Monthly Archives: February 2020

Cultural Center Update

Posted on February 23, 2020 | Comments Off

The latest view of the atrium in February. It’s really starting to take shape.

Last year I posted about the ground breaking for our new cultural center. (April 3, 2019) It has been so exciting to watch the huge building going up this past year. I’ve been stopping about once a month to take photos of this process.

Just to bring you up to date in case you haven’t been following this story, the Thyen-Clark Cultural Center is located in the center of Jasper, Indiana. Jasper is a prosperous little German town in southern Indiana. Although it only has about 15,000 citizens, in a county of only about 40,000 people, it boasts one of the lowest unemployment rates in the state. Many businesses are located here – Kimball, MasterBrand, OFS, Jasper Engines and Transmissions, and others.

The expansion of the arts began as a nugget of an idea back in 2006 when I first became Director of Jasper Community Arts. We already had a decades long history of the arts and a very nice performing arts center. Unfortunately, the economic crisis of 2008 set everything back for years but in the end, we came up with a much better idea.

The new cultural center is a partnership of the arts and the library and will boast over 63,000 square feet of space, part arts, part library, and a central atrium for community events. After many years of planning, public meetings, many design changes, getting a library referendum passed, our dream is finally coming to fruition. With an amazing challenge grant from Jim and Pat Thyen, support from the city and the state, the local businesses jumped on board, seeing this as a wonderful recruiting tool, and private citizens have dug deep to help fund the project.

Although we were not able to save the old Hoosier Desk Building – it would have cost more to refurbish it than to build new – other old factory buildings in the area along the river have become apartments and condos. A new hotel has been erected and other businesses are moving in. All in all, a wonderful development for a small town where people work together.

As my husband often reminds me when I say “we”, I don’t work for Jasper Arts any more. But I’m still proud of all the hard work that has gone into making this dream a reality and will be so excited when it’s open to the public at the end of this year.

If you’d like to see the plans for the building, follow this link. Or Google Jasper

Cultural Center photos for more images.

Jasper Cultural Center building progress, November 2019. In the background, most of the arts wing is framed in on the west and north sides.

Cultural center December 2019. The large part in the middle is the atrium and the part to the right is the new library wing.

Showing more of the library wing framing on the south side of the building.

The atrium of the cultural center is pretty much up except for the windows. It will be able to host special events with table seating up to 150.

View of the arts wing from the northwest corner. This will host three galleries, a small event space, classrooms and private studios. Plus offices for the staff and a sculpture garden.

Another view of the arts wing classroom space. Here it is being bricked already.

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Tagged cultural center, indiana, Jasper Indiana, Thyen-Clark Cultural Center

Fame and Fortune. What is your legacy?

Posted on February 9, 2020 | 2 comments

Raspberries and oatmeal. Acrylic on canvas, 16 x 16, Kit Miracle.

I was being interviewed for a magazine article earlier this week when the interviewer asked me, “ Do you hope to be famous with your artwork?”

This question gave me pause. I don’t think I’ve thought about being famous before. I’m pretty competitive but famous? Hummmm.

Maybe when I first began painting I had visions of being the next Georgia O’Keeffe or Janet Fish. But you don’t have to be in the art business very long to know what a long shot this is. And there have been many years when I was churning out production work to make some money. Do enough art fairs and you’ll become pretty mercenary.

You don’t have to be famous or rich to have fun making art. Just as every guitarist knows that his/her chance of becoming a famous rock star is pretty slim, but that doesn’t stop him/her from enjoying noodling on the instrument for the entertainment of friends and family.

These days I like the challenge of entering competitions for fun. And selling enough artwork to make back my expenses and support my bad habits.

However, I do think about my legacy sometimes. When I run across a picture of a painting that I may have completed years ago, I wonder where it is now. Who is enjoying it? I think of all the paintings that I’ve done over the years, where they are, and how they’re holding up. That is my legacy. A little bit of me spread across the globe.

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Tagged fame, fortune, kit miracle, legacy

One month’s art production

Posted on February 2, 2020 | 9 comments

A composite of my January art production. Four watercolors, five sunflower paintings, six tree drawings and three paintings for my new series focusing on food.

Since I retired from being a director of a multi-discipline arts center a couple of years ago, people are always asking me, What are you doing with your time these days? Or Are you still painting?

Sheesh, I was an artist before I was nearly anything else. Yes, I paint every day! That is really no exaggeration. Sometimes I’ll take a day to just goof off, read a book or go do some other fun stuff. Without guilt.

So I thought I’d look back at the month of January just to see how much art I really created for the month. These are the stats.

Red Rock Cliffs at Zion National Park, watercolor / pen and ink, 9.5 x 13.5, Kit Miracle I don’t remember what is the name of this group of rocks (there are so many in the park) but I was attracted to the contrast of the sunlight and shadows.

Four watercolor / pen and ink travel paintings. These sell well in one of my online shops and they’re fun to do.

Rosemary’s Sunflowers, 20 x 16, acrylic on canvas, Kit Miracle. This bright painting is one of five sunflower paintings that I completed in January. Love the loose brushwork and dazzling colors.

Five sunflower paintings, all acrylic on canvas. Various sizes from 8 x 8 to 20 x 16.

Maple, partial sketch. Faber Castell grey pens. 11 x 14, Kit Miracle. I first completed the whole tree, then decided to focus on this detail.

Six tree drawings. Trees are hard to do but winter is a great time to “see the bones.” I thought I’d give myself a challenge of doing one tree per week. We’ll see how that goes.

Room Service, 16 x 20, acrylic on canvas. Kit Miracle As the name implies, this is a meal that I ate in my room on one of my many business trips, this time to Kansas City. I was attracted to the muted colors with a little dash of color for the main entree.

Three paintings in a new series called “The Food We Eat.” They will all be paintings of food, a very popular subject. I just love the bright colors. And the challenge. I have thirty two paintings planned for this series. Or at least until I get bored.

In addition, I have been designing new print-on-demand products for one of my Etsy shops. So far, I’ve created about fifty. There are so many ideas but time is limited.

The drawings are not for sale; just for practice.

And the food paintings will be saved for a group display.

Plus time spent updating websites, blog, and social media.

Lest you think that I spend all of my time in the studio, that is not the case. I probably spend five or six hours a day, sometimes more, sometimes less. It’s not work really. I just get lost.

But, of course, January is a time of year with few garden demands. Although I could probably spend some more time cleaning the attic or going to the gym. But I’m happy.

And larger paintings require more time so not every month sees this kind of output.

But even when I was working full time, I was still able to squeeze in 15 to 20 hours a week in the studio. I guess it’s just all about priorities. Although I read a lot, I don’t watch much TV or waste too much time on social media.

If you want something bad enough, you’ll find the time.