Classes at the Springfield Art Museum awakened Carol Snyder’s creative urge. Years later she’s preparing for a solo exhibition of her paintings at Gailey’s Breakfast Cafe. You can see them on Sept. 1 during First Friday Art Walk.
Gailey’s, a popular brunch spot at 220 E. Walnut St., is one of two new venues for Art Walk, a monthly effort in which galleries and businesses line up arts-related events across downtown Springfield. Everyone is encouraged to walk around the neighborhood and pop into galleries in what organizers call a “self-guided tour.” There are 18 venues participating this month. They’ll be open for variable hours between 5 and 10 p.m.
Snyder draws inspiration from observing nature
Snyder made her first step into art after a decade of work at radio station KMET, 94.7 FM, in Los Angeles. She served as a staff photographer and did voiceover work for the station.
“I moved to Missouri, where my creative urge was truly awakened by inspiring art classes at the Springfield (Art) Museum, which took my studies further to (Missouri State University),” Snyder said in a press release.
She also spent 16 years as a volunteer for the Missouri Department of Conservation.
“There, I discovered a passion for painting: birds, landscapes and now abstracting all of those things,” Snyder said. “I inhale inspiration from observing nature, which surrounds me.”
Snyder’s work has been displayed around Springfield, including at Bambinos Cafe, Finley River Fine Art Gallery, Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts, Springfield-Branson Regional Airport, Springfield Conservation Nature Center, Springfield Regional Arts Council and Walnut Inn Bed and Breakfast.
“The need to learn has brightened every day of my life,” Snyder said. “This entails learning to have compassion for my tools and letting them tell me, giving me permission to stay loose and feel the next step. My interests lie in adding elements taken from every environment in nature, museums and architecture, and relaying them to colors, lines and textures. Freedom of pushing the color is an adventure. Then, by the end of the day, I’ve learned something about my chosen art.”
Historic Holland Building is another new addition to Art Walk
The historic Holland Building (205 Park Central East), is also making its First Friday Art Walk debut in September. It’s displaying a collection of new works by Springfield artist and chef H.J. Schumer.
Schumer’s show features recent abstract paintings and renditions of popular Springfield scenes and locations. Schumer’s work has been shown in galleries from the Midwest to the East Coast and has been selected for national competitions including Watercolor U.S.A. and PhotoSpiva.
Interested in seeing the show? It will be on display from 6-8 p.m. To see the exhibit, enter the Holland Building through the St. Louis Street lobby and take the elevator or stairs to the second floor.
College galleries are busy now that classes are back in session
Galleries from Drury University and Missouri State University are all back on the map after a somewhat quiet summer. MSU’s Brick City Gallery (215 W. Mill St.) is opening a co-curatorial project called “i’m sorry for your loss… Meditations on Discomfort and Change.” Alexandra Chamberlain and Jodi McCoy have selected works from Kim Brandt, Rick Briggenhorst, Michelle Burdine, Charles Clary and Axelle Kieffe that explore the ways humans visualize and internalize experiences with change associated with loss.
Over at the Carolla Arts Exhibition Center (326 N. Boonville) is “Enmeshed Worlds,” which features work from Alejandro T Acierto, Jon Chambers, Tiffany Funk and Britt Ransom. The First Friday Art Walk press release said “Enmeshed Worlds” is a critical examination of how technology affects our social structures and relationships.”
Drury University is celebrating its 150th anniversary with a display of campus photographs at the Pool Art Center Gallery (900 N. Benton Ave.). It includes work by Rebecca Miller and Allin Sorenson.
Obelisk Home presents a trio of shows
Head over to Obslisk Home (214 W. Phelps St., Suite 101) between 6 and 10 p.m. to see three different exhibitions, including the opening of their 17th Annual Birdhouse Auction benefitting Habitat for Humanity. Local artists have created and donated special birdhouses for the event, which has raised thousands of dollars over the years. Obelisk Home is donating 100% of the proceeds from the silent auction to help Habitat for Humanity provide safe, comfortable housing for families in need in the Springfield area.
Obelisk Home’s main gallery is hosting the opening reception of “Spirit Animals: Tracking Time by Kat Allie. The lower gallery, meanwhile, is the site of the closing reception for “You Are What You Eat: The Search for a Corporate Sponsor” by guest artist Trevor McDonald.
In addition to the art, there will be live music from 6:30-8 p.m. and complimentary refreshments will be served throughout the evening. The music is courtesy of a string quartet, featuring Graham Arnold and Malcolm James on violin, Bracken Potter on viola and Eli Parks on cello.
Other venues for August’s First Friday Art Walk are:
- Artistic Photography, 600 W. College St.
- BookMarx, 325 E. Walnut St., Ste. 101
- The Downtown Church, 413 E. Walnut St.
- Formed: An Artist Collective, 210 E. Walnut St.
- Forming Art Studios, 330 South Ave.
- Fresh Gallery, 401 N. Boonville
- Hold Fast Brewing, 235 N. Kimbrough Ave.
- Hotel Vandivort, 305 E. Walnut
- J.L. Long Traders, 318 W. Walnut St.
- Park Central Branch Library, 128 Park Central Square
- Springfield Regional Arts Council at the Creamery Arts Center, 411 N. Sherman Parkway
- Transformation Gallery & Tattoo, 330 E. Walnut St.
For more information, visit the official First Friday Art Walk website, or find them on Facebook.
