DaytonDailyNews.com

DAYTON — Pink hearts, yellow stars and lucky horseshoes — the new and improved version of Lucky Charms contains these tiny marshmallow goodies. You'll also find small-sized images of these very things on the walls at DVAC. It's Bridgette Bogle's "Candy Store" painting installation, where three walls have been magically transformed by a grid of 135 oils on canvas, each 12-by-12 inches.

"Painting these patterns is a way to purge myself of the desire to own everything, to consume beyond my means, to eat the entire world," Bogle says. "They allow me to celebrate the boundless selections I see without having to buy them. The patterns and possibilities seem infinite, in the same way choices made while painting see infinite."

In these troubled economic times, she seems to have hit on an ideal way to consume without spending. The paintings sell for $150 each, and that would be a win-win for both her and the potential buyers. These tiny gems will bring a smile to your face. There are kissable lips, happy plaids and birds in flight among dozens of other colorful compositions.

"Bridgette's painting installation is exactly what I hoped it would be," said DVAC director Jane Black. "When you enter that room, you are enveloped in desire and color; you really are that kid in the candy store, and it brings back all the wonder of the world I felt as a child."

March is a fitting month for all things magical, and that includes 33 art quilts by Jeana Eve Klein, some of which have delightful hidden treasures. The ancient warrior on his horse is surrounded by night stars, or are they airplanes? Is it a curtained window with the sunlight streaming in, or a kitchen sink lined with toys?

Are those just houses behind a picket fence, or do two grand pianos emerge from the imagery?

"I am curious about those objects that are preserved and cherished; those that are abandoned and lost; and those whose meanings and purposes have changed and evolved over time," Klein says. "I attempt to visually reconcile the seeming disconnect between material objects with their own histories — souvenirs, abandoned toys, family heirlooms, crumbling houses and ancient monuments — and my own stories they conjure, whether real or imagined."

Klein weaves a rich tapestry of possibilities using recycled fabrics and dyes embellished with prints, paint, hand embroidery and machine quilting. Her works are part of the 16th annual Reach Across Dayton Project, in collaboration with Sinclair Community College, EbonNia Gallery and DVAC. The project celebrates the diversity of our region's population through arts and humanities.

"Jeana Eve's craft is simply incomparable. Each aspect of the work — the traditional and non-traditional piecing; the painting and drawing; the over-dyeing and screen-printing; and the stitching — it's all incredible," Black said. "I love telling people that I have hundreds of thousands of French knots in the gallery!"

How to go

What: "Jeana Eve Klein: Art Quilts" and "Bridgette Bogle: Painting Installation"

Where: Dayton Visual Arts Center, 118 N. Jefferson St., Dayton

When: Continues through March 26

Hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with extended hours Thursday evenings until 9 p.m.

More info: (937) 224-3822 or www.daytonvisualarts.org