While there are several buildings in downtown Laramie for rent this weekend, a little shop on 3rd Street set itself apart. Some passers-by were curious enough to go inside, and when they did, they were rewarded with an eclectic art collection featuring several Laramie artists.
This weekend, the Laramie Main Street Alliance sponsored the Pop-Up Art Show, a progressive show with a purpose beyond displaying art. The alliance’s mission statement is “to preserve historic Downtown Laramie while enhancing its economic and social vitality. It aims to make downtown Laramie more attractive and lively for visitors and residents.
Utilizing the empty storefront, the exhibit brought community artists together. Local artists who contributed their work were: Justin Cloud, Jon Young, Chloe West, Korrine Thoren, Jase Thurlin, Jasmine Peck and Conor Mullen. Each brought a variety of pieces ranging from sculptures to paintings.
I went inside over the weekend and took my time scaling the pieces, finding that each was unique through the artists’ use of a wide range of materials.
There were quite a few people walking around the space thoughtfully. Besides a few contributing artists, who giggled and drank sodas, the room was quiet. It wasn’t an awkward quiet, but a welcomed quiet indicating deep thoughts and careful consideration.
I gravitated toward a sculpture jutting out of the wall. The pieces looked like eggs cut in half with hands sketched on them. There were a few cracks in the material, but mostly it was smooth. It was art I might not choose to have hanging in my house, though I appreciated the effort it took to make the hands look true to life with little wrinkles and raised knuckles.
A few of the pieces I had to convince myself I didn’t need. The piece, “Trek for Two” caught my eye the instant I walked in. The plaque read “mixed media;” it looked like rivers in beds of sand and had a glossy sheen. On the right side of the piece, there were tiny pallets of wood jutting out that formed a spiral maze. It was other-worldly and magical.
Many of the sculptures were made of found, rustic objects like lanterns or old toy cars. Although sculpture was the dominant media, there were several oil paintings hanging on the walls. The most memorable was a portrait of a woman with long brown hair and a nose ring. On a little less than half of her face, there was a crescent of dark brown that displayed an attractive a-symmetry.
There was one piece titled “Intimacy and Alienation.” Although the pieces were not collected to fit a particular theme, it seemed they all reflected these similar sentiments. The hands reaching out of the wall embodied the idea of intimacy, as well as the magical “Trek for Two.” The old rusty cars reflected the idea of alienation, as if they had been abandoned on a roadside.
The works in the show may not have been collected with a theme in mind, but the idea of intimacy and alienation was prominent along with the mission of bringing artists together. Creating art is often a solitary activity, but this show brought artists together to celebrate each other.
