Research Roar Trip Day 3: Lawrence to Denver

Research road trip, day 3: breakfast with Jo Kamm, K-State Ceramics, Amy Santoferraro and Lauren Karle.

After we left Kansas City and arrived in Lawrence I received an invite to meet and chat with Jo Kamm, a talented artist living and working in Kansas City. We met Jo for breakfast.

When I was at Arrowmont for the surface forum symposium/ residency in January I spent my time making a complex mold of a sock to allow people to juggle with. Dylan Beck, a good friend of Jo's, mentioned Jo's recent piece titled- dangerous games, a performance piece and collaboration with the Kansas City juggling club that features very skilled juggling using porcelain juggling props. Conscience of Jo's work I almost pulled my sock juggling game from my thesis but after a long talk with my committee chair we decided that both pieces where similar but also very different where my piece was more about participation and audience interaction in a playful way. 

A little background on my piece- as a high school student I had to juggle to pass gym class one year and fell in love with the playful activity. As an adult and as a way to make everyday activities more fun (a theme throughout my thesis work) I continue to juggle my clean, folded socks everytime I do laundry. 

I was a little nervous to meet Jo knowing that I had just completed this piece less than a month ago. As soon as I met Jo I realized I was worrying for no reason. Jo was one the nicest and intelligent guys I have ever met. He admitted he followed my work and complimented me right off the bat, that always feels good! I proceeded to tell Jo about my piece and his reaction was pure excitement and happiness that I enjoyed to juggle. The three of us continued to talk about just about everything: social practice, the internet, interactive art, mold making, traveling, Hungary, digital fabrication, rhino 3d, and much much more. It took us almost 30 minutes before we were even able to look at the menu. We both agreed we needed to collaborate on some future projects, an article, and or organize an artist-invite-artist residency together- I can't wait!

Towards the end Jo gifted us one of his handmade juggling balls (holder included) and in exchange I gifted a slip-cast sock. What an amazing gift/ trade!! 

After Lawrence we continued West on I70. Shortly after we were on the road, we saw a mileage sign for Manhattan Kansas and knowing that K-State was in Manhattan we decided to stop off to check out the art building and of course the ceramics area. When we arrived the building was quiet and relatively empty due to the semester recently ending. 

We walked around a little and noticed that Amy Santoferraro's office and studio light was on but the door was closed. Unsure if Amy was there, we decided to knock. Amy was there and was very happy to see us- She said she was following our trip online! Amy was very friendly, high energy, smart, and funny. We received a wonderful tour and I was even able to take home a skateboard (score!). Our visit was perfect and we highly recommend this program for post-bac and graduate studies! Jeni had the pleasure of meeting Lauren Karle fellow ceramicist and social engager they would have talked for hours if we hadn't needed to get back on the road. I think it was the beginning of a long friendship!

Above is student work from K-State.

Kyle Triplett exit show from K-State residency.

Research road trip. Day 2: Kansas City, MO and Lawrence, KS

Day two. We woke up in St. Louis, MO and drove west across the state to Kansas City, MO. What an incredible city it blew us both away and now I can understand why there is a ceramic meca in KC...we both could easily live there- Kansas City left a good inpression; clean city, amazing museums, farm-to-table restaurants, and much more. Our first stop in KC was at Red Star Studios and Gallery. Unfortunately since it was Sunday Red Star was closed :( we were both bummed and had been looking forward visitng Red Star in person. We peaked in the windows and named off all the artists and artwork we could see. 

After a failed adventure to Red Star we grabbed lunch at Cafe Gratitute and started to plan our next move. We were aware that the Kansas City Art Institute was in the city and that near by there was an art museum but the exact details and the extent of the museum was still unknown to us. I used my phone to acquire more information and discovered that the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art was currently featuring a ceramic exhibition- once upon a time: stories in contemporary ceramics.

When we arrived at the museum it was instantly obvious the museum had much more to offer than the exhibition we were first excited about. Upon first arrival we could see surrounding the museum was a large grass area/park that feauted 3 large Claes Oldenburg pieces. 

In a review of my own artwork I was once compared to Oldenburg so it was special to see his work in person- and sure enough it was very playful!!! My phone died a gazillion time (only 6 but still!) so we weren't able to take as many photographs as we wanted but below are the photos we were able to take. For this post in including mostly pictures of our favorite pieces and interactive aspects of the museum (the main focus for my research on this trip). 

As far as interior aspects go below is one of my favorites. There was this incredible wooden bed that was built without nails or glue to make it easy to take apart and move. The museum of course did not want visitors to touch the bed but they did want people to understand the complexity to the joints and the craftsmanship in making the bed: so they set up this interactive station with sample joints that visitors were allowed to touch and play with. See Jeni at the station in the picture below. 

