A Bountiful Harvest in Stark County

 

A Bountiful Harvest in Stark County 

"Places You Pass" by Nicole Malcolm

"Audience" by Jake Mensinger

"Color Diversity" by Laura Donnelly

"Immigration Quilt" by Priscilla Roggenkamp

"Storyteller" by Clare Murray Adams

"Passage" by Christine Janson

"A year in the life of lockdown" by Judi Krew

By Tom Wachunas

   ““It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Life, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,…”  - Charles Dickens, from A Tale of Two Cities

“…Lights in the distance, like twinkling prayers, float like my words,  like fireflies dancing somewhere. Upon this hill is where I’ll be waiting for you, should you need me. I will wait for you…”  - lyrics from I Will Wait For You, by Bruce Dalzell, for the installation artwork by Nicole Malcolm

   EXHIBIT: Annual Stark County Artists Exhibition, at Massillon Museum, October 16, 2021, THROUGH JANUARY 16, 2022 / 121 Lincoln Way East in downtown Massillon, Ohio / 330.833.4061 / viewing hours: Tuesday through Saturday 9:30am - 5:00pm and Sunday 2:00pm - 5:00pm

https://www.massillonmuseum.org/ 

Participating Stark County Artists: Seth Adam, Rodney Atwood, Lawrence Baker, Michael Barath, Diane Belfiglio, Chris Borello, Peter Castillo, Moriah Clay, David L. Dingwell, Laura Donnelly, Libby Bracy Doss, Sharon Frank Mazgaj, Timothy Hirst, Sherri Hornbrook ,Christine Janson, Judi Krew, David Kuntzman, Ted Lawson, PJ Lytle, Nicole Malcolm, Judi Malinowski, Beth Maragas, Jake Mensinger, Jaime Meyers, Clare Murray Adams, Benjamin Myers, Clair Nelson, Lee Novotny, Patricia Zinsmeister Parker, Mark V. Pitocco, Brian Robinson, Priscilla Roggenkamp, Lee Rossiter, Sari Sponhour, Stephen Tornero, Daniel Vaughn, Tom Wachunas, Jo Westfall, Gail Wetherell-Sack, Shawn Wood, Isabel Zaldivar, and Anna Zotta.

   My month-long hiatus from writing has unfortunately delayed a more timely commentary on this exhibit, and for that I apologize. Still, as of January 7, there are nine days left to view it if you haven’t done so already. I think you’ll find the time to be very well spent.

   If you have seen it, well then, maybe you could think about returning for another taste. It’s harvest time in Stark County. The 41 participating artists here (and I’m happy to be one of them) provide a bountiful crop of 56 works that make the exhibit a veritable feast for the eyes with a remarkable mélange of materials, styles, and concepts.

   During one of my three visits to the show, I watched from a short distance as a viewer looked closely at a wall piece by Christine Janson called Passage. It’s a small, old wooden typesetter’s drawer. Its compartments, emptied of moveable type, are painted in a spectrum of colors, with some containing bits of frayed, crinkled canvas.

   I overheard him ask his companions, “So what’s the story here?” A good question, really. It reminded me of how natural and often necessary it feels to seek out, or outright (out-write?) construct a narrative to satisfy our desire to connect with what might seem like an enigmatic work of contemporary art. In this case, I think it not too farfetched to see Janson’s entry as perhaps symbolizing the history of storytelling itself - a passage from the elemental components of a typeset tale into the more ancient practice of a painted one.

    There is a palpable spirit of storytelling threaded through a considerable number of pieces in this show, sometimes literally, sometimes metaphorically. Here are just a few examples of pieces which prompted some closer viewing during my multiple visits.

   Clare Murray Adams’ wall installation is called, interestingly enough, Storyteller. There’s something of a symbiotic relationship between the hanging dress (smock, frock, apron?) and the eight small mixed-media paintings arched on the wall above it. Are they tactile research notes in the story of making and adorning the dress, like snapshots of processes? Or did making the dress inspire the stuff of the paintings?

   Priscilla Roggenkamp’s stunning Immigration Quilt, for all its apparent softness, raises tough, unsettled and unsettling questions. Those clothes -  looking like they’re for children, toddlers, babies – are all pressed against, indeed restrained by cording patterned like a net. Or a chain link fence.  

   The glimmering installation by Nicole Malcolm, Places You Pass, is actually a room (approx. 8' x 10' x 11' ) created within the gallery. It’s an intimate, enchanting, interactive environment unto itself and includes handwritten lyrics and recording of an original song titled I Will Wait For You. Here’s a link to Malcolm’s web page for a deeper look at the work:

   https://nmalcolm.myportfolio.com/places-you-pass  

Please don’t pass it by. Stay and read a while. Therein she has written, ”…I often think about how some “places you pass” end up being the places where you will have life changing moments, and you don’t even know it yet… This work is a representation of the way in which I hold onto places, and moments in time. I will carry this with me, and remember that each new place I go will change me in ways I do not yet know.”

   And so, consider this post not just a late invitation, but better yet, as a mindful summons. See the testimonies of artists navigating the ethos of our here and now. Artists are our vital tribe of explorers, spirit guides, seers and conjurers who activate our own imaginations. They bear witness to being alive during these scabrous times. Witness the witnessing. Savor and carry it with you. It’s waiting.