Thursday, November 7, 2013

Grassroots Art - Lucas, Kansas

American Fork Art
Just south of the geographical center of the United States, smack dab in the middle of Kansas, sits the quirky and eclectic town of Lucas. Dubbed the “Grassroots Art Capital of Kansas”, this small town of just 400 people is  packed with a crazy amount of what is known as outsider art.

Our first stop was the Grassroots Art Center, where we got a private tour from the center's director, and a thorough explanation of this art form. The mission of the center is to exhibit and preserve the self-taught, recycled, and visionary art environments found throughout Kansas. “No formally trained, fine artists here” we were told. Often driven by a vision, most of these artists work for years creating their pieces. Grassroots artists make a statement. No rules intimidate them. No one tells them how it should be done. They create in a particularly uninhibited way. Working primarily to please themselves, they have little concern that their works will find an audience or that others value what they have made. Thanks to the Art Center, though, their work has an audience, and we were glad to have found it.

One particular art form was described as 'yard environments'. Popular throughout, but not unique to Kansas, this style of artistry is displayed, usually in massive numbers, in one's yard. Again, anything goes here. Farm equipment turned into magical creatures. Roadkill bones crafted into unusual sculptures. Recycled items. Barbed wire sculptures. Some were more impressive than others, but all of them had a special and unique charm to them.




There were some artists' works that really stood out to us. Herman Divers spent his whole life working with his hands. Then, in is later years, he started making art out of soda can pull tabs. After a short explanation to our kids of what a pull tab is, they were impressed with his full sized automobile and motorcycle, both crafted from this outdated recycled material.




Another surprisingly cool art piece at first glance appeared to be nothing more than an assortment of junk. After an explanation from the director, we learned it was just that. Junk. But with a twist. It's creator had made this piece all from items he recovered from the bottom of one particular lake. When they dredged the West Park Lake in the 1970s, this man painstakingly recovered all sorts of items from the muck. He cleaned them off, arranged them, and voila.... art. This was just one art composition of the over 70 that he made. Each one of them assembled from treasures lost in the lake.


The girls were also fascinated with the work of Mri Pilar. Using only recycled item, she creates a huge variety of art pieces. Her most abundant works, were what she appropriately calls “Rebarb”. What originally started as Barbie dolls, she turns into something far different from the prim and proper iconic toy. Her work is so plentiful, it filled an entire separate house. This 'Garden of Isis' is a 7 room, foil-lined art gallery jammed with her savvy obsessions. The girls loved it.

I don't think this one's living in the Dream House with Ken.











 Down the road from the Art Center, sits S.P. Dinsmoor's Garden of Eden. In 1907, at the age of 62, Civil War veteran Dinsmoor began construction of this unusual site by building a structure of limestone logs for the family home. Then, using 113 tons of cement, Dinsmoor built 40-foot tall trees to hold his larger than life figures for his sculpture garden.This awesome site is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and justifiably so. It's unlike any residence you've ever seen.


Dog chasing a cat chasing a bird chasing a worm eating a leaf.



Before we headed out, we needed a quick bathroom break. Being the town that it is, Lucas made their public restroom an art piece. 'Bowl Plaza' as it's called, was another dazzling, singular experience. Created by Mri Pilar, this art in-'stall'-ation is shaped like a giant toilet tank. The entrance is a raised toilet lid, and the sidewalk undulates into a giant roll of toilet paper.



 Inside and out, mosaics line the walls, with different themes for the both the girls' and boys' room. I sure wish all potty breaks were this much fun.

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