SALUTARY SCULPTURE
February 12 - May 15, 2022 / Aronson Fine Arts Center
Thursdays & Fridays from 12 - 7 p.m. and Saturdays & Sundays from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Co-curated by Laumeier Executive Director Lauren Ross and Curator Dana Turkovic
Video produced by HEC Media
SALUTARY (adjective): “Producing a beneficial effect” or “promoting health”
It is well established that art has salutary effects, both for makers and for their viewers, audiences, and participants. The healing of mind, body, and spirit permeates this exhibition, not only as subject matter, but as actual practice. Salutary Sculpture features a selection of eight artists who use sculpture, photography, video, drawings, and performance to explore art’s capacity as a therapeutic tool for adaptation, recovery, and rehabilitation. Many of the artists gathered came to their current work through a process of their own physical and/or psychic recovery.
“Laumeier is in a unique position to help promote well-being through art and through nature. The artists assembled here address a range of personal experiences and research interests, and each artwork in the exhibition reveals the power of art as a therapeutic tool. We hope visitors will find inspiration in how these artists use their creativity as a way to heal the body and mind and as a process to work through individual—and sometimes societal—trauma and tackle adversity.” - Dana Turkovic, co-curator
Artists include:
Thomas J. Condon, whose abstract photographs loosely replicate his own visual field as he regained his eyesight after being diagnosed with a rare illness, Idiopathic Pseudotumor Cerebri.
Hope Ginsburg’s work embraces social, participatory, and collaborative practices to address the health and wellbeing of the natural world. She uniquely blends meditation and mindfulness with the gear and techniques of scuba diving to link the calming of the human mind and body with the healing of the climate.
Basil Kincaid blurs the lines between craft, sculpture, costume, and performance. His works feature quilting, a practice that has been in his family for seven generations. One piece will be presented inside the gallery. The other has been wrapped around an outdoor work in Laumeier’s collection by Manuel Neri, where it will remain throughout the winter, as a nurturing gesture.
Marcos Lutyens’ works across many mediums examine issues linked to human consciousness. He will present selections from Symmetries of the Mind, an ongoing project centered on a rehabilitation clinic for stroke patients in central Germany where Lutyens is collaborating with the clinic director and other artists to push the boundaries of both traditional healing therapies and art forms. On the exterior of the Aronson Fine Arts Center, he will present Rose River Memorial, a commemorative to those who have lost their lives to COVID.
Guadalupe Maravilla uses sculpture and performance as ways to heal and restore. The impetus of his work stems from experiences of trauma in his own life: fleeing civil war at the age of eight and making the journey from El Salvador to the United States, being an undocumented immigrant, and surviving cancer as an adult.
Dario Robleto has long devoted himself to research-driven blending of scientific inquiry with the fragility and contradiction of the human experience. He will present a sampling of recent works exploring historical attempts to visually represent the human heartbeat, thereby blending the realms of love and emotion with health and science.
James Sterling Pitt’s drawings and sculptures are based on personal systems he developed to recapture moments in his life; an archiving of memories in the aftermath of suffering a traumatic head injury.
Lauryn Youden’s performance and installation work is driven by both research on eastern and western medicinal practices and her personal experience diagnosing and treating her own chronic illness.
ROSE MAKING / Rose River Memorial
Contribute a rose to Laumeier’s installation of Rose River Memorial, a grassroots, community art movement led by artist Marcos Lutyens that uses hand-crafted roses to honor and grieve the many lives lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. A rose-making station is located inside the Aronson Fine Arts Center and is open to the public on Thursday & Friday from 12-7 pm and Saturday & Sunday from 10 am - 4 pm. The roses are created using eco felt, which is made from 100% recycled plastic bottles, and some glue. A rose takes around 5 minutes to complete and all materials are provided. Instructions are available at the station, or you can watch this video. Roses can be made in honor of loved ones or as a show of support to the greater community. Please place your finished roses in the bin at the rose-making station. The additional roses will be added to the installation throughout the spring.
