Missouri Art Now

 This year, 2021, is Missouri's bicentennial.  As a native of Kansas, I learned next to nothing about the Show Me State growing up, and I continued that ignorance for the fourteen years I've lived here. (Sorry!) However, I do know that we have a plethora of talented artists and the Missouri Art Now exhibit is showcasing a few of us.  My work from 2019, "How Soft the Hazy Summer Night" was selected as one of sixty pieces to celebrate the bicentenary in a traveling exhibition from March to November.  

How Soft the Hazy Summer Night
36" diameter
aluminum, vinyl, acrylic

From the call for art:

On the occasion of its bicentennial, it is important to recognize that Missouri has and remains a significant site for visual artistic production. The Arts Council of Southeast Missouri in Cape Girardeau, Hannibal Arts Council, Post Art Library and Spiva Center for the Arts in Joplin, and the Albrecht-Kemper Museum in Saint Joseph are collaborating to create Missouri Art Now, an exhibition featuring sixty works from artists throughout the State of Missouri, together demonstrating the vibrant visual arts culture in the state.

You can see it hanging at the opening March 5th in Cape Girardeau.
photo credit: @Missouri2021 on Instagram

And now some detail shots...

I slathered on the paint really thick and scraped an old mop brush through it before drying, adding texture.  Then I sanded and did it again with a different color.

   

After all that was done I went to town with the vinyl orzos.

 

The title comes from the fourth stanza in a poem by Ellen P. Allerton called "On The Farm,"

How soft the hazy summer night!
On dewy grass the moon's pale light
Rests dreamily. It falls in town
On smoky roofs and pavements brown.
How tenderly when night is gone,
Breaks o'er the fields the summer dawn!
How sweet and pure the scented morn.
(Get up! Old Molly's in the corn!)

And, as it is a traveling show, here's where it can be found throughout the year:

March 5-27, 2021

Arts Council of Southeast Missouri in Cape Girardeau

April 9-May 15, 2021

The State Historical Society of Missouri in Columbia 

May 29-July 17, 2021

Post Art Library and Spiva Center for the Arts in Joplin

July 23-September 6, 2021

Hannibal Arts Council in Hannibal 

September 17-November 7, 2021

Albrecht-Kemper Museum in Saint Joseph

More info at www.missouri2021.org 

Made It: State Pride

Growing up in Kansas means you get the full gamut of state history from day one.  Kansas Day, January 29th, is a big deal--dressing up in prairie garb, making your own soap, taking a bite out of the upper right corner of a Graham cracker (the inventor is a native Kansan) and smearing honey (made by the Kansas state insect!) on the Kansas-shaped treat.  The older you get, the more you delve into the rich and sometimes bloody history of the Sunflower State.  John Brown! Bison! The Wizard of Oz! Brown v. Board of Education!

One of the most important things we learned was the state motto:
Ad Astra Per Aspera -- To the Stars Through Difficulty

As it turns out, only Kansans understand this, and it is quite perplexing to outsiders why we even care.  I'm not sure why it's so precious to us, but it is, SO LAY OFF.

 Vinyl on reproduced found fabric.

So...if Kansans love their state, Missourians probably do, too?  Well, most other states don't require intense state history in their public school curriculum, but natives still get the warms and the fuzzies when they see their state elevated to art!  (Not everyone's motto is as awesome as ours.)

Vinyl on reproduced apron fabric. 

 Often, I have sold these pieces as gifts for people who have relocated.  An artist friend told me once that everyone wants to be homesick, and there might be something to that.

Hey, there, Iowa!

Iowans don't just live in the state that has MIMAL's* nose, but they also love a good, super long party that involves biking across the whole damn state.  Ragbrai just ended in Iowa and the addition of cycling to state pride is not only a great thing to learn about, but it lends itself to some fun visuals as well.

I'm not hardcore enough to be an Iowa cyclist.

Tomorrow I travel to Minnesota for the first time ever (!), and I took the opportunity to make some Minn-centric frameables.  This uff da business will be fun to hear from a native, unless my northern friends have all lied to me and this is a big joke. 

Vinyl on reproduced found upholstery fabric.

Today is the first day for marriage equality in Minnesota, and I'm pretty happy about it.  (Shout out to Rhode Island, too!)  At first I didn't know if making some celebratory pieces was pandering, or if it would be appreciated.  Survey says: do it.  So I did it.

Hand cut vinyl scraps on a book page, 4 x 5 inches.
Minnesota in all its rainbow glory!

I love being able to learn about the new places I visit and pass on knowledge to my browsers about other states in their region (I've had to explain Ad Astra Per Aspera a dozen times at least).  I'm looking forward to hitting the road for The Star of the North (Minnesota) and learning even more!

Just incase you were wondering, see me at Booth 71 in Loring Park, across the from the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Saturday and Sunday.

*MIMAL: Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Lousiana
Our social studies teacher gave us this trick for learning the states bordering the west side of the Mississippi River...he's the dude who helps us learn!

June Art Shows

I've been pretty busy this month--three art shows in two states covering over a thousand miles on the road.  It's been great!  As I am just starting out in this business (relatively speaking), it has been so nice to have a show goal to make work for, try new things out, and learn about different shows and cities. 

With every new show comes a new set up.  Even if the conditions are the same, I'm always tweaking and rearranging my booth, trying to strike a balance between showing my work, being available for customers, but not in their faces (because...awkward). 

Notice I had both clocks and wall art for sale here.

 So, I don't love the way this looks from far away, but it does the job.  I added a set up of my Frameables on the right side above the bins, which helped.  But being able to see into my "back stage" area under the panel legs bothered me.  Also, my table in the back was too big, so I actually bought a new one!  I never buy stuff, but there are some things that the 21st century has done right, and it's collapsable plastic tables with telescoping legs. 

This was my second time at Liberty Arts Squared, where I was awarded Best of Show last year.  My set up was similar last year.


Looks less like a yard sale!

Much better!  I added a drape to my back stage table and brought new "smallies" (art and individual letters) to sell.  As I hadn't used them in a set up before this, I was forced to wing it when I got to show day.  I added some different tables and coverings (it's amazing what you can find in your basement).  I still feel like the wall behind my check out table is a little empty, so I might play around with something to put back there.  Penants are SO HOT right now...dare I take the plunge that so many party-decorators have been inspired by from Pinterest?

This was my first year at Iowa Arts Fest and, can I just say, Iowa City is a great place with nice people and a lovely college town feel.  The show runners were very attentive, as well!

Throw a wrench into it: indoor show!

Des Moines has two art shows the last weekend of June: the Des Moines Art Festival (a.k.a. the Downtown Show) and ArtFest Midwest: "Other" Art Show, indoors at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.  Aside from being a more economical show for artists and patrons alike, one doesn't have to schlep a whole tent with walls and stabilizing bars and all that when admitted to The Other Show.  Or, at least I don't bring those things.  SO. MUCH. EASIER.  Except I had to figure out just how to set up here, since I didn't have those mesh walls and whatnot to use.  So I switched it way up and put myself out front to better showcase my Frameables against a black background.  I got lucky that my neighbor was using their fancy ProPanels to hang their art and our work wasn't fighting (visually).  I had to use my brain a little more since it was my first time with this configuration inside, but I'm pleased with the result.

My second visit to The Other Art Show was great and I exceeded my sales from the first time I participated two years ago, which is all I ask for most of the time.

I have July "off"--which means I'll be playing catch-up from June, and then I'm off to Minneapolis for the first time!  Loring Park Art Festival is one of three festivals that weekend in Minneapolis, and I'm excited to see what that's all about.  I'm sure I'll change my set up again, because I just can't help myself.