​Preparations are nearing completion for the opening of artCentral’s first exhibition of 2021—KALEIDOSCOPE—showcasing the creations of the talented art makers of the Joplin Regional Artists Coalition. All the art is in Hyde House, expertly installed by artCentral’s prepitor, David Greenwood-Mathé. I am assembling and posting digital albums featuring all the art for your viewing and purchasing pleasure on artCentral’s website (www.artcentralcarthage.org) and Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/ArtcentralCarthage).

​Back at work in my home office, an online image appeared—a razzle-dazzle “thank you for your purchase” with a generous sprinkling of cookies and confetti, stars and streamers. This kaleidoscope came as confirmation for the cookie order I placed to help our eight-year-old New Jersey granddaughter Sophie reach her Girl Scout cookie sales goal. (I love that now we can choose to have our order delivered to neighborhood heroes!)

​Soon to follow a lovely winter kaleidoscope of hellebore blooms popped up on my computer screen posted by artCentral artist and my go-to-expert for all flora related questions. Plant guru Sandra Parrill describes her beauties as queens who brought their friends to the inauguration party.
 
This got me happily recalling the sequences of animated scenes I saw in the “Parade Across America” aired on television on inauguration day. The degree of technical choreography was astounding as song and dance and dialogue offered scene after scene celebrating the diversity of the lives and faces and cultures composing our great nation spreading over our beautiful continent and beyond.
 
Watching that parade the love I felt for the kaleidoscope of our collective humanity sent chills through my body and tears down my cheeks—so much the same as those I felt while I drove a U-Haul truck through Brooklyn and New York City headed back to Arkansas to see my parents through their end times. When I paused at traffic signals and watched the crowds surge through the crosswalks, I saw the awesome richness of the melting pot of our amazing country. I felt a wondrous jubilation at being the tiniest of specks on my own journey and all the time blended into our vast greatness as I headed back to the roots of my childhood.
 
Recalling a childhood delight, I remember the sense of wonder that came the first time I experienced the magic of a kaleidoscope—bringing the paper cylinder to my eye, looking toward the light, rotating the tube to hear the sounds of tiny shifting inside pieces and seeing a plethora of brilliant colors mysteriously combining to create ever-changing prismatic worlds made new with every turning. While still today kaleidoscopes encourage children’s creativity and spark their imagination, adults looking into kaleidoscopes can find excellent refreshment therapy for eyes that spend many hours looking into screens on computers and phones and tablets.
 
Watching on those very screens I heard a kaleidoscope of spoken words delivered colorfully and crisply by a twenty-two year old National Youth Poet Laureate. Spoken word artist Amanda Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet in history, stood ever so confidently before all of us and performed “The Hill We Climb”:
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We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the west.
We will rise from the windswept northeast,
where our forefathers first realized revolution.
We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states.
We will rise from the sunbaked south.

Come toward the light. Come up the hill to Hyde House at 1110 East Thirteenth Street in Carthage.

Come see JRAC’s KALEIDOSCOPE!

February 5 through March 13, 2021, Weekend Gallery Hours are Fridays and Saturdays, 12:00-5:00 p.m.

​The LIVE on Facebook Opening Celebration will be Friday, February 5, 6:00-8:00 p.m.

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​Over the coffee David brought upstairs and back to bed, I told him of my pleasantly curious dreaming of the little people playing on him. Online we looked up images of the cherubic figures familiar in art and known as putti. Some were frolicking like I saw them in the night. One familiar twosome, painted long ago by Raphael, was resting and appeared to be thinking their most angelic thoughts.
 
As amused as I to begin our day in the company of baby angels, David went back downstairs to make our breakfast. I began moving into the opening asana of my morning yoga, when “ping” went my phone announcing an artful message sent by our east coast daughter.
 
Sitting down on the edge of the bed, lost in a reverie of deja vue, I stared at my little screen, seeing Audrey’s two images stacked one atop the other. The one above was of our two-year-old granddaughter, whom of course we think of as cherubic. Her sweet, chubby-cheeked face was lost in thought, haloed in dark ringlets and resting on her crossed arms propped on the kitchen counter. Alexandra looked just as pensive as the two cherubs who appeared below her in Raphael’s classic, well-known painting that David and I had just seen only moments earlier in our internet browsing inspired by my dream.   
 