Past Public Programs
VIRTUAL CONVERSATION SERIES / Dr. Shelly Goebl-Parker
Saturday, January 22 / 11 a.m. CT / Via Zoom / FREE
Join Laumeier’s 2022 Cultural Thinker In Residence, Shelly Goebl-Parker, MSW, LCSW, ATR-BC, Professor in the Art Therapy Counseling Program at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, to learn about her research and teaching on the therapeutic intersections of art, social work, and community arts collaborations. Inspired by the upcoming exhibition, Salutary Sculpture, Goebl-Parker will introduce a new Art Hive series at Laumeier and other programs throughout 2022 that build on our annual theme of health and wellness. Reservation required to receive Zoom access link.
CONVERSATION SERIES / Gallery Talk
Saturday, February 12 / 10:30 a.m.
All ages / Aronson Fine Arts Center / FREE, registration is required
A discussion with the curators and exhibition artists Tom Condon, Hope Ginsburg, and James Sterling Pitt.
EXHIBITION OPENING
Saturday, February 12 / 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
ART HIVE
Saturday, February 12 / 1-4 p.m.
An Art Hive is a community art studio that welcomes everyone as an artist, regardless of age, ability, and familiarity with art materials. Join us on February 12 as we reflect together on health and wellness throughout this year. We will draw inspiration from the natural world, the art in the park, and the work of the artists represented in this exhibit. We are looking forward to helping you find art materials or processes that you can explore and enjoy. You are welcome to come and go as you wish, bring friends, and make new ones.
ROSE MAKING for Rose River Memorial
Saturday, February 12 / 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Rose River Memorial is a grassroots, community art movement led by artist Marcos Lutyens that uses hand-crafted red roses to honor and grieve the many lives lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. The installation at Laumeier will reflect the thousands of lives lost in Missouri due to the Coronavirus. But we need your help! We invite you to join us at the Park on February 12 between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. to help create roses for the Rose River Memorial installation debuting at Laumeier on March 6. The roses take just under 5 minutes to make and are created with eco felt, which is made from 100% recycled plastic bottles. Roses can be made in honor of loved ones or as a show of support to the greater community.
FILM SCREENING / Dario Robleto, The Aorta of an Archivist
Friday, March 4 / 6 p.m.
Washington University, Brown Hall 100 / FREE
Written, researched and directed by Dario Robleto, this high definition video accompanied by an original score examines the crossover of historical themes related to the cosmos and the human body, including the recordings of brain waves and heartbeats. This work was commissioned by the Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, KS. Runtime 53 minutes. Presented in partnership with the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts at Washington University. Please note that the program will take place on the Washington University Campus. Dario Robleto will be onsite to introduce the film and take audience questions.
ROSE RIVER MEMORIAL / Opening Reception + Dedication
Sunday, March 6 / 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Laumeier Sculpture Park / FREE
Rose River Memorial is a grassroots, community art movement led by artist Marcos Lutyens that uses hand-crafted red roses to honor and grieve the many lives lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. The installation at Laumeier will reflect on the tens of thousands of lives lost specifically in Missouri. The opening dedication will include an interfaith prayer led by Rev. Jim Poinsett, Executive Director at Interfaith Partnership STL, comments from the Girls Scouts of Eastern Missouri and Perennial St. Louis–who helped make roses–as well as an opportunity for visitors to create their own rose to add to the installation.
2022 Exhibitions are supported by Ken and Nancy Kranzberg, Joan and Mitchell Markow and Two Sister’s Foundation, Emily Rauh Pulitzer, Mary Ann and Andy Srenco.
Salutary Sculpture is supported by the Whitaker Foundation. Basil Kincaid is one of two 2022 Kranzberg Artists. This fund, generously provided by Ken and Nancy Kranzberg, supports the presentation of new work by one or more St. Louis area artists per year.