Vote for your favorite artworks
By John Quinlan, Journal staff writer | Posted: Friday, June 06, 2008
The future of the Sioux City Art Center rests in the hand of the voters. Sort of.
In a year when the people pick a next president and decide the fate of that big oil refinery in South Dakota, they can also help the Art Center create a legacy by voting for their favorite artworks featured in the first of the Legacy Collection exhibitions at the center.
"People are enjoying it very much, getting the opportunity to vote so that they feel some ownership in what we're going to be adding to our permanent collection," said Al Harris-Fernandez, Art Center director. "This is the first time in the history of the Art Center that we've really been pro-active in collecting for the permanent collection."
All of this fits in with the bigger idea that the Art Center Association of Sioux CIty is going to focus on its permanent collection over the next several years, he said, with a major exhibition this July "that is going to be like the dedication of that permanent collection," Harris-Fernandez said.
Featured artists in the first exhibition of 15 works, which are on display through June 29, are Paul Aho, Stephen Dinsmore and Larry Schwarm. The artists were selected by the director and curator for their regional and national connections and "significant reputations," he said.
And significantly, election-wise, none of the artists whose works are hanging in this collection are named Chad.
Dinsmore, an Omaha-born realist painter known for his landscapes and still life paintings of flowers, worked as an artist in New York before returning to Lincoln, Neb. His painting, "The Horse Whisperer," was featured in the 1998 Robert Redford film of that title. The color palate of his representational paintings closely resembles the landscape around Lincoln. He is represented by galleries on both coasts and in Chicago.
Photographer Schwarm, a professor of art at Emporia State University in Kansas, is the most well known of the three artists, Harris-Fernandez said. For more than 12 years, he has photographed the burning of tallgrass prairie in Kansas, and his work has been featured in a number of major exhibitions. A book of his photos, "On Fire" was published after he won The Center for Documentary Studies/Honickman First Book Prize in Photography.
Aho, a Wisconsin native represented by galleries in Wisconsin and Florida, where he lives, is an abstract painter whose lush, geometric abstractions are composed from layers of paint that produce their effects through contrasts of hue and differences in texture. They're unusual because Aho uses a squeegee to squeeze the paint across the surface of the canvas, flattening it so it doesn't look "painterly," Harris-Fernandez said.
Votes by Art Center visitors will be considered in the final selection of artworks. There will be at least two more Legacy Collection exhibitions at the center, however, before the final vote, Harris-Fernandez said.
Funds used to purchase artwork for the Legacy Collection are from a combination of private funds, including the Blockbuster II Partners,the Margaret Heffernan Acquisition Fund, the M.A. Martin Everist Foundation and the Unnamed Foundation.
In a year when the people pick a next president and decide the fate of that big oil refinery in South Dakota, they can also help the Art Center create a legacy by voting for their favorite artworks featured in the first of the Legacy Collection exhibitions at the center.
"People are enjoying it very much, getting the opportunity to vote so that they feel some ownership in what we're going to be adding to our permanent collection," said Al Harris-Fernandez, Art Center director. "This is the first time in the history of the Art Center that we've really been pro-active in collecting for the permanent collection."
All of this fits in with the bigger idea that the Art Center Association of Sioux CIty is going to focus on its permanent collection over the next several years, he said, with a major exhibition this July "that is going to be like the dedication of that permanent collection," Harris-Fernandez said.
Featured artists in the first exhibition of 15 works, which are on display through June 29, are Paul Aho, Stephen Dinsmore and Larry Schwarm. The artists were selected by the director and curator for their regional and national connections and "significant reputations," he said.
And significantly, election-wise, none of the artists whose works are hanging in this collection are named Chad.
Dinsmore, an Omaha-born realist painter known for his landscapes and still life paintings of flowers, worked as an artist in New York before returning to Lincoln, Neb. His painting, "The Horse Whisperer," was featured in the 1998 Robert Redford film of that title. The color palate of his representational paintings closely resembles the landscape around Lincoln. He is represented by galleries on both coasts and in Chicago.
Photographer Schwarm, a professor of art at Emporia State University in Kansas, is the most well known of the three artists, Harris-Fernandez said. For more than 12 years, he has photographed the burning of tallgrass prairie in Kansas, and his work has been featured in a number of major exhibitions. A book of his photos, "On Fire" was published after he won The Center for Documentary Studies/Honickman First Book Prize in Photography.
Aho, a Wisconsin native represented by galleries in Wisconsin and Florida, where he lives, is an abstract painter whose lush, geometric abstractions are composed from layers of paint that produce their effects through contrasts of hue and differences in texture. They're unusual because Aho uses a squeegee to squeeze the paint across the surface of the canvas, flattening it so it doesn't look "painterly," Harris-Fernandez said.
Votes by Art Center visitors will be considered in the final selection of artworks. There will be at least two more Legacy Collection exhibitions at the center, however, before the final vote, Harris-Fernandez said.
Funds used to purchase artwork for the Legacy Collection are from a combination of private funds, including the Blockbuster II Partners,the Margaret Heffernan Acquisition Fund, the M.A. Martin Everist Foundation and the Unnamed Foundation.
Story Comments
Read More and Post Comments 0 comment(s)
Please note: The following are comments from readers. In no way do they represent the views of The Sioux City Journal or Lee Enterprises. We will not edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to not post or to remove comments that violate our code of conduct. No comment may contain potentially libelous statements; obscene, explicit or racist language; personal attacks, insults or threats. Terms of Service