Dreams can be curious messengers. What am I to make of mine? My dream? My early morning messengers? What were those putti up to cavorting over my husband? Were they merely playfully getting my attention—pre-telling me of the phone text and pictures I was about to receive?
 
Putti, in the ancient classical world of art, were winged infants that were believed to influence human lives. Derived from personifications of love in Greek and Roman art, putti, cupids and angels can be found in both religious and secular art from the 1420s in Italy. Putti were portrayed in Italian paintings, especially those of the Madonna and Child. They later appeared in the Netherlands, Germany and France. Today’s putti are mostly seen as bow and arrow toting cupids acting as the harbingers and facilitators of Valentine love.
 
The two relaxed putti who appear below Alexandra’s image, though unequipped with bows and arrows, are certainly images of loving adoration painted by Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (1483-1520), known to us as Raphael. One of the most well-known angel paintings of all time, Raphael's putti are some of the most beloved and reprinted angels of Western art.

​The message of my dream? Perhaps the putti appeared to remind me that in all times, peaceful and chaotic, too, our precious Alexandra and her sister Sophie, their grandpère and all of us are always in the company of adoring baby angels, if we can only imagine they are with us in our dreams and seek them in the work of artists who imagined them, too. 

As artCentral’s board members will tell you, I have a hard time letting one of them go after we have spent time working and playing together for the artCentral we love. The time has come to see board member and gifted photographer Jane Ballard off to her new adventures. To soothe the ache of our parting, I have asked Jane to leave her story with us. I am so very grateful for Jane and for this—her parting gift sent to us from her keyboard.

​Once upon a time...isn’t that how all fairy tales start?
 
I remember being a creative child—coloring, painting, drawing, and even playing with clay.  It was fun, but I wasn’t very good at any of it.  Then I picked up a camera—a Kodak Brownie to be exact.  I’m sure I wasn’t a very good photographer either, but I had found my passion!  I loved seeing the world around me through that camera and capturing those memories.  THAT is what photography is all about—MEMORIES!
 
I was lucky enough to travel to Europe in 1972, and I took a Kodak Instamatic camera with me, exposing 36 rolls of film!  When Notre Dame burned, I dug out those photos and reminisced about that trip.  Vacations, weddings, birthdays, Christmases—we all turn to our photographs to relive those special memories.
 
In the mid-1970’s, I graduated to a “real” camera, a Canon AE-1, and really started working on my skills.  Of course, that was the film days.  You had to THINK about your exposure, composition, white balance, et cetera before you even pressed the shutter button.  Then you had to wait for two weeks to get the photos back from the lab!  I learned to plan my shots and get it right in camera, because there weren’t any “do overs”.
 
But then “life” drilled the creativity out of me.  I heard the voices saying, “Logic—that’s the only thing that will get you through.  Be sensible: art is frivolous and you can’t make a living at it.” I got a degree in accounting and entered the business world. As a result, my creative side got pushed back into the darkness, and my camera was put in the closet. 
 
In the early 2000’s, I picked up a camera again as a necessity, when I needed to post photographs of products on my website.  I carefully staged and lit the products, knowing that they had to look good in order to sell them.  And the passion for photography was rekindled!
 
I have worked my way up through the digital “point and shoot” cameras to the Nikon Z7 Mirrorless that I use now.  I’m continuously trying to hone my skills as a photographer and a photo editor by taking online classes, in person workshops, and attending photography conferences.  I have also joined local and statewide photography organizations.
 
When I started looking for venues in which to exhibit my images, I contacted Alice Lynn at artCentral.  I entered the membership show and, later, exhibited some of my images in the satellite galleries.  And, I joined the artCentral Board of Directors.
 
In 2018, I co-curated a photography exhibit called “Colors of Autumn” at artCentral which featured works from several local photographers from the Four State Photography Enthusiasts (FSPE).  In 2019, we followed with an exhibit called “All Creatures Great and Small.” In addition to the artCentral exhibits, I have co-curated four exhibits for the FSPE at Spiva Center for the Arts and one at Maple Uncommon.
 
A few months ago, my husband, Bobby and I moved to Table Rock Lake.  Our new home has a beautiful overlook on the lake and I have started a Sunset of the Day album on my Facebook page to showcase that view.  I have captured some spectacular images, but I’m still looking for THE sunset shot!  
 
Although my time on the artCentral board of directors is coming to an end, I must say I have enjoyed being involved with the board and the great people with whom I have served!  I hope I have brought to light a wider acceptance of photography as art.  The purpose of art is to evoke an emotional response and photography does that.  And no other art form can capture memories like photography can.
 
