WEST PLAINS, MO – The West Plains Council on the Arts (WPCA) and Ozarks Small Business Incubator (OzSBI) have partnered to bring quarterly art displays to the incubator. Local artist Kelli Albin’s works will be featured inside OzSBI’s first floor October 1 through the end of December 2021. Visitors may view the display at the incubator during OzSBI’s business hours, anytime between 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday.
Kelli Albin was born in 1965 in West Plains, Missouri. She graduated from high school in 1984, and then graduated from Oral Roberts University in 1987 with a Commercial Art degree. She returned to her hometown of West Plains and earned a teaching certification in Art and Special Reading and her Master of Science in Elementary Education. She also studied photography through the New York Institute of Photography.
Albin recently retired from Dora School after teaching art for 30 years. She has photographs published in “Ozarks Magazine”, “The Ozark Mountaineer”, and in the book “Axe, Mule, Fire”, by her brother C. D. Albin. She has also written and illustrated five children’s books of her own. She enjoys reading, photography, drawing, and painting in her spare time. When not busy, she enjoys the snuggles of her feline companions. A friend once gave her a sign that says, “My therapist has paws and whiskers”. That is truth.
This exhibit is a combination of several mediums of art- watercolor, oil, acrylic, and photography. Albin finds art rewarding because it allows her to express praise for her Savior. She strives to reflect the beauty and peace that He has created. She chooses subjects that provide a calm and peaceful atmosphere, many of which are found in her own home and surroundings. Albin says, “It isn’t a choice to create. It is something an artist simply has to do.”
A Meet-the-Artist event will be held on Thursday, October 14, 2-4 p.m. in OzSBI’s lobby at 408 Washington Ave. in West Plains. The public is invited to attend, meet Albin, view and discuss the pieces on display.
For more information about the exhibit, contact OzSBI CFO Ila Sloan ilasloan@ozsbi.com or WPCA Coordinator Janey Hale at jhale2129@gmail.com.
