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ARTS & CULTURE
Lawrence Arts Center artist-in-residence Tressa Jones explores space in time in 'a capacity to become more'
▶ COURTNEY BIERMAN
@courtbierman
Missu Minear/KANSAN
Mussy Minear/KANSAM Tressa Jones is the artist-in-residence at the Lawrence Arts Center. Her solo show "a capacity to become more" will be on display at the Lawrence Arts Center from June 30 to July 22.
The Lawrence Arts Center opens exhibitions of four artists' work today, including printmaker-in-residence Tressa Jones as part of Final Friday.
Jones' exhibition is the culmination of the year she's spent in Lawrence working at the Arts Center. Her solo show, titled "a capacity to become more," is an exploration of space and time through the juxtaposition of sea and sky-inspired prints.
Lawrence is the latest stop on Jones' journey. Born in Boston, she's lived and worked across the United
States. She received her MFA in Montana, whose vast, open landscape partially inspired "a capacity to become more" when she thought about it in comparison to the "more manageable" landscape of Kansas.
"a capacity to become more" includes a series of rectangular prints in various
"That western landscape is so expansive it almost does overwhelm you, and it can be awe-inspiring in kind of a dreadful way," Jones said. "So coming here I felt like the landscape seems a little bit more manageable, more attainable. The horizon was there, but it wasn't so far, and it wasn't so overwhelming."
shades of blue evenly spaced along the middle of the wall. Stacks of prints sit atop a line of sawhorses of varying heights that runs through the center of the oblong gallery space. The viewer is meant to stand directly in front of the sawhorses, the wall prints hung on either side, to convey a sense of distance. It feels a little like gazing at the horizon.
Cate Richards is the exhibitions coordinator of the
The work of artists Bisa Butler, Sonji Hunt and Lola Jenkins is on display as well in adjacent Lawrence Arts Center galleries as part of the upcoming National African American Quilt Convention.
Lawrence Arts Center.
tinct facets in our arts community: the National African American Quilt Conference and our residency program."
"We're celebrating not just our Final Friday in a community that loves art so much, but also these two dis-
Jones said no matter
where she is, she finds a sense of hope and calm in the rich blue colors of the horizon. The sea and sky are infinite, but that means they contain more possibilities.
"It can relate to hope in that it's also a lot of potential for things to expand into something else, and to embrace that unknown aspect of things being overwhelming — and think of it as hope as opposed to something being anxiety provoking," she said.
"a capacity to become more," will be on display at the Lawrence Arts Center from June 30 to July 22. It is free and open to the public during the Arts Center's normal operating hours.
Barry Crimmins visits Free State Festival for night of politics & comedy
► COURTNEY BIERMAN
@courtbierman
Comic Barry Crimmins bared his soul at Lawrence's Free State Festival.
Crimmins was greeted with a standing ovation immediately upon walking onstage.
The comedian visited the festival on Friday night to perform a 90-minute set. The show, titled "Atlas's Knees," was mostly about his life experiences, including heartbreak, childhood trauma, the political climate, and, of course, his love for Lawrence.
"I miss this town when I'm
not here like I miss my dogs when I'm on the road," he said.
"Atlas's Knees" wasn't a traditional comedy show. Crimmins was testing the waters with material that seemed to be mostly improvised. Although it was a funny evening, there were long stretches of time during which little laughter was heard from the audience - this was when Crimmins went on impassioned tirades against a host of political issues.
"It was fun to see somebody early on in the process rather than a fully-fleshed hour-long setup," said audience member Alex Joyce.
The show began with a dig at campus carry, which was scheduled to go into effect the day after the show.
"God knows when you're a freshman in college you can't overreact to anything," Crimmins said.
Continued with his take on the Trump administration's attempts to discredit the media: "We shouldn't hate the media. We should hate podcasters, but we shouldn't hate the media."
"Savaging women's reproductive rights makes some men feel less impotent."
And kept going with a handful of one-liners sprinkled throughout the show.
These were delivered at a podium placed stage right, which Crimmins said was the designated area for comic relief.
Crimmins ended the mgm by taking questions from the audience. What does he think of Brownback? He despises him — more specifically, Crimmins thinks he's a "punk, phony, dishonest creep." What are his dogs' names? Lettie and Lu. When is he moving to Lawrence? He doesn't know, but he assured everyone that we're not getting rid of him so easily.
Before Crimmins left the stage for good, he told the audience about a show he did a recently. After this show, he was approached by a former comic from the Boston area who told Crimmins about his time in federal prison, serving a sentence for possession of child pornography.
The man was looking for sympathy, and Crimmins, who has dedicated decades of his life to helping victims of sexual violence, wasn't having it. Crimmins had a few explicit and impassioned choice words for the man before ending the night, leaving the audience to walk out of
the theater almost in a daze processing the rollercoaster range of emotions they'd witnessed.
The takeaway from the show was how genuinely grateful Crimmins was to be there. He praised the Lawrence Arts Center for holding the Free State Festival despite reduced funding. He said that if we had any hope that we would emerge from these trying times, it was because of the arts.
"Where there's art, there's hope," he said. "And that's why I love this place."
CHECK OUT THE Q&A WITH BARRY CRIMMINS
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