We live two hours away now, but I am still going to be involved with artCentral and Spiva. 
 
2020 didn’t give us the “Perfect Vision” that we had planned. Here’s to much better 2021 memories!
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Thank you, Jane Ballard! We appreciate and cherish you. We cherish the memories we have made with you!

With great pleasure the members of artCentral’s Board of Directors and I introduce to you Alexandra Burnside and Kalee Hinspeter—two remarkable women who are poised to take their seats at the board table of artCentral as we launch into a brand new year.

Welcoming Alexandra and Kalee with me are artCentral’s hardworking, visionary current board members including Betsy Flanigan, president; Jane Ballard, secretary; Jackie Boyer; Maddie Capps; Wendi Douglas; Doug Osborn; Jason Shelfer; and Kerry Sturgis; as well as our dedicated Membership Coordinator Bev Sturgis.

Alexandra and Kalee will be splendid additions bringing fresh new perspectives, genuine enthusiasm and well-rounded skill sets to add to the expansive diversity of our multi-talented board members.

ALEXANDRA BURNSIDE

​Alexandra spent much of her childhood in El Paso, Texas and Webb City, Missouri, where she graduated with honors from Webb City High School. She earned her BSEd in Art Education from Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas. While there she worked for three years as a gallery assistant in the Harry Krug Gallery in Porter Hall on the campus of PSU.

Student teaching brought her to Carthage in 2012. Hired after graduation, Alexandra has been an Elementary Art Teacher in the Carthage R-9 School District since 2013. At Fairview Elementary in Carthage, she teaches kindergarten through third grade students.

An eight-year member of the Missouri Art Education Association, Alexandra serves as the District 9 representative for Missouri. She works closely with Art Feeds to provide therapeutic art to students and at artCentral as a super popular art educator during summer artCamp. She has passions for fostering creative development in children, arts advocacy and making a positive impact in her professional and personal life.

As an artist Alexandra was recently on the team of local artists who transformed the shop and business windows on the historic downtown Square turning them into a magical winter wonderland with silhouetted scenes painted in white.

Alexandra enjoys thrift shopping, ballroom dancing and baking pies. Her home that she shares with her sister Alyssa, her cat Dinah, and her dog Zeus is a 1960's time capsule filled with her favorite Mid-Century Modern decor.

Alexandra says, “I'm thrilled to be invited to work with others who value the arts and artCentral. I'm looking forward to seeing the behind-the-scenes workings of the gallery. Perhaps my years of experience as a gallery assistant and in the field of education will be valuable contributions to the Board.”

KALEE HINSPETER

​Kalee Hinspeter is a native of Shawnee County Kansas. She spent most of her youth in Joplin, Missouri, and graduated from Joplin High School. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management, Human Resource Management and Marketing from Missouri Southern State University in 2017.

Kalee brings with her both hospitality and retail experience, as well as a solid background in business administration. She is the Office Manager for Schmidt CPAs and Advisors in Carthage and Rolla.

Kalee resides in the neighboring Carthage community of Webb City. There she shares her home with her eightyear old son, Carter, and their two dachshund-chihuahuas, Dexter and Lily.

Beyond the hours Kalee devotes to working for the Schmidt firm and spending time with her family, she enjoys cooking, gardening, crafting, music, furniture restoration and a variety of DIY projects.

Kalee tells us, “I’ve always been most happy when expressing my creativity. I truly appreciate all forms of art. I love when I’m able to feel a connection to the beauty and uniqueness of an artist’s work, especially ones that are deemed frivolous to the ordinary eye. I am humbled and eager to begin serving the Carthage community and beyond through artCentral. I am thankful for the opportunity to promote the mission of this wonderful nonprofit organization.”

Kalee has already pitched in to help in perfect timing. When the pandemic necessitated artCentral cancelling the much anticipated Opening Artist Reception for the Annual Membership Exhibition, special take-home-a-party bags were presented to each participating artist in appreciation for their creating a terrific exhibition inspite of the pandemic’s challenges. When one more item was needed to complete the party bags, Kalee was instrumental in facilitating that donation.
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With great pleasure we look forward to having Alexandra and Kalee join as board members with artCentral’s community of artists and art lovers moving forward together into 2021 to give to Carthage and our neighbors the grand art that enhances life for all of us in our small town and beyond.