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| 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crafted from this outdated recycled material.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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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.
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