New art exhibition to honor 60 years of the Benedicta Arts Center

When Rita Beyer Corrigan ’62 was an art major at the College of Saint Benedict in the early 1960s, it was a bit of a nomadic existence.

“The first studio they had for us was in the back of the library,” she remembers. “You’d walk in the door, turn to the right and there were two rooms there. We had our studio in the smaller room and there were some easels there.

“Then, after that, they made space available to us in the laundry building and we worked there. We made due with what we had at the time.”

That shuffling ended, though, with the opening of the Benedicta Arts Center in the summer of 1964. The facility – which cost $3 million to construct at the time – became home to the art, music, theater and dance departments on campus, as well as serving as a primary hub for the arts in the wider Central Minnesota community.

“I have no regrets about my own time there,” said Corrigan, who has gone on to exhibit her paintings extensively throughout the Upper Midwest in the decades following her graduation.

“My time at Saint Ben’s was the first time I was free to do artwork the way I really wanted. But I do remember going back after graduating, looking at that amazing building and wishing I hadn’t just missed out on it.”

It was indeed built too late for Corrigan. But over 700 art majors – not to mention similarly large numbers of music and theater majors and other students – have had the chance to share their work and talent at the BAC, which reached the 60^th anniversary of its dedication last summer.

To celebrate the occasion, a new exhibition in the center’s Benedict and Dorothy Gorecki Gallery and Lounge will highlight the work of 18 former art majors at CSB and SJU from across a span of seven decades.

The exhibit, entitled “Art Through the Decades” opens Jan. 23, and is scheduled to run through March 11. A reception and artist talk will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. on Jan. 24.

Two pastel paintings by Corrigan will be among the work on display.

“I feel so very privileged to be among the artists they asked to take part,” said Corrigan, who is hoping to attend the reception in person as she continues to recover from a serious back injury suffered last August.

“I just wish I could be there because I know it will be an amazing collection of talent.”

Kris Gorman Fremo ’96 – who teaches art at Saint John’s Preparatory School and runs her own photography business, Sunny Day Pictures – will be displaying a series of photos she’s taken depicting everyday life in Central Minnesota. It’s a reflection on the similarities and differences between reality and Lake Wobegon, the fictional area town created by former “A Prairie Home Companion” host Garrison Keillor.

She too is excited to be part of celebrating a building that meant so much to her during her time at CSB.

“So much of my artistic experience was formed in that building,” Fremo said. “It’s a building that’s always seemed to me intentionally spare, especially the art wing. Like it was designed as a blank canvas just waiting for all the people who pass through to fill up.”

Nate Saunders, a 2020 SJU graduate who has gone on to start Saunders Pottery, will also be displaying his work. He said the moment is especially sweet because he and his classmates were unable to show the results of their labor at the annual Senior Art Exhibit after students were sent home in March of 2020 with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“That makes it extra special to have this opportunity now,” he said. “I was so appreciative when they reached out because it meant the chance to have my work paired with that of all these really talented people who have graduated (from CSB and SJU) in so many different eras.”

Saunders too said the BAC holds a special place in his heart.

“Some of my fondest memories from my time at Saint John’s and Saint Ben’s took place in that building, and I’d be surprised if you’d find many other art majors who wouldn’t say that,” he said.

“It’s more than just an academic building. As an art major, it’s your home.”