Cedar Valley Artisans exhibit shows work of eight artists

The sound is startlingly loud in the quiet gallery. More of a “thunk,” really, but enough to make visitors jump and spin around to see if anyone is behind them or if they’ve accidentally knocked over a piece of art.

No, the gallery isn’t haunted.

The noise is coming from a Shaker-inspired sculpture – a round ceramic pot perched on long legs fitted into rocking chair-like runners and elevated on a low-slung wooden box. The three-dimensional sculpture was created by Ellen Kleckner of Cedar Rapids as part of her investigation into combining disparate materials.

“The sculpture unexpectedly moves at times. It’s a fun illusion,” said Kleckner, who incorporated technology to make the random effect happen.

Kleckner is a member of Cedar River Artisans, a fine arts consortium in eastern Iowa. Art by Robert Fox, M.L. Kline, Julia Kottal, Nancy Lindsay, Marty Mitchell, John Schwartzkopf, Elizabeth “Betsy” Rhoads Read and Kleckner is featured in the exhibition “Voices,” on display now through Aug. 4 in the Forsberg Riverside Galleries at the Waterloo Center for the Arts.

Work by the eight artists represents painting, pastel, sculpture, fiber art, ceramics and photography. Their voices are diverse, but there is a connective thread that runs between the artists and their creative impulses that is felt more than seen.

“Their mission is to show the way for diverse voices to interact. The artists work as individuals, but their work shows well together. It has a cohesiveness,” said Chawne Paige, WCA executive director.

“I have great respect for each individual artist. Everyone’s work is complimentary of each other and there’s a dialogue between the works. The work reflects the individual,” Kleckner said.

Cedar River Artisans and guests recently gathered for a reception at the center.

The consortium grew out of a series of lunches that began 15 years ago, said co-founder Lindsay.

“We would meet and talk about our work and share encouragement and information,” she explained. Lindsay, a landscape artist whose work often depicts natural settings infused with light and color, has been painting for about 50 years. She works from her studio in Stone City.

“The oil paintings that aren’t Nancy’s are mine in the show,” said Kline, smiling. She joined Cedar River Artisans 12 years ago and continues to value her colleagues’ talent and appreciates their encouragement. She primarily paints still-life compositions, finding inspiration in objects and shapes and creating a mood with her brush, she explained.

“I love brush strokes. I may do a couple of landscapes to loosen up, but I do a lot of still lifes. I don’t work from photographs. I relay on my eyes and perception,” Kline said.

Self-professed “old school” photographer Fox of Cedar Rapids described the consortium as “an artists’ mutual support group. Creating art is generally a solitary pursuit, so it’s nice to get out and talk to other artists,” he said. He uses traditional silver-based materials in a wet darkroom to print his elegant black-and-white photographs that range from gardens to urban settings.

“I worked professionally as a photographer in the early ‘70s. That’s what I know, so why change? I got back into photography to make beautiful prints with traditional materials, although it’s a little harder to get those materials now,” Fox explained.

Fiber artist and sculptor Read, another original consortium member, is impressed with the show’s design and layout by WCA associate curator and registrar Elizabeth Andrews. “It’s cohesive, and the diverse art shows well,” she said.

Read’s organic- and unusual-looking pieces, including a wall sculpture made from old jeans and a hanging sculpture made from rush fibers, are striking. “Most of what I use is the detritus of our lives – old duvets, sheets, jeans, things that are too ruined to donate (to charity), but still salvageable for my work. I have a large studio that’s full of stuff – a ‘warehouse-in-house,’ I like to say,” Read explained.

Strong friendships and a sense of camaraderie have grown among the artists through the years, said abstract landscape artist Julia Kottal of Cedar Rapids.

“We wanted to meet in a social atmosphere and network. Somewhere along the line, we decided to show our stuff together, and it’s worked out perfectly.”

Kottal considers herself a “colorist.” Her abstract landscapes are modern but infused with memories of her past growing up in the rural Midwest.

Painter Mitchell was unable to attend the reception. Her paintings in the exhibition explore “a sense of autobiography with a landscape context.”

Based in Cedar Rapids, Cedar River Artisans artists also exhibit their work separately and have their work represented in private and permanent collections, including the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art.

Consortium members are required to actively work and grow as artists. If a member stops creating, they are politely asked to leave, and a new artist is invited to join. Schwartzkopf was one of those recent additions.

The three-dimensional sculptor describes himself as a “woodworker building structural forms, about half of which are primarily decorative, and the other half are functional furniture.” His work reflects “a more liberated aesthetic.”

Schwartzkopf was happy to join Cedar River Artisans.

“We’ve all known each other for years. It’s a very loose-knit group that likes the idea of showing our work together. It pulls out different aspects of our work that you wouldn’t otherwise see.”

Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1 to 4 on Sunday. There is no admission charge. The Waterloo Center for the Arts is located at 225 Commercial St.