By EMILIE NELSON, Messenger staff writer

When Blanden Memorial Art Museum Director Margaret Skove looks through the pages of the museum's new catalog, "76 Years of Collecting," she sees an opportunity for the community to see what a gem they have right in their own backyard.

"It will help the community to realize what an entity they have here," she said. "We have a lot of pieces in the museum that belong in bigger cities. Strange circumstances gave rise to the start of the museum, and in a city the size of Fort Dodge, it is something that couldn't be done today, or even 20 years ago."

"Some are unaware of the pieces of art that this city owns," said Deb Johnson, a member of the Blanden board.

Johnson said the catalog is the first major compilation of Blanden works in its 76-year history.

"It's common for a museum to start a catalog," Skove said. "It helps people to understand art history and artistic styles. This is a historical benchmark that, for the very first time, reproduces our most significant pieces."

The 290-page collector's catalog, complete with an embossed linen hard cover, features exclusive, high-resolution photographs, a brief history and information on the artists and donors of 95 of the Blanden's most well-known pieces. The featured works of art were selected from the nearly 1,200 paintings, photographs, sculptures and statues in the Blanden's permanent collection, Skove said.

"Not every piece in the collection is significant or remarkable," she said. "The ones chosen for the catalog were selected by their culture, style and geography."

The catalog project was made possible, in part, by a gift from former Fort Dodge residents Anne C. Russell and Merrell M. Peters, given in the memory of Richard T. Cervene, and also funded by the Blanden Charitable Foundation and the Catherine Vincent Deardorf Charitable Foundation.

Russell and Peters have been regular donors and supporters of the Blanden for several decades. Prior to leaving Fort Dodge, Peters served as an active member and president of both the Blanden Memorial Art Museum Board and the Blanden Charitable Foundation. Cervene, a Fort Dodge native, was an art professor at Grinnell College, in Grinnell, for more than 40 years.

As part of the project, Skove and several other art historians and educators researched the pieces and composed essays on the art and the history of the museum, an undertaking that was more than three years in the making.

"The catalog features a variety of voices," said Skove. "Each person writes differently and has a different perspective."

"All of the information that the Blanden has on the featured pieces is in this book," said Johnson.

The catalog also features three appendices. The first gives a historical chronology on the various exhibitions, programs and events hosted by the museum over the past 76 years. The second appendix lists each of the Blanden's 10 directors and the years they served the museum, dating back to the 1950s, and the third lists the terms served by each president of the Blanden board of directors and Blanden Charitable Foundation since the museum's beginning in 1932.

"What's unique about this catalog is that there is a different image and essay on every page," Skove said, "It's not one continuous story."

Johnson said she would like to see the catalog placed in as many public entities as possible.

"It's great for schools, libraries and businesses," said Johnson.

The Blanden will host a kickoff celebration of the catalog sale from 5 to 7 p.m. on June 12, featuring live music by the East Side Jazz Team, a six-piece jazz ensemble from Fort Dodge.

There will also be a Kids' Art Day with free projects, including spin art, clay, chalk, origami and balloon art from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 27.

The catalog is available for purchase at the Blanden, 920 Third Ave. S., or on the Blanden's Web site at www.blanden.org. The cost is $45 for members and $55 for nonmembers. All proceeds from the catalog sales go to the Blanden Charitable Foundation for upkeep of items in the permanent collection.

"This book is something that will truly be appreciated by those who have lived in town for a while," Johnson said.

Contact Emilie Nelson at (515)573-2141 or enelson@messengernews.net