Sculpture display featuring several local artists to debut at Elmwood Friday | News, Sports, Jobs

“I’m always looking for opportunities to get local artists engaged in their studio practice. Most artists, especially artists who don’t make work for a living, have trouble devoting studio time to their craft, so we almost always need a motivation. We almost need a reason or a deadline to make something,” Cox said. “So I’m trying to make these deadlines to give artists reasons to get in the studio and make some work or finish work. A lot of us tool around, but in order to really finish something, we need a show or something. So the idea is let’s make as many shows as we can to get artists actively working (and) try to build an active artists community. That’s one thing this town is almost there at.”

“Home” will feature the work of eight artists — Cox, his wife Dawn Gettler, Nancy Adams, Rachel Buse, Tim Castle, Molly Frese, Nick Beard and Lisa Cantrell.

“I’m grateful for the chance to participate in an exhibit that celebrates home. Perhaps never a more evocative word/concept; universal yet deeply personal. My pieces in the show reflect local and global representations of such, for I’m keenly aware ’tis the backdrop of the larger world, that gives my personal world meaning, context,” Adams said.

After the success of the Arts+Culture Alliance’s two Summer Artist Series events at The Outlet, Cox is hoping to build on that momentum, and he had previously worked with Elmwood Events, Membership and Marketing Coordinator Alyvia Chadderdon on painting a picture of the country club.

Several local artists including Nick Beard and Dawn Gettler, whose work is pictured, have contributed sculptures to the upcoming exhibit.

He remembered reading about recent renovations to the ballroom and clubhouse and reached out to Chadderdon about putting a show together. She agreed, but with only two months of turnaround time, Cox decided to reach out to multiple artists about offering one piece based around a singular theme instead of putting the burden solely on himself or a smaller group.

That theme, as previously mentioned, was home, which Cox felt was evocative and open ended. Some of the artists he asked didn’t think they could pull it off in time or pull off a sculpture specifically, but he still received commitments from seven others.

“It’s all sculpture, which is kind of a challenge because I think all of us except maybe Rachel, Dawn and myself, kind of, are 2-D artists, so maybe a sculpture’s kind of (like) ‘Oh, okay, let’s rethink this.’ So it’s all a lot of different kind of sculptures,” Cox said. “So we have a couple of literal or quasi-literal interpretations of home… but then some real abstract depictions of home too or what home means — domesticity, the safety of a home or the trauma of a home sometimes, or wanting a home or loving being home or wanting to get away from home. There’s a thousand ways to (approach it).”

Gettler, who shares a home with Cox, offered a cerebral take on what the concept means to her in a modern contest.

“The realities of present day life – young children, jobs, home renovations, a global pandemic – have put us into a state of domestic stasis. The days and weeks pass by without notice in a cycle of obliviousness to the outside world or our creative efforts. At the end of the day, we have no spare ounce of emotional or physical capacity to make work or think about the things that were absolutely essential to our beings just a few years ago,” she said. “Our lives and studios are strewn with what remain. Projects laid out, left unfinished, and at times initial intentions completely forgotten. The work is worn and broken, but still held tight and precious. Memories are fickle that way, unless relived and retold they will turn to dust.”

Beard, an art teacher at Lenihan Intermediate School, used rocks for his contribution to the exhibit, and he handpicked each one based on characteristics and colors.

“In this exhibition, I’m sharing small stacks of rocks tethered together and supported with string, all encapsulated in a unique and mysterious little box — their homes,” he said.

After the opening on Friday night, which is open to the public, the work will be on display until Nov. 15. Cox plans to continue his work to create spaces for creatives in the Marshalltown area without a true community art center currently in town.

“I’m trying to think of non-traditional exhibit spaces. A community room works. A lobby to an office building works. The courthouse can work. A park can work,” he said. “I have to come up with partners who want to show the work and want to trust us artists and me to put together a show that can respect the space and respect the work and bring the community in.”

Each of the Summer Artist Series events drew over 200 visitors, he added, proving that there is a real demand for the kind of programming he wants to provide.

“I think the community enjoys these. Local artists enjoy it, and more artists are coming out of the woodwork the more we show that there’s opportunities to see the work,” Cox said. “So, looking at next year, it’s about finding venue partners.”

His long-term dream remains opening an art center with a community gallery, a permanent gallery, a lecture space, a print shop, a frame shop, a coffee shop and a music venue, but in the meantime, Cox will continue pursuing other efforts to cultivate a scene in his adopted hometown.

To learn more about Friday night’s opening reception, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/1575628123347846. The exhibit will be open to the public on Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. until Nov. 15.