LOCAL ARTISTS
Creativity lives within us all, but not everyone gets the opportunity to share their art with the world. The Unsung Creatives Showcase allowed seven artists the chance to show their creative projects to an audience for the first time. The art show was the result of an eightweek workshop where each artist developed their work, executed it, installed it and helped organize the art event. The showcase featured a gallery exhibition, live music and poetry, an artist panel and a community art wall where guests could make their own work to add to the show. Although the event was for one day only, the showcase lives on at Jo’s Cafe where the artists have hung their work for the whole month of May. There are creativity stations at each table with paper and crayons where guests can add their own artwork to the walls, already amassing 140 pieces of community art in the first five days.
The Unsung Creatives Showcase is the result of Expressive Arts facilitator Ellen Rebecca Geis’s mission to reawaken creativity as a force of healing and inspiration in people’s lives. Geis is an Expressive Arts Therapy student pursuing her education through Lesley University’s remote program. She has been facilitating classes at the San Marcos Public Library that use expressive art therapy techniques to help support the creativity and mental health of San Marcos residents such as her Express Yourself! adult art class and her adult theatre class, Explore Your Characters. The showcase is the result of her capstone project and represents her belief that not everyone has to be an artist but that everyone is creative, and creativity deserves to be celebrated.
Earlier in the year, Geis put out a public application to search for local creatives to participate in the free workshop focused on bringing a creative dream to life. What resulted was seven candidates who were committed to meeting every week to develop their ideas into a creative reality. The Unsung Creatives are Ameia Rimpson, Armilyn Nix, Blaze Turley, Brooke Schumacher, Hannah Ridlen, Makenzy Weightman and Micah Mc-Daniels. The eight week workshop resulted in a showcase at MotherShip Studios where each artist had their work on display.
Ameia Rimpson shared an original poem for the first time ever.
“In a time where identities are being suppressed and everything seems to be falling apart all around us, I decided to express these feelings through poetry,” Rimpson said.
During the show, Rimpson had her poetry journal on display at her writing desk adorned with flowers and an interactive element. A sign read “the world is ending, so what do you want to say” next to blank pieces of paper and pens, prompting the guests to add their own poetry and prose. The poem is on display at Jo’s Cafe for guests to read and reflect all month long.
Armilyn Nix presented a self reflective sculpture titled “Work in Progress.” The art weaves together fabric, paper decoupage and beads on multiple silhouettes of the artist’s face. Each face represents a state of her life and the identities that defined her; from daughter to wife and mother, each reveals a fragment of identity in motion, honoring the ongoing transformation of the self. Guests could walk around the podium and explore each layer that holds so much life and reflection. The materials used from the fabric to the paper have been part of Nix’s collection for years, creating a tangible identity that says so much, even without words present. For the Jo’s Cafe show, Nix has transformed the work into a handing mobile which spins between the natural light of the cafe’s windows, reflecting a cycle of self transformation that is neverending.
Blaze Turley created a life-sized phone booth where guests could step inside a world all their own. The facade was made of cardboard boxes, which beckoned the curiosity from the crowd. Once through the curtain, a single seat allowed guests to sit and take in the world within. Fishing nets, pearls, lobsters and license plates were among the items that adorned the inside of the booth. An empty peach prompted the guest to press a button and hold the tin to their ear, resulting in an auditory experience where the artist read a poem that reflected on dreams, despair and hope. Although the full installation could only be experienced at the showcase, the transcript for ‘Teledreaming’ along with photos are on display at the cafe.
Brooke Schumacher showcased a mixed media installation that included collaged canvases, a mirror and a window pane where guests could view her work in multiple ways.
“My project is a mixed-media exploration of myself and my environment as part of a whole, representing a creative reawakending, which invites viewers to see through my eyes as I embark on transformative new endeavors,” Schumacher said.
Guests at the exhibition truly could see through Schumacher’s eyes as translucent digital scans of her eyeballs were taped to the window panes. Her work could be constantly revisited and experienced in multiple ways — up close, through the window pane or in the reflections of the mirror. One can still experience the multiple views of her work at Jo’s Cafe since her collages are displayed next to the cafe windows where the eyeballs scans are attached.
Hannah Ridlen performed an original song for the first time ever to a crowd of nearly one hundred guests. She produced parts of the song electronically and performed live vocals and keyboard. Behind her a powerful deep red painting framed the performance work she had made recently in an Express Yourself! Class.
“Through song, I aim to explore the concept of rage, an emotion that is often demonized and that women especially have been taught to suppress since early childhood,” Ridlen said.
The crowd was transfixed, and she performed in a genre uniquely her own. One can experience her painting, lyrics and a QR code linking to the performance at the Jo’s Cafe show.
Makenzy Weightman displayed a gallery of photographs representing the strength and beauty of the women in her life. Dreamy images of these muses found homes in unique frames. Most of the images were taken locally at UpRoot Speakeasy and shot on film photography.
“I draw much of my inspiration from the women who grace my life: my mother, my friends, artists I adore and even the timeless tales of Greek mythology,” Weightman said. “Everyday I am in awe of what we have surpassed and what we will continue to surmount to. My hope for these creations is to illuminate the strength we possess, transcending the archetypes we encounter.”
Micah McDaniel displayed a piece titled “My Life in Black and White.” It was a hand drawn reflection of the symptoms McDaniel faces regularly as someone with Borderline Personality Disorder. “The facet of BPD that I struggle with the most is all or nothing thinking, also known as black and white thinking. This piece is meant to address the stigma that people with BPD face as well as highlight some of the things that I am personally going through,” McDaniel said.
The result is a raw and powerful artwork that weaves illustration and words into a piece that invites the audience to reflect and understand.
The facilitator Ellen Rebecca Geis had her own art installation titled “Ellen’s Chicago Apartment,” which displayed photos and works made by herself and friends during creative art nights at her Illinois apartment. There were comfy rugs and pillows, which invited guests to sit and take in the creativity. Next to the display was the community art wall where guests could add their own work made during the showcase. A table held a huge spread of art supplies of all kinds that flowed to tables set up where guests of all ages drew and painted their own works and then taped them on the wall.
The event was a night full of warmth and support as MotherShip Studios was filled to the brim with creativity. Drinks were provided by Roughhouse Brewing and Middleton Brewing with additional event support provided by Rio Claro Studio, Jo’s Cafe, The Cornucopia and Jade Seed Wellness, further showing the community support for the event. The artist panel was a special look at the work that each artist did to bring their vision to life through the eight week workshop. The show lives on at Jo’s Cafe where one can visit the show and add their own artwork all month long. Follow @joscafegallery on Instagram for exhibition updates and @expresyourself.arts to keep up to date with Ellen’s mission of bringing creative dreams to life.
