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USA
Midwest
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Lucas, KS
Grassroots Art Center
Collection of Kansas grassroot artists
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Information:
The Grassroots Art Center in Lucas, Kansas exhibits and promotes the appreciation of the work of self-taught artists, especially those whose work tends toward environments rather than individual works. Its galleries display the work of local exemplars as well as regional self-taught or "outsider" artists. Lucas, Kansas claims four grassroots art environments. Two sites, S.P. Dinsmoor’s Garden of Eden and Florence Deeble’s Rock Garden still survive in the town. The concrete and stone sculptures of Miller’s Park on the west edge of Lucas were sold and removed from the site. The Grassroots Art Center exhibits an extensive collection of work by Ed Root which has been preserved from the original environment south of Lucas.
Kansas ranks third among the States in the number of sites, after Wisconsin and California. The Kansas Grassroots Art Association (KGAA) was organized more than thirty years ago to document and to preserve grassroots art sites as well as to encourage appreciation of such work.This organization served as a mentor to the Grassroots Art Center in developing its mission, facilities and exhibits. In 1999 KGAA was awarded the Governor’s Arts Advocate Award in recognition of its long-time role in preserving and promoting an appreciation of the work of self-taught artists.
The Grassroots Art Center has been open since 1995 and occupies three turn-of-the century native limestone buildings on the Main Street of Lucas. The main building was a bank until the bank holiday in 1933; it did not re-open as a bank but became the town’s post office; the upper floor was used as a Masonic lodge, a use reflected in the emblem carved in the capstone as well as an etched window. The old vault of the bank remains intact in the center gallery. The north building was originally a doctor’s office, and retains a keystone carved with the physician’s name, Geo. Eye, 1887; it later was used as a drugstore, pool hall, and truck repair shop. The south gallery was a bakery, then a café, a dry-cleaning business, and storage facility before renovation. The 2000-square-foot area at the back of the buildings is currently being developed as a Courtyard Gallery. A wall featuring elements of the distinctive postrock architecture of the area will complement the limestone buildings as well as tell the story of postrock culture for travelers on KDOT’s Postrock Scenic Byway on Highway 232 between Wilson and Lucas.
The Grassroots Art Center’s three galleries display work by Portis stone carver Inez Marshall, a variety of wood carvings by Glenn Stark, Warren Lingg and Lawrence Reynolds, glass-studded concrete sculptures by Ed Root, metal totems by Mullinville’s M. T. Liggett, a painted environment by Leroy Wilson, aluminum pull-tab sculptures of Herman Divers, and the imaginative machines of Earl Slagle. The Art Center offers guided tours as well as outreach classes, concerts, lectures and traveling exhibits. These programs are presented in part by the Kansas Arts Commission, a state agency and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
Grassroot Art Center
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Bibliography:
On DVD - Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations, "Back to the Breadbasket", 2004.
"Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations" by Randy Mason, Michael Murphy and Don Mayberger, 2002.
"Contemporary American Folk Art - A Collector's Guide" Chuck and Jan Rosenak, Abbeville Press, 1996.
"Raw Creation: Outsider Art and Beyond" by John Maizels, 1996.
"Fantasy Worlds" by Deidi Von Schaewen and John Maizels, Taschen, New York, 1999.
"Raw Vision Outsider Art Sourcebook" Raw Vision, Ltd., 2002
"Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations Coast to Coast Travel-o-Pedia" by Randy Mason, et. al., Kansas City Star Books, 2009.
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