Subject: Press Release - "GroundWork," Belger Arts Annual Resident Exhibition

GroundWork

Belger Arts Annual Artist in Resident Exhibition


Exhibition dates: June 3 - September 3, 2022

Opening reception: Belger Crane Yard Gallery, June 3, 6 pm - 8 pm

Artist remarks: 6:30 pm


Belger Crane Yard Gallery Hours: 

Tuesday – Friday: 10 am - 5 pm; 

Every first Friday of the month: 10 am – 8 pm; 

Saturday: 10 am - 4 pm 


Belger Crane Yard Gallery 

2011 Tracy Avenue, Kansas City, MO 64108 

gallery@belgerartscenter.org

816-474-7316 

BelgerArts.org

Eleanor Foy, The Object, 2022. Ceramic, electrical components, 9.75" x 12" x 4" in. Photo: Maxwell Wagner

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Kansas City, MO – Belger Crane Yard Gallery presents GroundWork opening Friday, June 3, 2022, at 2011 Tracy Avenue, Kansas City, MO 64108. The exhibition will remain on view through September 3, 2022.


Belger Arts annual resident exhibition includes work by current Artists in Residence: Summer Brooks, Elaine Buss, Eleanor Foy, Sun Young Park, Adams Puryear, and Nicole Woodard. For the six artists, the past year has been one of processing and navigating uncertainty, while persistently evolving, creatively thriving, and laying the “groundwork” for what’s to come.


Summer Brooks’ figurative depictions of black women challenge constraining ideals of beauty. Pressed and carved hair textures, confront stereotypes and aesthetic standards, while her use of materials such as India ink and spray foam challenge the conventions of the ceramics medium. Elaine Buss’ sculptural forms include symbols that serve as a visual language that reveals her fascination with knowing and exploring. Her work invites the viewer to experience what has informed, comforted, and humbled her. Eleanor Foy’s work is heavily inspired by the American West. For Foy, Westerns embody and perpetuate the violence of our colonial past, and underscore our relationship to history, land, and language. Foy considers the construction of her lamps and sculptures an indulgence and a criticism of romantic Americana. Sun Young Park combines clay and non-clay materials to create large, abstract sculptures that reflect how she processes and translates her reality and explores the duality of the material and the conceptual. Adams Puryear documents pop and internet culture, combining traditional techniques and contemporary imagery inspired by the internet’s “anti-filter.” Nicole Woodard creates representations of the human experience by decorating her abstracted figurative busts and heads with drawings that reveal human resilience.


Belger Crane Yard Studios continues to host national and international artists through its Artists in Residence program. A residency provides ceramic artists the opportunity to expand their body of work or create a special project that may be outside of the scope of their routine studio practice.


For high-resolution images of the artist’s work and a pdf of this press release, click here.

Nicole Woodard, Figure I, 2022. Ceramic, 34" x 12" x 7" in. Photo: Courtesy of the artist

About Belger Arts:

Since 2000, the Belger Arts Center has encouraged viewers to explore, question, and deepen their understanding of art and of the world around them. Drawing upon the extensive John and Maxine Belger Family Foundation collection as well as a rich variety of local, national, and international artists, the Belger Arts Center has staged over 70 large-scale exhibitions that represent some of the best in contemporary art.


In 2013, Belger Arts expanded the Foundation’s commitment to the creative process by opening Belger Crane Yard Studios, an arts complex dedicated to providing studio and exhibition space for artists. A range of programming in ceramics education, in addition to the Red Star Residency program and Crane Yard Clay ceramics supply store, has made Belger a center for contemporary art. 


The Belger Glass Annex is the third Belger Arts location and opened to the public in October 2021. It is the first public glass blowing studio in Kansas City of its scale and scope. The new facility boasts state-of-the-art glass blowing equipment and tools, a furnace that holds 300 pounds of molten glass, and three work stations. The Belger Glass Annex is primed to be a Midwest hub for glass art, education, and appreciation, strengthening Kansas City’s reputation as an arts destination.


For more information on upcoming exhibitions, classes and workshops, or to schedule a group tour, please visit BelgerArts.org or call 816-474-3250.

Safety measures:

Belger Arts is committed to maintaining a safe place for our visitors, studio members, and staff. Masks are not required, but Belger Arts will continue to monitor City of Kansas City, MO mandates and CDC guidelines. Please visit the Glass Classes page of our website for additional safety measures specific to classes held at the Belger Glass Annex.

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