Over the past two weekends, I participated in Art in the Park in Appleton and, on Saturday, the Waterfront Art Festival in Escanaba, MI. I brought my three-dimensional collage pieces of women artists.
In Appleton, I brought my Frida Kahlo piece, “Frida’s Pain”, and was very surprised at the conversation it generated, especially with young people.
This past weekend, I brought the four I completed over a course of four years (one a year): sculpting, carving, cutting, painting, and drawing for Georgia O’Keeffe, Dorothea Lange, Frida Kahlo, and Edmonia Lewis. They are created in grayscale, even though Georgia and Frida painted in color; their lives were monochromatic, reflecting the era of black-and-white photography. I also found the creative process challenging to be consistent, working through values in three dimensions.
I had no intention of selling these pieces as I brought them for the purpose of conversation, which is exactly what they did.
What happily surprised me was the young people who visited my booth and engaged in dialogue with me. If they knew about the artist, we had a meaningful discussion about the symbolism used in each piece, telling the story about the artists’ personal lives and their art. They shared what they knew from their experiences in art classes. If they had not heard of any of these women artists, I had the opportunity to share who they were. The images and symbolic objects I used taught them more about each woman and her work. They were eager to look them up and learn more.
Frida was probably the most recognized of the four artists, and even children recognized her eyebrows from grade school activities and books. Next was Georgia; her work and life are often shared at an earlier age. People who visit art museums will know of her bone paintings and giant flowers. Less familiar to them was Dorothea Lange, as she traveled around the country documenting life during the depression with her Graflex camera. The least known of the four, Edmonia Lewis, a 19th-century Native American/African American, is an inspiration to anyone for her success in Rome as a sculptress.
They asked me if they could take photos of the pieces, as did some art teachers who visited me, and I was thrilled to share. Hopefully they were inspired to do similar projects in their classrooms, because it is a wonderful way to learn about artists, as I surely did when I researched and created these pieces.
Having my work displayed at the art festivals gives me an opportunity to participate in the ‘power of art,’ which connects me with varied generations, especially young people, and allows me to listen to their voices, experiences, and studies. I am certain there were other artists’ booths at the festival that motivated and inspired them to pursue their creative passion for their personal expression.
I would like to believe the festival gave me the occasion to mentor young creative minds, if only for a few moments of conversation, listening to them, asking each other questions, and realizing the significance of art no matter our ages.
As always, I was very thankful to the Bonifas Art Center for sponsoring this event on Saturday, assuring we had everything we needed, especially water on a very sultry day on the shore of Little Bay de Noc on Lake Michigan in Escanaba.
Do you enjoy attending art festivals and visiting with the artists? Please feel free to share your comments below.
