Located on the main level of Faribault’s Paradise Center for the Arts is the Corey Ann Creger Memorial Gallery. This gallery was established in April, 2011 in memory of Corey Lyn Creger, a Faribault High School class of 2007 graduate and freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. Corey was killed when the small plane she was in crashed during a failed landing attempt at the Faribault airport on Sunday, November 25, 2007.

Corey was a creative young woman who enjoyed art, music and theater. In her memory, this gallery serves as a place where students from Faribault and the surrounding area can gain valuable experience exhibiting their art. The students are mentored by the Paradise’s Gallery Committee on the exhibition process which culminates in a six to seven week exhibit in the Creger gallery.

On a recent visit to the Paradise I got to meet William Behma who was the featured artist in the Creger gallery. He specializes in pencil drawings. Even though he is a Senior at Owatonna High School, he is just now taking his first art class at the High School. After High School he plans to get training as an electrician first and then go to art school in Mankato. Sounds like a sensible plan to me.

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It’s great to see a local art center taking an interest in young artists.