25th Sunrise Festival Honors a Potter's Hands

There's something about clay. The product of a potter is more than an object with a utilitarian purpose. It is a work of art. Something created on a spinning wheel from a shapeless lump.

The featured artist at the 2015 Sunrise Festival of the Arts in Sidney on July 11 is Anna Evanson Hoffman. She is the proprietor of the Treehouse Pottery Studio six miles west of Trenton, ND. "I want people to get excited by clay. It is wonderful to see the transformation." She refers not only to the creation but also the creator.

Science and art affected Anne profoundly in her youth. Her father taught the unusual combination at New Rockford High School. The home of the "Rockets" in southeast North Dakota was Anna's home as well and she has fond memories of her childhood.

"The community produced elaborate musicals on an outdoor stage at the baseball diamond," Anna remembers, "Everyone pitched in. The whole community was bound together because everyone was involved." Anna's family was at the core of those productions, either behind the scenes or on stage.

Anna attended Moorhead State College and during summer break she was an assistant costumer at Trollwood Performing Arts in Fargo. She graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Ceramic Art and served a stint with the Creative Arts Studio of Fargo as an artist in residence in the Art Education Program. She earned her teaching degree at Valley City State College and taught in the Williston High School Art Department and Trenton School until her retirement from teaching last year (2014). "My goal was to do pottery part-time in addition to teaching full-time but recently decided to step away from teaching and devote more time to my pottery," Anna explains, "Part of my mission is to continue to educate. There are certain aspects of teaching I miss so I intend to offer classes."

2015 is special because it marks the 25th anniversary of the Sunrise Festival Arts in the Park event in Sidney. Scores of artists, artisans and authors will gather at Sidney's Veterans' Memorial Park on Central Avenue the second weekend in July.

Leading the list of over fifty door prizes will be a special work of art by Anna Evanson Hoffman. The grand prize will be a large twenty inch platter and twenty-two inch tall vase with dimensional sunflowers applied. Everyone purchasing a festival button will be eligible to win not only the grand prize, but any of the other prizes donated by public spirited businesses and individuals and need not be present to win.

There will be entertainment at the Milt Anderson Pavilion, concessions and thousands of shoppers among the colorful canopies including a special booth reserved for the featured artist on July 11, 2015. Contact the Festival organizers at Sidney Area Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture at 406-433-1916 or email [email protected]. Registration forms for vendors and concessionaires can be downloaded from the Sidney Chamber website http://www.sidneymt.com.

Contact Artist Anna Evanson Hoffman through her website at http://www.thstudio.net and see photographs of her work and announcements of future classes and workshops.