KHS Class of '66 Art Show: Celebrating Creative Energy

When I was in High School in the 1960's, we would have spring Art Shows up on the town "Square". They were usually quite fun events.  We budding artists would pack up our art from the previous year and head up on the lawns around the Courthouse for the best spots.  We'd hope there would be no rain and wind. 

In the photo below, you will see that I am with my stuff.  I remember Mother and Dad helping in any way that that they could.  Dad was sheer genius at structures and Mother made them work. I see a wooden easel, which surely Dad constructed.  And I see clothes pins which were Mother's signature.  I also see the end of our esteemed aluminum table which was used for camping trips, yard sales, and any time we needed an extra horizontal surface. No doubt, Jani Hume was right next to me.  The note on the back of the photo dates this at 1965.  I would have been a junior.

So here I am 46 years later getting ready for another Art Show.  Our class is having our 45th Reunion.  In that Reunion, we are having an Art Show:  "Celebrating Creative Energy".  The premise is that Creative Energy is inherent to the human experience.  The theme and direction have been "my baby" but is my style, I create a concept that seems to resonate.  Everyone adds their piece and a new whole emerges which contains the Creative Energy of us all.

Featured in the show will be: watercolors of Nature by Trish Hill Bellington, photographs including those of Nicaraguan children by Verna Vice Treasure, photos of the old Palace Bakery (a 3 generation business closing in the 1960s) by David Bondurant, eclectic collection of art across media by me (a sneak peek is below), samples of community theater experiences of Susie Smith-Patten, aprons of Cindy Walter Willcox, vintage cars of Terry Joe Smith/Andy Crist/Mike O'Brien, book about Jane Rinehart who has had considerable experience with students in debate.  We will also be creating 2 "vignettes" which celebrate the Creative Energy of the child/adolescent that we once were.  These are intended to document our experience and to invoke memories of people who go to the Show.

The Show runs from September 22 through the end of October at the Arts Center in Kirksville.  Community Opening Reception is Saturday, September 24, 10:30-noon. Cheryl Simmons Miller, an accomplished pianist, will play in honor of her sister, Janet Simmons.  Janet was an accomplished and upcoming flute player for whom we all had considerable respect.  She passed way too young in 1972.

We are currently installing the exhibit.  It will be complete tomorrow. Yikes.  I am also creating 2 handouts which hopefully will be complete soon.  Those handouts came out of the question:  "What has shaped our lives?"  I could easily answer that question of my parents and would quickly state:  World War II and the Depression.  They'd say that too.  The handouts give a description of context of the 1950's and 1960's which coincide with my class's preschool and elementary/junior and senior high experiences, in other words:  childhood/adolescence.

If you are in the area and interested in the show, do join us.