Another interactive station below. 

Here is my favorite piece from the Nelson-Atkins. I have seen Marilyn Levine's work in books and publications but photographs never do justice, it was incredible to see this piece in person. And enjoying a little Donald Judd.

Peter Voulkos, Plate, 1973

The work above is from the Kansas City Art Institute student exhibition. Unfortunately, the show was being deinstalled when we arrived but we saw it in part and did meet some friendly students! It's seems like a great place with some really good student work coming out.

We ended the day with a visit to Lawrence Arts Center in Lawrence, KS to visit resident artist and studio manager Kyla Strid. Kyla is a talented vessel maker who recently graduated with her MFA from Ohio University. I first met Kyla during an artist residency at Red Lodge Clay Center where I traded her for a few bowls that we still love and use daily!

Stay tuned for our next adventure: topics include breakfast with Jo Kamm, a visit to K-State ceramics in Manhattan, KS with faculty Amy Santoferraro and recent grad Lauren Karle.

City Museum!!

Research Road Trip first day: Left Ohio for St. Louis, MO to visit the City Museum. FYI...I just downloaded the blogger app and this is my first attempt at blogging from my phone. My apologies if something doesn't look right as this is a challenge in itself. Now on to the post. 

For those who don't know...I just finished the requirements for my MFA at LSU and as celebration; Jeni and I are road trippin through the Midwest and the Rocky Mountains (Colorado). Since we are always trying to better our careers, as artists we conduct a lot of research and since we both enjoy our research this trip is a mixture of pure pleasure (camping, hiking, and visiting friends) and research for pleasure (visiting museums, farms, and anything related to our artistic practice as well as contemporary ceramic art). Specifically I am visiting interactive museums and exhibitions as a way to further influence my interactive art. 

Yesterday we left Ohio late and drove straight to St. Louis to visit the City Museum at night. On my Facebook Simon Levin's comment sums up the place extremely well. "The best and hardest place to explain to people." In short it's a giant playground for kids and adults. It's a fully interactive museum and everything is built to play on. There are hidden caves and paths to craw through, a million (a couple dozen) giant slides (including a ten story slide...yes 10 stories high!) as well as giant ball pits old airplanes, fire trucks, buses, and steel structures to crawl through that are so high off the ground that they will make even grown men want to piss themselves (I almost did), and so much more. 

We visited two years ago during the day and had so much fun that we will visit the museum anytime we are near. On the weekends the City Museum is open at night until midnight. Within my own art, I am constantly exploring the carry over from child's play to adult play and am curious where does one line end and the other begin? I am specifically interestd in adults that continue to play throughtout their whole lives and therefore was very excited to visit the City Museum at night. And sure enough it was better than I expected. There were some kids and teenagers but compared to last time there were far more adults at night. It was  amazing to see adults stand in line to ride on a slide! It was hard to take pictures because it was so dark but I hope you enjoy the pictures we were able to take. If anyone is ever in St. Louis or near you have got to stop in to play and relive your childhood. 

    

After the museum we slept in our car at a hotel parking lot and woke up early enough to catch the sun rise over the Missouri River. Next stop Kansas City. Bye for now. 

Growing Power Urban Farm & NCECA

March 2014

This month was busy with a little more time away from my studio then I would like. But I did have a wonderful visit with my family pre-NCECA. My parents came over from Michigan and we visited my grandma and cousins, if felt like a family reunion! My parents were kind enough to bring me into Milwaukee for a whole day driving me around town to art shows, lunch at the Comet Cafe a triple D, and a visit to a well known urban farm Growing Power. I think my parents had enough NCECA to last for a while now but it was fun enjoying the art with them!

I was visiting Milwaukee for a ceramics conference but I knew I could not miss the opportunity to tour Growing Power urban farm. It is a nonprofit farm, started by Will Allen, focused on brining healthy sustainable food at affordable prices to the community. The organization is a complex system including large scale growing, composting, farmers markets, community gardens, and school projects. I was able to tour the original greenhouse complex- goats and all! They have sprouts, aquaponics systems, mushrooms, goats, chickens, you name it they probably have it. The tour included a very simple overview of the organization and unfortunately I did not get to meet the founder, Will Allen. It is evident that Growing Power has done an amazing things for the local community, located in a food dessert, outside of GP even today there is no sign of fresh food for miles. I was thankful for this experience and I hope to return someday soon to take one of the intensive workshops.

