Unfurling 250 is a group art show themed around America’s 250th birthday, currently on view at James Oliver Gallery. I am one of 20 participating artists, and I was thrilled to be invited. I have always loved James’ gallery. It’s located in a cool, old building in Olde City Philadelphia (just a few blocks from the Liberty Bell, in fact), and the space is big and airy with high ceilings and amazing, big windows. I even made a neon sign for JOG (James Oliver Gallery) a few years back, which you can read about HERE. Although I didn’t have any artwork that would fit the theme, I had 5 weeks to make something and was up for the challenge!
I remembered I had 2 neon stars that I made a couple of years ago but never used for a project, which I thought would be a good jumping-off point. Stars are present in so much of the iconic imagery that represents America.
The cobalt blue star got me thinking about the American flag, so I decided to lean into that. I repurposed a wooden serving tray for the background, coloring it red with gel stain.
I added stripes using some vintage lace.
The piece was coming together, but I had been thinking about the way the American flag has been co-opted in recent years by right-wing conservatives and the MAGA movement, and how it doesn’t feel like a symbol of unity and democracy anymore.
I wanted the piece to have a sense of reclaiming the flag for all Americans. I had some small, plastic letters, collected from the vintage game Ad-Lib, and used them to spell out Power To The People. I remember hearing about that slogan from the 1960’s, and I was thinking how it feels just as relevant today, as the president acts more like an authoritarian and our government feels less like a democracy.
That was the final touch I was looking for.
Here it is in all its glowing glory!
The other piece I made for Unfurling 250 began to take shape when I happened to notice the star-shaped antique anchor plate among my collection of random, rusty metal objects that are hanging on the wall in my neon studio. It turned out to fit quite nicely inside the other neon star I had, this one made from clear glass tubing filled with krypton gas, which glows a silvery white. For the background and frame, I repurposed some wall decor that I picked up at a local thrift store.
I chose to center this piece around the idea of liberty and how America was founded on the principles of freedom and equality for everyone. We are a nation of diversity and many cultures, which is a beautiful thing. Sadly, however, our progress as a nation seems to be moving backward, as I see the rights of so many citizens being stripped away by the actions of the current Presidential administration.
I was thinking about The New Colossus: the poem at the base of The Statue of Liberty. I started looking around online and discovered there was a musical made in 1946, called Miss Liberty. I found a copy of the original sheet music, which I cut up and used to line the edges of the frame.
I painted the background panel ‘colonial blue’. I found a token coin that fit perfectly inside the center of the star anchor plate, and it also had a hole in the center, allowing me to secure it in place using a small bolt. The coin was from a vintage slot machine called the Liberty Bell. Lastly, I added the phrase LIBERTY IS A HUMAN RIGHT around the outside groove in the center.
Here is the finished piece, Liberty Star.
I attended the opening of Unfurling 250, which was excellent, and I even sold one of my pieces at the reception. So fun!
Unfurling 250 will be on view through the summer, with a closing reception happening on August 22nd. If you are in the Philadelphia area, I invite you to check it out! Lots of interesting and powerful pieces in this exhibition. Visit the gallery’s website HERE for more information.
**EDIT**
A couple of weeks after I wrote this blog post, I was at Fette Sau in Philly having dinner, and looked up at the exterior wall to notice it was lined with anchor plate stars, just like the one I used in my piece. Serendipity!
