Artist of the Month: Leanne Poellinger

Each month, the Franciscan Spirituality Center celebrates the creativity and talent of a local artist. Original pieces are on display in our Sophia Bookstore and can be purchased during regular business hours: 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Leanne Poellinger is the FSC Artist of the Month for December! She has a beautiful selection of paper collage wall art, origami cards, enamel/copper earrings and handmade journals for sale. 

leannepoellinger@gmail.com
Facebook.com/ArtByLeanneP
Instagram.com/ArtByLeanneP

As a child in La Crescent, Minnesota, where she still resides, Leanne cut out images of clothing and people from the JCPenney catalog to make her own paper dolls. In high school and college (business major, not art), she doodled in the margins of class notebooks and painted an occasional picture for a friend. While her three sons were young, she didn’t make time for much art other than what she could do with them (they made some pretty impressive LEGO creations!).

Leanne’s 26-year career as the marketing and development director for the Children’s Museum of La Crosse, Wisconsin, allowed her to be creative in many of her work tasks. Her 2023 retirement from this position allows for more time for her to make and admire art. 

Leanne enjoys trying new mediums. Her current favorites are paper collage and enamel on copper jewelry. Leanne’s art can be seen at River City Gallery in La Crosse and also has been shown at Gallery 24 (Rochester, Minnesota), Gallery M (La Crescent) Tin Cat Studio (Amery, Wisconsin) and the Pump House Regional Arts Center (La Crosse). She will be a guest artist at VIVA Gallery in Viroqua, Wisconsin, in April 2025.