Below are photos from NCECA the national ceramics conference. Forrest had an interactive piece in the NCECA Student Juried Exhibition! Being married you would think I would play has games often but since we do not live together it is a rare occasion that I get to interact with one of his pieces. When I was ready I took the ball from the rack and I instantly panicked I felt like I could not do it. It was the weirdest feeling before picking it up I was confident that I would make it in the basket and take the ball home with me. Once I touched the ball I lost it - I was so scared to break it I almost talked myself out of playing. I did finally play and SMASH there went the beautiful orange ball. Then my mom played and that was the real entertainment. She went through a very similar feeling but with a little more emotion as she tried a few times and it did not break (because of the carpet) and then she got it in! I can assure you she was the most excited person in the gallery that evening, I guess I know where I get it from!

New Orleans Pharmacy Museum

Forrest and I were able to enjoy some time together this past week. I went down for a visit to help him prepare for his thesis exhibition and to escape to cold north! In between all the work we enjoyed spending time together, eating good food, cuddling with Beast (our kitty) and just loving life. The loving life part took us on a day trip down to New Orleans to visit the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum (for me!) and searching thrift stores for sinks (for him!) for his thesis exhibition.

The Pharmacy Museum was filled with antique gems from a time before I was even born. Living so fully in the present sometimes takes importance away from our rich history. My mind was a bit on overload during my visit because there was so much to see and learn. I walked around like a sponge soaking up everything about our past use of medicinal herbs from echinacea to poppies. It was interesting to read about what created the shift from this natural form of medicine to what we have today. People were not properly labeling their products and with the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 came a strict enforcement on labeling. Today with proper labels I am not sure that actually makes all the medicine we fill our bodies with safe in anyway.

Possibly the most interesting and 'close to home' thing I saw was a tool used to remove the tonsils. It had a blade that would cut the tonsil off and a small basket behind it to catch the tonsil for fear that one might choke or spread infection. It just so happens that I have had tonsillitis twice in the past year and yesterday evening after returning from my trip I started feeling 'sick in the throat' as I call it. I am all too familiar with that tingling in my throat to know what was coming on. So I rushed to the store for an echinacea tincture, garlic, ginger, honey, and lemon. I made myself up my 'sick in the throat' drink and for the first time I think I actually stopped the onset of tonsillitis. The past few times I knew what was happening but I was to late in my attempt to stop it and ended up at the ENT with antibiotics, something I really do not like.

Downtown New Orleans this museum is a must see even if you are not head over heals in love with herbal medicine (like I am!) It is worth a stop in if just to see the live leaches they have swimming around in one of the jars.

<--Special bottles that were placed in the front of the pharmacy to alert costumers to know it was a pharmacy.

Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association OEFFA

This week provided me with so much inspiration it is overwhelming. I was able to attend the Ohio Ecological Food and FarmAssociation (OEFFA) conference held in Grandville, Ohio. I attended many sessions including: Twelve Herbs to Use in Emergencies for People and Animals, DIY Aquaponics, Herbal Balance, Cooking and Eating GMO-Free Meals, Creative Dehydrating, and Debunking GE Myths. If you want to know details about any of those sessions feel free to contact me, I do not plan to go into it here. One of the most inspirational parts of the conference was the keynote speaker Anita Diffley who spoke on Farmers as Role Models and Leaders: Protecting Nature and Creating Social Change. She spoke so beautifully and intelligently and it would have been hard not to motivate each person in the room with her story. The short story is her family was working an organic farmon a large plot of land in Minnesota, The Garden of Eagan. A school purchased part of the property and things began to change and soon the land was no longer farmable. They relocated to a difference piece of land that had been used for conventional farming and took three years to reclaim it for organic farming. In 2006, the Diffleys received notice that the MinnCan pipeline was proposed to bisect their organic farm Gardens of Eagan. The Diffleys filed evidence establishing the nature of organic production and the unique vulnerability of the Gardens of Eagan vegetable farm to the harms resulting from a crude oil pipeline. As a result of these efforts, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission included in the permit for the pipeline what is believed to be the first organic agriculture mitigation plan in the country applicable to energy infrastructure. This mitigation plan provides rights and protections for any affected organic farm in Minnesota. What a beautiful success story for this small organic farm! It is hard to sum up everything that came from this conference but I can tell you I am filled with joy knowing there are so many people who care about the earth in the same way I do. So many people gathered together who are focused on nurturing the land. As I left the conference I could not help but continue to think about how the decisions we make about what we eat directly impact the earth we live on and the power of social movement in food! I am starting to view this relationship I have with the earth more as a responsibility and I have decided with the support of my husband that someday we will live on a ceramic homestead. Where we can balance our lives as artist with caretakers of this earth.

