Grassroots Art Center

The Grassroots Art Center, Lucas, Kansas

Our next stop for the day was the Grassroots Art Center in Lucas.  It is quite a compilation of stuff.   The woman who gave us the tour of the gallery explained that they try hard to protect the work of these artists because many times the art has not seemed like art to their heirs.  She said that in one case recently, they went to take a look at an artist's yard the day after his funeral and already all his art had been taken to the junk yard.  They spent time in the junk yard and had set up some of this guy's art in a large safe in the building.  On this one, I was with the relatives of the deceased.  It really looked like a mess of junk and I sure woudn't want to live next door to someone whose whole yard was full of junk hanging from everywhere!  However, to each his own, I guess.  Other grassroot artists displays were really interesting and unique and I would have been happy to take home a few pieces if I had a place to display them!

Artist:  Ed Root

Limestone Fencepost Carving by Fred Whitman

The courtyard exhibit of several walls of stone from the area is a tribute to the architectural work of stone masons in the area from 1870-1920.

Artist:  Ernie Pot - (barbed wire art)

Artist:  Robert Fredericks

Robert Frederick's art is for sale at the center.  He calls himself a "Contemporary Whimsy Bottle Folk Artist".  He has bottles that range from a quart to three gallons in size and he places very detailed figures inside.  He also probably pleases his neighbors as they say he has a huge outdoor concrete yard environment.

Artist:  Warren Homer Chambers

Artist:  Ernie Pot - (barbed wire art)

Artist:  M. T. Liggett

Several of Mr. Liggett's sculptures are on the road outside of Lucas.  His art is sometimes not too popular because he often comments on current event and assigns the name of a real person to his art.  He started building scrap metal totem poles in 1989 after he retired from the Air Force.  I'd like to visit his home some time to see his displays.  It is on Highway 54 east of Dodge City. 

Artist:  David Gustafson, Topeka, Kansas

I really loved the work of David Gustafson from Topeka.  This wire woman was made from small 1" pieces of wire.  She was three dimensional and looked like a shadow.  

Artist:  David Gustafson, Topeka, Kansas

Artist:  Herman Divers - made out of pull tabs.

The pull-tabs are the old-fashioned ones that were available in the 1970's. Each can tab had an extension on it that could be wrapped/bent to secure it onto the next tab.

Artist:  Herman Divers

The full-size motocycle was created out of 179,200 pull-tabs. These were pull-tabs of the 1970's - the ones that were a lot more sturdy.  He bent or wrapped each pull tab to the next and did not use any glue or reinforcements to make these life-sized art pieces.

Artist:  Inez Marshall

Inez Marshall is now deceased.  She started carving Kansas limestone in the late 1930's while she was recuperating from a broken back.  I think I would have really enjoyed her work if she hadn't painted it.  There were some pieces of work that she didn't finish that I really liked but once she painted them, they just didn't appeal to me as much

Artist:  Adolph Hanneman

After we left the Art Center our guide took us to another part of the tour.  The home of Florence Deeble.

If you decide to take a tour of this Grassroots Art Center make sure you have the time because the woman who gives the guided tours will really give you a tour and I think we were with her for over an hour.  We really enjoyed it but we didn't plan on spending that much time there.  And, some of the art wasn't too our taste.  I didn't take pictures if I didn't like it!!