Friday, September 5, 2008
A new gallery opening in the Crossroads District of Kansas City, Mo., will give students the opportunity to show their work and experience what goes on behind-the-scenes at an art business.
Kristi Arnold, lecturer in art and the gallery’s coordinator, said five graduate students worked on the Red Door Gallery to learn the administrative side of the business through writing artist statements and choosing and installing pieces.
Photo Gallery
Red Door Art Gallery
Pictures from the Red Door Art Gallery.
Matthew Weaver, St. George, Utah, graduate student, worked on the gallery and said the project gave students an opportunity to develop skills needed for the future.
“It’s kind of learning how to manage an art gallery and really learning how to balance making your own art as well as managing the business side,” Weaver said.
Students in the department of art were invited to submit work for the show. After receiving more than 80 entries, the graduate students narrowed the number down to 40 pieces.
The pieces represent a wide variety of forms and materials. Weaver said he considered all of them to be sculptures, but that some had two-dimensional elements as well.
One of the artists created body parts with expandable foam casts made from dolls. Weaver said the pieces were constructed out of latex, resin and rubber.
Another piece was created using a large tree stump and included a wax cast of the artist’s head.
“Inspiration comes from a lot of different places for these people,” Weaver said.
Weaver said both graduate and undergraduate students involved in the Ministry of Sculpture, a student group dedicated to attracting more attention to sculpture, began work on the gallery this summer. Preparations included painting and ordering lighting.
John Hachmeister, associate professor of art, said the idea for the gallery originated with Dawn Marie Guernsey, professor and chairwoman of the department of art.
He said Guernsey wanted to establish higher visibility for the department outside of Lawrence.
Hachmeister said the Crossroads District was created by a group of artists who moved into the area. Soon after it began, non-artists moved in and prices began to rise.
When the artists and art organizations could no longer afford property taxes, the Planned Industrial Expansion Authority froze property taxes for all businesses that were at least 51 percent art-related.
Hachmeister said the department of art was able to negotiate for the use of one building in the district free of charge. The department has access to two other buildings through the Arts Incubator of Kansas City.
Hachmeister served on the board of the Arts Incubator for seven years and said it was an organization that provided artists with small business education.
The Red Door Gallery will be nonprofit and usually open only by appointment. Appointments can be scheduled by contacting Arnold at kristi.l.arnold@gmail.com.
The gallery is located at 17th and Walnut Streets in Kansas City, Mo., and will be open to the public from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. tonight.
— — Edited by Rachel Burchfield
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