The act of making art can take a toll on the creative mind. The Leedy Foundation is committed to educating artists in every aspect of being their very best. As part of this new series, we begin by offering a gathering space for artists to meet, chat, and learn basic methods of breathing, stretching and meditating to create a relaxed mind and body conducive to the act of making.

In the tradition of a quilting circle, or a stitch and bitch group, bring a small project you can work on while chatting in our gallery — maybe knitting, small weaving, sketching. It’s up to you. Nothing messy please.

We look forward to seeing new and old friends in the spirit of connecting with our artist community.

Lead by artists Shari Hartbauer and Debbie Barrett-Jones

RSVP

The act of making art can take a toll on the creative mind. The Leedy Foundation is committed to educating artists in every aspect of being their very best. As part of this new series, we begin by offering a gathering space for artists to meet, chat, and learn basic methods of breathing, stretching and meditating to create a relaxed mind and body conducive to the act of making.

In the tradition of a quilting circle, or a stitch and bitch group, bring a small project you can work on while chatting in our gallery — maybe knitting, small weaving, sketching. It’s up to you. Nothing messy please.

We look forward to seeing new and old friends in the spirit of connecting with our artist community.

Lead by artists Shari Hartbauer and Debbie Barrett-Jones

RSVP

Exhibition Statement

Scars to Stars is an exhibition of Dylan Mortimer’s work over the last several years. This body of work aims to stand in the tension between trauma and healing. Employing symbols that have been traumatic in his lived experience being born with a fatal respiratory disease and receiving two double lung transplants, he aims to transform and recontextualize those symbols. Scars, IV poles, cells, ambulances, and surgeries become beacons of hope and joy testifying both the darkness and the hope simultaneously. The aggressive joy rendered in layers of glitter evoke the absurd faith of hope in seemingly hopeless situations.

Artist Statement

The symbols that collide in my work fuse anatomical, biological, and medical imagery with spiritual and religious themes. Shiny materials invoke the Baroque as a way of navigating a deadly diagnosis. My whole life has been an attempt to spread glitter over a seemingly hopeless situation. I aim to reference and navigate my own despair, transformation, and joy. It is my own leap of faith.

My work employs shiny, glowing, vibrant materials to evoke a transformation from a deadly disease I was diagnosed at birth. The transformation aims to provide a glimmer of hope in seeming hopelessness.

A variety of materials are used, from glitter suspended in resin, to lights, to colored glass. The aim is to collide a variety of discoveries into a contemporary manifestation of the baroque. Acknowledging pain and challenge, while simultaneously recognizing hope to overcome.

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Exhibition Statement

Little Things, a solo exhibition by Fernando Achucarro, consists of a series of large scale paintings that explore the inexplicable emotions that we as humans often struggle to express. Through his art, he seeks to capture the intangible. These “little things” we face on a daily basis can invade our minds and become much larger issues for us to handle. He depicts the debilitating fears and anxieties of the unknown; such as an unexpected illness or medical condition, the sudden loss of life, physical and emotional struggles caused by these heavy topics. Every piece in this series is a reflection emotions that we all experience, but find difficult to put into words.

Fernando Achucarro was born in Asunción, Paraguay on February 23, 1978. Self-taught artist since the young age of 10, he specialized in graphite, charcoal, acrylic, watercolors. He held his first exhibitions in several art galleries in his country, then he began to show his work in Paraguay in galleries such as Casa Mayor, Veronica Torres art collection, Manzana de la Rivera, Hepner Gallery among others, in galleries in Buenos Aires Argentina, Spain and the United States. In the United States he held exhibitions in Miami, San Francisco and Kansas City, in galleries such as the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, Puerta Verde gallery, Botatadas gallery and Slap and Tickle Gallery, Jones Gallery, Zuppe Gallery and Mod Gallery.

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Artist Statement

I have been drawing, painting, collaging, designing, and stitching since childhood. Elaborate sand castles were the first source of inspiration.

My art journey has been characterized by experimentation with process and materials and the search for a compelling communicative visual language. I have often felt as if I were a witness, watching my hands create something from nothing, then compelled to breathe as much life as possible into whatever has revealed itself.

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Artist Bio

Jason Pollen is an internationally acclaimed artist, designer, and educator. He has been on the faculty at the Royal College of Art in London, Parsons and Pratt in New York City, and Professor and Fiber Chair at the Kansas City Art Institute. He is Professor emeritus at KCAI, President emeritus of the Surface Design Association, and an American Craft Council Fellow. His work is in numerous prominent private national and international collections, including the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art and the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art.

Pollen had designed numerous collections of textile designs for Channel, Dior, Yves. St. Laurent, and Jack Lenor Larsen. He also created sets for the Kansas City Ballet.

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Special Event Opportunity

Collage Mobile Workshop with Jason Pollen

Saturday, January 13, 2024

Workshop: 11:00am‑1:00pm

Registration Fee: $100

Purchase Tickets

Artist Talk: 2:00pm (free)