THE ART OF MENTORING

Opening today: For more than 30 years, talented female artists in Minnesota have been sharing career tips, style ideas and encouragement with others just launching their careers. The value of such support may seem obvious now, but it was something of a radical notion when the Women's Art Registry of Minnesota (WARM) began staging exhibitions decades ago. In spite of skepticism, indifference and changing times, dozens of women are sustaining this feminist cause and will display recent work in a show opening today. Exuberantly colorful and wide-ranging in media, the show features more than 60 pieces by 31 women, ranging from novices to seasoned professionals. Ellen Starr made the copper vessel shown here. Work by mentors and protégées is paired in the display, but who influenced whom is not always obvious. (6-9 p.m Sept. 17, free reception; 10 a.m. Sept 25 and 7 p.m. Oct. 7, free artist talks. Ines Greenberg gallery, Bloomington Theater and Art Center, 1800 W. Old Shakopee Road, Bloomington. Ends Oct. 8, free. 952-563-4777 or www.bloomingtonartcenter.com.)

MARY ABBE