, a local teacher and artist. The display showcases the local artist’s vast array of works, ribbons and awards. A portrait painting is also on display, along with a short biography of her life.

Alexson was “a local honored, awarded, and respected artist,” according to the biography, whose aptitude and talent for painting and drafting was recognized early in school, and she eventually became a draftsman/designer with the U.S. Forest Service.

Eventually, Alexson and her husband, George, moved to the Imperial Valley in 1968, where she found work at Naval Air Facility El Centro. Outside of work, her artistic side flourished and, according to her biography, “She earned quite a reputation for her excellent and beautiful watercolor paintings.”

Alexson also taught art classes and was a passionate advocate for the arts. Many of her students remember her fondly, and they will attest that “her love of art lives through her students.” Her tribute display of art serves as a reminder that all people have the capacity for creating something beautiful through art.

Art can be difficult to define, but most people would view it as the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.

American Legion volunteer Yolanda Z. is happy to greet and talk to guests who enter the Plaza de la Cultura building. As a volunteer, Yolanda gets to admire the various works of art on display. Her favorites are photographs of animals, such as the bighorn sheep that inhabit our Colorado River desert region.

Another favorite of Yolanda’s are the patchwork quilts because of the stories they tell. She is particularly fond of a particular quilt that used smaller-than-average pieces, due to the difficulty and persistence of putting it together.

As you exit the exhibit, guests admired a second patchwork quilt display, which was composed of many quilts by various artists. The quilt pieces all tell a different story, ranging from family histories, to pet tributes, and even just daily life.

Many of the works have blue and red ribbons affixed to them, judged pieces for the fair. When the fair ends on Sunday, March 10, those winning pieces will be part of an exhibition at Pioneers’ Museum in Imperial from March 12 through March 24.

Guests who are often just walking from one side of the fair to the other could not help but to stop and look at the colorful and eye-catching works of art, ranging from photography, sewing, quilting, drawings, paintings and even baking and culinary arts.

One guest by the name of Gianna Lopez, a 17-year-old student from Central Union High School in El Centro, said, “A lot of the people here are really talented. It’s good that you have space to show off that talent. I think that what you have here is really pretty.”

Another high school student from Imperial, by the name of Stephanie, said, “I guess what I like about the art here is that it shows emotion, and you can see the different styles on display here.”

Her friend, Dezi, said, “It’s very beautiful.” Both girls mentioned that they like to draw and sketch but have never entered any of their artwork in the fair exhibits, something they may reconsider in the coming years.

Yet a third couple passing by, Brenda Gutierrez and Jayden Camacho from Imperial, said of the exhibit, “We like it. It’s inspiring. Every person has a different story to tell. All art is pretty and interesting to see.”

Art means different things to different people. Damien Perez of El Centro said, “I like the arts. I enjoy looking at the amount of detail in them. That’s what I like.” His brother, Luis Perez, defines art as “a way of expression.”

Juan Perez, a junior from Calipatria High School, says his favorite form of art is music because it allows people to tell a story through lyrics and sound. He likes art “because it helps people express how they feel. Art can be anything, and it can be used to portray emotions. I think it’s really beautiful.”

Carlo Reyes of El Centro thinks the art exhibit is very nice and eye-catching, with a myriad of colors. He thinks art is beautiful, and his favorite medium of art is drawing, saying his favorite cartoon is the Monopoly figure in hip-hop culture, Richie Rich.

Art can also be quirky, and fun. Balloon artist and entertainer Dennis Ferrell gives his view on art as he fashions a teddy bear out of some green balloons. He wrote a book called, “Ballonacy: The Art of Air Sculpture.” He says he hopes the art exhibit will expand and grow in upcoming years, and that it has the potential to become a really tremendous thing in the community.

“Art? Art means multiple things. First off, art is emotion. It gives you a feeling of dissonance — whether it shakes you from being normal, or gives you delight. It’s any emotional kind of thing.

“Good art is line, form, shape and curve — along with emotion. It gives you your own story,” Ferrell said.

Art can also be inspiring and motivational. One teenage guest by the name of Jack Fischer of Brawley proudly showed off his grandmother’s art piece. “She recently started drawing two years ago as a hobby.” His mother also has an art piece on display in the landscape photography section. Jack said he is very proud of both of their efforts.

He muses that, “Art, to me, is the meaning behind things.”

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