It was a humbling experience to see locals support DeKalb artists at The Art Box, 308 E. Lincoln Highway, Friday.

An opening art exhibition featured Midwest Roots, a group of local artists from the Midwest who display their artwork together.

I really enjoyed Midwest Roots because of its diverse and cultural appeal. While each artwork in its vast collection signaled its own importance, certain paintings caught my eye.

“Rose Garden Chicago Botanical” by Linda Peterson was a bright painting of flowers. It showed several shades of pink that really stuck out in the flowers, and it was beautiful.

I loved “Hay There” by Tamera Shriver. Even though “Hay There” is just a simple picture of a wagon, the artist expressed her uniqueness with the use of vibrant watercolors.

“I thought it went very well,” said Art Box owner Dan Grych. “…People were really pleased to have their artwork looked at, and I was delighted that the event [was] successful.”

The artwork included a creative display throughout the building, and the pieces were accompanied by their artists. This setup showed the artwork as significant to the artists; however, I found it difficult to walk around and enjoy each artwork because of how crowded the building was.

The diversity of art kept some locals entertained.

“I enjoyed this art exhibit,” said Ron Hemmelgarn, 72, of DeKalb. “There was a lot of diversity into the artwork and photographs that made it unique.”