An Attitude Adjustment, Nougat Magazine Feb. 2006

Nougat, February 2006
An Attitude Adjustment
By Samieh Shalash`
.........................Beverly Baker cover art
(Excerpt)
Lexington has been a hub of artwork and political activity since it opened in 2000. Co-owner Bruce Burris worked briefly at Creative Growth in California in the early 1980’s, but wanted Latitude to expand beyond the idea of just being an arts place.

“The idea is so much more than simply being a place where people make art,” he said. “It goes beyond that through political life and the ways in which people access their community.”
Latitude provides support to about 35 artists and is big on involving them in local events. Burris focuses on finding a place in the community for people with disabilities to make a positive impact.
“They’re kept out of any real community conversations and are marginalized in the respect that they don’t have any real opportunity to create something representative of the real ideas they have,” he said.

Latitude provides support to about 35 artists. Participants have taken part in anti-war protests at Triangle Park, created a costumed magician mad from brightly colored rags for Lexington’s Mardi Gras Jazz parade and made posters for a variety of rallies and events. They are also regularly spotted at Gallery Hops and other arts events.

Burris almost doesn’t know where to begin when asked to describe how Latitude has touched people’s lives. So he pauses for a moment before delving into the story of Beverly Baker.

“In her records, she’s considered on paper tot have “severe mental retardation,” he said. “But since she’s been at Latitude she’s exhibited work all over the U.S. Major collectors own her work. She received the first grant for a person with such a disability from the Kentucky State Arts Council and the list goes on and on…

He calls Lexington a better place to be because of Beverly and points out the impact her artwork has had on the people who have come into contact with it.

Disabled adults can be supported and loved their whole lives, he said, “but in our culture folks never say once ‘this person is really contributing, gosh, it’s great that person is part of this community is better for having another great artist.”

Fundraiser for NYC bound Latitude Artists- Nougat Magazine Dec. 2007

Nougat Magazine December 2oo7

NYC Artist Reception and Fundraiser at Latitude Friday December 7, 5-7pm

Lexington Artists to bite Big Apple!

Jones Art+ Design: a curiosity cabinet
“Welcome to the curiosity cabinet. Grab an Ale 8 One or a beer and take look around”. Thus I was introduced to Phillip Jones, artist, art lover, back road rambler, owner of Jones Art + Design and one very curious fellow. Phil is adamant about creating an atmosphere in his shop that is comfortable for anyone who happens to drop by, and he goes to great lengths to avoid calling his “shop” a gallery, which he considers “too stuffy”.

A recent trip to NYC
On a recent trip to New York City, Phil dropped by the Andrew Edlin Gallery and while chatting informally with their curator Michele Thurz, he proposed that the Edlin Gallery use their project space, a kind of all purpose space, secondary to their main space, to host an installation from Jones Art + Design. On one level it would be an exhibit of work from Jones and on another, a working independent shop within the Edlin Gallery. During discussions with Phillip, Michelle noticed work by Latitude artist Jessie Dunahoo and awarded him a solo exhibit in the primary gallery space.

Commenting on Jessie’s work Michele writes, Dunahoo instinctively creates malleable sculptural objects. His craft is vested in the tradition of quilt making. Quilts are usually stitched together from available materials; personal and practical like the origins of most craft. Jessie utilizes this heritage, craft as his language/ medium. His objects are purposefully arranged, layered, stitched. The quilt embodies the action of collecting, preparing and the physicality of the stitch. The analogy for the stitch is the mark of the maker. Through the use of layering an object is built. These stacks of quilts are quiet yet loaded with information waiting to be read like a pop book –unfolding into three-dimensional drawings that create an intricate structure and a prismatic narrative.

A can-do attitude or maybe plucky is the word!
One thing that all those in the Edlin Gallery exhibit share is a true can-do attitude. The artists also believe that this exhibit involves something larger than just them, as Jim Clark of Lex Arts says “I think Phillip Jones has tapped into something at the Edlin Gallery that could pay dividends for artists in Lexington. The New York City art market is always looking for new work, and it is especially interested in art coming from outside the known market system. Strangely enough, Kentucky is considered exotic because so few people in the art world, except for those involved in Folk Art, know about the artists living in central Kentucky. Because we have so many talented visual artists working in and around Lexington, this exhibit at Edlin might generate greater curiosity amongst other art dealers and collectors”.

Lexington artist Arturo Sandoval adds, "It’s fantastic that Jesse Dunahoo and other Latitude artists have been selected to exhibit at the Andrew Edlin Gallery in Chelsea. Lexington should be very proud that Latitude artists have been invited to exhibit in the art capitol of the world”.

Reception for artists and fundraiser for trip to NYC at LatitudeHalf the artists in the NYC exhibit create work at Latitude Artist Community. Due to expenses related to travel, many of the artists will not be able to go to NYC and for those who do; funds are very limited. For these reasons Latitude will host a reception to honor all those who are exhibiting, and a fundraiser to raise money for travel expenses at Latitude, December 7th from 5-7pm.