STONE FREE. These slab-built stonewear pieces by Richard Milheiser are part of the Confluence of Art Biennial exhibit at the Eau Claire Regional Art Center.

One way of defining “confluence,” according to the dictionary, is “a body of water formed by the flowing together of two or more streams, rivers, or the like.” In this case, the body of water is an art exhibit, which is formed by the output flowing from regional artists’ creative minds. The Eau Claire Regional Arts Center brings together the works of these streams of thought into one river: the Confluence of Art Biennial exhibit.

The display, the fifth of its kind, features artists from the tri-state area; a few are traveling from the Duluth and Minneapolis areas, but the majority reside in or near the Chippewa Valley. According to Rose Dolan-Neill, ECRAC’s visual arts director, the art will be as different as the people who created it.

“The whole idea of ‘the confluence’ is a magical thing. There’s something special about people, all these artists, coming together for this thing. It’s a tremendous honor to be included in the show.” – photographer Tom Gardner, on the Confluence of Art Biennial Exhibit

“The goal for this exhibit is to expand the reach of arts in this area and make a display of many mediums,” Dolan-Neill said. “There will be everything from wood-turning and jewelry-making to so much 2-D work, like oil paintings and acrylic art. There will be such a wide spectrum of art available.”

One of these talented artists is reflecting Eau Claire in his own way. Tom Gardner, a digital photographer, layers numerous pictures of the city on top of one another in a piece featured in the show titled “Elemental Recombination.” It brings the town together in a way that looks familiar, but is nearly unrecognizable.

“The whole idea of ‘the confluence’ is a magical thing,” Gardner said. “There’s something special about people, all these artists, coming together for this thing. It’s a tremendous honor to be included in the show.”

The lens-savvy man will be joined, as mentioned previously, by experts of all mediums, including painter and beader Nancy Erickson-Dutmer and sculptor Brad Blomquist.

Blomquist’s contribution to the exhibit is a bronze sculpture that signifies how humans exist in time. He wanted to express the formlessness of consciousness, and the idea of an alternate, spiritual dimension.

“It’s important to give artists a space to share their art,” Blomquist said. “That is an expression of humanity. It’s great to be a part of that.”

Erickson-Dutmer, of Chetek agrees with this statement: She recently quit her job to work on her oil, acrylic, and fabric paintings full-time. She has just started to emerge in the Eau Claire art scene and wants to show the public her quirky work. She paints portraits – often featuring her grandchildren – of circus scenes, one of which is featured in ECRAC’s exhibit. She also does beadwork, often weaving these over the top of her fabric paints, but is also known to attach the small colored specks to real skulls.

“People will be surprised to see this piece because they know me as a beader and not a painter,” Erickson-Dutmer said. “Having it out in the open for people to see, and having it be judged, is exciting. It’s not just a party anymore; there’s potential.”

The Confluence of Art exhibit is ECRAC’s only juried visual arts show; this year the juror was Denny Vance, an artist from Independence, Iowa, who had fresh eyes for this region’s artistic talents. Vance handpicked more than 35 works of art from the many pieces submitted in response to ECRAC’s call to regional artists for this exhibit, but he has only viewed them from a small, two-dimensional computer screen.

“It’s a magical moment for the juror, and for us who put the gallery together, to come and see what they created, and the art they chose, up close in person,” Dolan-Neill said.

Dolan-Neill explained that it is important for locals to visit the display to expose themselves to new mediums of art and to experience – or be inspired by – art created by people living in their own town.

“The event is also a wonderful way for us to promote professionality, as far as visual arts go, in the Chippewa Valley,” Dolan-Neill said. “It’s a great way for a local artist to really show their work and be visible in a way that they might not be in a group exhibit. They can be exposed in the Chippewa Valley as an artist.”

Erickson-Dutmer added, “This will put Eau Claire back on the map. Its art scene is growing, and this will help that be recognized.”

Confluence of Art Biennial • through Sept. 23 • Janet Carson Gallery, Eau Claire Regional Arts Center, 316 Eau Claire St., Eau Claire • (715) 832-2787 • eauclairearts.com