I meet Val the owner of Jorgensen Farms, one of the farms I hope to visit when the weather shifts. She gifted me some wool for my harvesting color project so I can try out some natural dyes. In exchange, I am going to give an artist lecture for her and we might even collaborate on a farm dinner in the near future!

To top it off I had a wonderful visit this week with my friend and fellow ceramic artist Lindsay Scypta. She was in town for a visit to see Gun Young Kim's thesis show that looks terrific, images coming soon! I am thankful I was able to spend Valentines Day with this lovely lady. We started our day with fresh cold pressed juice from a new organic juice bar Native Juice. We visited the greenhouse and planted some vegetables and flowers that Lindsay gave me for my birthday! My greenhouse space sometimes feels private because few people come visit my plants; I think that is why I love sharing it on the blog! I had a really nice time showing her around and planting seeds with a great friend who loves planting as much as I do. After we used up our green thumbs we headed to a lecture “Performing to Politics of Food and Agriculture” by Dr. Ann Folino White professor and Michigan State University. A powerful lecture on ‘theater and food’ a topic that I had not considered prior. Following the lecture we had dinner at the Crest in Clintonville one of my favorite restaurants. We finished the evening with our first ever men’s gymnastics meet… amazing need I say more.

Farm to Fork: Food Dialogues

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the event Farm to Fork: Food Dialogues hosted by The Collegiate Young Farmers at OSU. The event was free and included a nice dinner: a side salad, eggplant, and fruit salad for dessert. The main course was rice wrapped in a delicate slice of eggplant served with a red sauce, it makes my mouth water now thinking about it.

Farm to Fork Food Dialogues encouraged discussion of agriculture and food production focusing on biotechnology. The first portion of the event was table discussions and I just so happen to sit next to a master candidate in the Department of Anthropology, Mark Anthony Arceno, who is ‘learning through food.’ You should check out his blog where he talks about “learning about people and cultures through the foods they prepare and consume; the recipes which have been passed down, shared and adapted over time; and the meaning behind the meal. Situated within an ethnographic approach to food and a passion for "feeding the experience," I extend my foodie platform to include the cutting board, the in-between from farm to table.”

Following the dinner conversation was a panel discussion. This is when I started to get frustrated. I understand we have two ears to listen and only one mouth to talk but when everyone else is using ‘twitter’ to tweet comments and I am sitting here thinking I do not even know what twitter is. By the end of the evening those of you who know me can only imagine I was jumping out of my chair and one of my table mates let me borrow his ipad to tweet something. But of course I get the ipad and I have no idea how to tweet so someone had to help me and by the time I tweeted the discussion was over…  A few of the conversation topics were what does local mean? Does it mean food miles, community impact, increasing transparency, regional food system? Then one fellow on the panel suggested that it was local if he bought it from him local grocery store it did not matter is it came from Ecuador?  What do you think? I was about to tell him what I think but then I thought better of it. I realize the food did not come from the moon. But that cannot be local, can it? To me local means a days drive, that I can visit the place and the people that produced the food. To me local means supporting your local community and buying from farmers who live, work, and sell in your own neighborhood. We discussed GMO genetically modified foods and the push for labeling. Do we have a right to know what is in our food? Someone asked, is not using GMO even and option? Well is it? Where does our food come from? One of the panelists was an organic farmer and he talked about organic being labor and hard work. Isn’t that what farming always has been? The conventional farmer made it seems as though he never even touched his soil the machinery and technology did it for him. He did not even have to till his field, no more brown snow he said because his soil stays put. My question is if we are no longer touching the earth how are we connected to the earth? What kind of food are we producing and what is it doing to our bodies? My work as an artist has always been about food as a vessel maker it is something that I am constantly considering. In my recent work I realized I could not make something for or about a plant with out knowing how it grows. So I started growing and yes it is a lot of work. I am at the greenhouse at least three days a week if not more. I spend hours there planting, watering, transplanting and tending to the needs of all of my plants. But I know more now about these plants and what they need then I could ever get purchasing them at the grocery store. Maybe all we need is to connect back to the earth? The last portion of the discussion was on food safety. This I when my table mate let me send a tweet in I said, “how can you claim food is safe when you sold me something contaminated with salmonella?” That salmonella changed the entire course of my life in ways it is hard to go into now but the reality is they knew the food was contaminated and still chose to ship it out to consumers. So I ask again how can you tell me the food is safe?

Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Everyone has them right? The kind of day you would never wish on anyone. There is a book from my childhood that I always think of when I have these kinds of days Alexander and the Terrible Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst. Today I had one of those unfortunate days. I went to the greenhouse to plant some more seeds and check on my plants. I had noticed last week that I had some yellow leaves on the bottom of my ashwaganda so I was keeping an eye on it. I decided to do some further inspection and when I checked the underside of the leaves they were covered in bugs. I wanted to run out and forgot what I had seen but unfortunately bugs do not go away in the greenhouse. It is a confined space and it makes it easy for pests to take over. With some help from the greenhouse staff I was able to identify the pests as mealybug and whitefly. Unfortunately they had completely taken over the ashwaganda and I had to remove it from the greenhouse. So on a day of new life and planting it turned into a day of death. I was so sad to kill my plants but in a communal space you have to work towards to greater good for everyone. I am very passionate about raising my plants organically but in this setting I realized I would do more harm if I did not quickly address the problem. So I gave into a ‘soft’ treatment for the white fly what was infesting almost the whole bench. I am working this week on the mealy bugs that will be hard to eliminate but I hope to control until I can bring them outside.

 The good news is that not everyday is all horrible. I was able to see the Echinacea and milk thistle in full bloom. The first group of poppies has all dropped their leaves and the second set is starting to bloom. I can think of nothing more enjoyable then entering the greenhouse in the middle of winter to see rows of green and flowers blooming. A few of my plantings from earlier this week have started to sprout!

Introduction to Permaculture at Solid Ground Farm

This weekend I took a trip to Athens, OH to celebrate my birthday with my in-laws and little brother Noah! I made a trip of it and went on a farm tour at Solid Ground Farm in Athens County. I am very interested in permaculture but to be honest I am still figuring out what it is…. so when I saw that Solid Ground a permaculture based farm was offering a introduction course and farm tour I decided I could not pass it up!  I never thought I would go on a farm tour in the middle of winter but it was fun, educational and we kept moving so I stayed warm for the most part.

 The first thing I must say is that permaculture is so much bigger then I thought it was. When I first started researching I thought of it only in terms of farmland and animals. I first heard the word permaculture in Michael Pollan’s book The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Since then I have been interested in the health and ecological benefits of farming with a focus on the symbiotic relationship between animals, plants and people. Pollan visited Polyface Farm in Virginia, a farm that runs on a permaculture design. But WHAT IS PERMACULTURE? Visiting Solid Ground Farm was my first experience on a permaculture farm and I was determined to figure out what permaculture really is. Before visiting the farm I believed that permaculture was a form of sustainable agriculture based on a philosophy of working with nature, not against it, “of looking at plants and animals in all their functions, rather than creating any area as a single product system.” (Mollison, 1988) Thanks to Weston the farm manager for expanding my knowledge I now know that Mollison is only half of the permaculture story. Bill Mollison collaborated with David Holmgren who explains permaculture as a “design system for sustainable land use and sustainable living. Focused on production aspect of how we provide human needs from nature and consumption how we use natural resources.” (Holmgren, 2010)
My favorite part of visiting Solid Ground Farm was the Cobb house. Cobb is made from a mixture of clay, sand, and straw. It looked similar to the pump house we had on our property growing up small, quaint and maybe a little more rustic. I would absolutely live in it other then that it doesn’t have a shower. I am sure I could get used to that. Anyways, I have added it to my to-do list: build cobb house and live in it or maybe I will just go live in Earthaven Ecovillage near Ashville, NC.

Harvesting Color Part III

Today I learned some basics of natural dyes below are colors extracted from madder root, osage orange, and indigo. I am looking forward to using plants to make natural dyes. I purchased a packet of Dye Plants Seed Collection from Horizon Herbs Chamomile, Dyer's; Elecampane; Indigo, Blue; Madder; Marigold, African; Nettles; Our Lady's Bedstraw. I am headed to the greenhouse soon to plant some of these natural dye plants!

We revisited our TLC to compare lutein levels in all of our Marigold samples. This included (yellow/dried, yellow/fresh, orange/dried, orange/fresh) plus three for our control group (two lutein supplements and one beta-carotene). This time the experiment worked and we were able to record and compare the thin layer chromatography (TLC) separation. We recorded four different substance spots for almost all of our samples. The top being beta-carotene with a RF value of .97 below a few unidentified RF values at .73 / .369 / .27

I am keeping busy at the greenhouse I planted a variety packet of calendula, marigold, and natural plant dyes. I also planted lots of medicinal herbs and some vegetables! The second round of poppies in the drooping buds stage and an echinacea that is just starting to bloom!