Artist Alley celebrates 10th year with a full exhibit

Sep. 4—As downtown visitors celebrated the first Friday of September with painting and food trucks, the 10th annual Artist Alley exhibit had an opening reception.

The majority of artists who contributed to the newest exhibit attended the celebration and mingled with their fellow exhibitors, of which a handful were new to the public art space.

Near the Main Street alley opening, Lesley Wysong spoke to visitors about her fourth piece in the alley, "Indiana Pollinators: Ten Butterflies for Ten Years."

It took her about a month to paint.

Each butterfly was meant to represent a year the Artist Alley had been open. Accompanying her painting, Wysong distributed pamphlets that listed each of the native butterflies and host plants that promote their population growth.

Pointing to a small blue butterfly at the bottom of the painting, she explained the Karner Blue once lived in the Indiana Dunes. The population disappeared a bit more than a decade ago because of the loss of wild lupine.

According to the University of Notre Dame, "the Karner blue is believed to have gone extinct at the Indiana Dunes, making it the first federally endangered species to suffer this fate in a national park due to climate change."

"Hopefully the rest of them won't become extinct," Wysong said.

In a later email, though, she noted, "Sadly this will likely not be the last butterfly species to experience extinction as some species are more fragile and have more specific habitat requirements thus a much smaller range."

Wysong's painting from last year's Artist Alley exhibit is now on display at the Kokomo-Howard County Public Library's South Branch butterfly garden.

Titled "Hope Blossoms," the painting depicts each stage of a monarch butterfly's life.

The artist said she hopes the painting and butterfly garden encourages visitors to research native pollinators at the library and plant pesticide-free native plants and flowers to support the butterflies.

If everyone did a little bit to help, she said, they could make a noticeable difference.

Nearby, Lisa Ananich Freeland, prepared to show off her first painting in Artist Alley, "Owl No. 2 Love Effervescent."

Her first owl painting can be found in the neighboring downtown Artworks gallery, along with her art dolls. The artist said she looked forward to painting a third owl.

She also noted she prefers to produce large-scale paintings. While Freeland enjoys murals, she added, the large marine boards in the alley can be moved if the artist or a customer wants to bring the paintings somewhere else.

"It's a great thing to be a part of," Freeland said of the Artist Alley. She added she was in good company and had been excited for the chance to display her work in the outdoor gallery.

Another newcomer, Dajanell Johnson, said she was encouraged to submit work to the Artist Alley by one of its frequent contributors, her former teacher Deb Edwards.

She explained her painting, "A Walk in a Park," depicts an idyllic setting she first painted during the COVID-19 pandemic. It's meant to distract audiences from stress and remind them to appreciate life.

It took a bit of effort to reproduce the work on a marine board, she said, especially the gradient shading on the painting's rolling hills.

Johnson said the installation made her feel more successful as an artist.

"I'm just glad my name is getting out there," she said.

Heather Polk returned for her second year in the Artist Alley.

As a crowd gathered around her painting, "Lemon Blueberry Doughnuts," she explained there were two Kokomo sites that inspired her work.

In the painting, a lemon and a blueberry — both wearing dark sunglasses — float on a pair of innertubes. The lemon and blueberry, she explained, were inspired by a lemon blueberry doughnut from Lucky Lemon Bakery. The innertubes were inspired by Kokomo Beach.

She said the joy of last year's artist reception prompted her to resubmit work to the alley.

Polk had purchased two paintings from Alley artist Robin Coyner and was excited to meet him during the 2022 dedication.

"To talk to him and have him approach my art last year and just talk to me about it was just such a surreal feeling," Polk said. "It's pretty much for the experience again and also to say 'yeah, I can do this. I can make something bigger."

Each of the paintings in the alley are for sale, ranging from $150 to $1,200.

"You're supporting your local economy, your creative economy," said Susan Alexander of the Greater Kokomo Economic Development Alliance.

Inside the Artworks gallery, a collection of photos were hung on the second floor's wall.

An empty alleyway is shown in the first few photos. Local Boy Scout troops are shown painting the backdrops the works now display.

As visitors walk along the wall, they're able to see each piece of art that has been featured over the decade. At the far end of one wall, there are photos of additional backdrops being installed.

The alley has been full every year.

Ramona Daniels is one of the most frequently exhibited artists in the alley.

Between conversations with people popping into her Artworks gallery studio, she said the sense of community brings her back to Artist Alley each year.

This year's installation, titled "Beauty in the Garden," depicts two peacocks. One is blue, the other is white. Daniels said it's meant to represent diversity.

"In spite of our differences, we're all beautiful and we need to learn how to love and respect each other," Daniels said. "We get the opportunity to say something to the community. I just like to create pieces for people to look at and maybe get some hope — inspire them in some kind of way."

James Bennett III can be reached at 765-454-8580 or [email protected].