Satch and I spent this past weekend in Kewanna Indiana. She was showing art work at Diane Tesler’s art space in the annual Kewanna Art Weekend, this year entitled People and Places. Diane showed new paintings that included portraits of several local residents. Wade Bussert showed new paintings and a new series of drawings and watercolors.
Satch showed new work as well. Her new piece, James Spencer Russell (an homage), was a real hit and gave her the chance to promote Jim’s upcoming retrospective exhibition at the Indiana State Museum.
The attendance both days was excellent and Sunday was even more busy than Saturday. There were over thirty artists showing work including abstract art, pottery, painting (oils, pastels, watercolors), drawing, assemblage and photography.
People came to socialize, get a bite to eat, listen to music and purchase art directly from the artists. It felt good to see so much art being taken out of the gallery by happy patrons. I don’t know how many pieces were sold, but it was a good many. It seemed like there was a constant stream of smiling people leaving the gallery carrying art. Local musicians provided a nice acoustic soundtrack for the event and the artists milled about speaking with visitors about their art.
This event is also a weekend party for the artists. Saturday after the gallery closed for the day, the artists and their friends were treated to a cookout at Lindsey Kozubik’s and Nick Brown’s house that featured a bonfire that easily took the chill out of the evening air. The food was fantastic and more than plentiful. Lindsey’s chili received a unanimous rave review. After dinner the local musicians gave an impromptu concert in the out building adjacent to the bonfire. Those that remained outside surrounded the roaring flames and told stories, jokes and generally had an excellent time.
On Sunday, the party for the artists continued – after a long day and the gallery finally closed, out came a ton of fantastic food and drink that the artists and their families dug into. Diane’s butternut squash soup was off the hook. This was a perfect ending to the event. Over dinner we had the chance to talk with several people that personally knew James Spencer Russell. We heard some interesting stories and garnered some important information and were able to talk about the upcoming exhibition. That was very special.
Diane Tesler and Wade Bussert and many other great folks work incredibly hard to make this event a success. Wade hangs and organizes the exhibition which is no small task. The amount of food that is made for the event is impressive; and the food was constantly restocked by folks making sure the visitors plates were always full. I also need to mention that everyone was incredibly friendly and warm.
It’s not an accident and it is no wonder that this event is so successful every year, for both the artists and the community.
I’ve photographed in Kewanna several times using various cameras and processes. Here are a couple of images that were made in the past:
On Sunday, being low in the sky and slightly diffused, the sun bathed Kewanna in a delicate light. I photographed Main Street’s “turret building” for the Truth from Perceptions project (with a 35mm Leica); on Sunday I decided to give it another go. The only camera I had with me was the iPhone. I used the hipstamatic app. Below is a gallery including those photographs.
What a great weekend!
Ron Kern Photographer and Author 