Grassroots Art Center
Lucas, KS
April & October Hours:
Monday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday 11am-4pm | Sunday 1-4pm
May - September Hours:
Monday - Saturday 10am- 5 pm / Sunday 1 -5 pm
November-March Hours:
Thursday-Saturday 11am-4pm
Clarence Tippin - Peabody, Kansas - 1929-2010
Limestone/Sand Paintings
Clarance Tippin began his artistic career in 1972 after retiring from his Wichita building inspector job. he began stone carvings and then moved to sandpaintings, which have their roots in Navajo healing ceremonies. The sandpainting is done in a careful and sacred manner, according to the ancient knowledge of the art. Clarence would take 2-3 hours to come up with a vision. The paintings were made with fine brushes, glue and sand.
Marvin Udelhofen - Springfield, Missouri - 1939-2012
Yard Environment
Marvin Udelhofen loved to ride his motorcycle and traveled many miles all across the USA on his cycle. He was a lathe worker for many years and later in life was self-employed renovating houses. He was an avid craftsman in woodworking and carpentry.
Paul Veerkamp - Lawrence, Kansas - 1951-2014
Balls/Yard Sculptures
Paul Veerkamp collected every type of ball that you can think of - fuzzy, talking, sports, exercise, honorary, pool, golf, disco. When asked if it was an obsession, Paul replied "It's not an obsession, it's a focus." A highly spiritual man, he enjoyed the color, form, size, and motion of 5000 balls which were always pleasing and never tiring to him. They were indoors and outdoors at his residence in Lawrence.
Harvey Walz - St. Francis, Kansas
Welded Metal Yard Sculptures
Found in his hometown of St. Francis, Harvey Walz yard sculptures were made of wheels, augers and barrels.
Paint Brushes, Caps - "Mr. Imagination"
Gregory Warmack - Bethlehem, Pennsylvania - 1948-2012
Gregory Warmack, better known as "Mr. Imagination" was an American outsider artist. He worked in a variety of forms and his work often made use of sandstone and bottlecaps. An inveterate collector of rocks, beads, trinkets, and myriad cast-off objects, Warmack started making and selling jewelry in his late teens. He also carved bits of bark, wood, and stone into faces that strangely resembled African tribal masks or Egyptian kings. In 1978, a week after having a premonition that someone was going to kill him, Warmack was shot twice while selling his handmade jewelry on the street. During the doctors' attempt to save Gregory's life, he had an "out of body" experience that changed him forever. Reflecting that change, he renamed himself "Mr. Imagination." Mr. I (eye) began using new and different types of recycled materials in his art, most notably the bottle caps he is still best known for today. He also lived and created art in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, but after eight years and a house fire in which he lost the majority of his work and his beloved pets, Mr. Imagination started anew in Atlanta where he worked to establish a haven for other visionary artists.
Don Weber - Victoria, Kansas
Red/White Yard Environment
During the 1990s Don Weber starting creating his red and white yard environment around his home in the west side of Victoria. He gladly offered a tour to anyone who would stop to enjoy his creations. He said, "I had a drinking problem, but now this making yard art keeps me busy."
Metal/Wood Sculptures
Harvey Wenger - Sabetha, Kansas -1927-2016
Harvey Wenger worked as a welder for 44 years. He used those skills and his creative visions to create sculptures and paintings. His family said he was a dreamer with a boundless imagination. He used a variety of mediums including scrap metal, wood, telephone insulators, and natural materials like rocks for his rock garden artwork in his yard. He also created large oil paintings. Each piece of artwork was conceived in his imagination, noted with beginning and completion dates, and sketched in detail with materials and dimensions in a notebook. These designs were then copied and mailed to himself, He would receive the postmarked letter and leave it unopened as verification this was his original design. it was considered a type of copyright certification.
Ernest "Ernie" White - Westmoreland, Kansas - 1916-2019
Metal Oxen & Wagon
Ernie White and his wife were "rut nuts" - people who study and follow the Oregon Trail ruts and belong to the Oregon Trail Association. Ernie was commissioned to create two large oxen for his county historical society. He had raised Holstein calves, so he had opportunities to "feel, carry, and chase them". The oxen were created from steel rods wrapped in 12-gauge wire. He created detail by melting the wire during welding. The blue color of his sculptures comes from the 600-degree temperature of the acetylene torch.
William "Pat" Wigley - Blue Springs, Missouri
Flatware/Utility Wire Sculptures
Silverware and utility wire seem unlikely mediums to be used to create sculpture but in steps Pat Wigley of Blue Springs, Missouri. He worked for a utility company installing wire cableing. There were lots of scraps ends being wasted and thrown away, thus the idea sprang forth that he should be creating something out of the waste. Wigley said the silverware sculpture just happened and the Grassroots Art Center is delighted to have several pieces in our permanent collection.
Ed Wilson - Abilene, Kansas - 1927-2019
Metal Wrench Environment
Ed Wilson was a farmer and his Dad sold farm machinery. He began welding yard art at age 65. He saw a display of old wrenches and that got him started, and eventually made a "wrench chicken" which stood prominently in his yard. He was always looking for wrenches. His wife would give him ideas, including using spring teeth and combine bearings. "Old farmers always weld", he said. He also made metal tractors.
Leroy Wilson - Luray, Kansas - 1912-1991
Basement Environment
For 12 years after retirement, Leroy Wilson of Luray spent many hours in his basement painting plaids, stripes, and starbursts on every vertical and horizontal surface. The next year he would again repaint colorful quilt-like patterns on the walls, ceiling, doors and even the utility pipes to create a unique interior environment.
Jim Wood - Belleville, Kansas
Wood Carving
Jim Wood retired to his hometown of Belleville, KS after a career in the Air Force, and being an accountant in Colorado. He taught himself wood carving in retirement, bringing home wood from travels to Alaska, New Mexico, and Colorado. He mainly carved wood character "face" wall hangings, busts, walking sticks and tree trunks in people's yards.
Dave Woods - Humboldt, Kansas - 1885-1974
Yard Environment
Dave Woods retired in 1940 and began decorating his yard, starting with a windmill made after a pattern in Capper's Weekly. He soon turned from such a conventional embellishment and spent the next thirty years artfully arranging dozens of discarded cans, jars, lightbulbs, spools, and balls of aluminum foil, creating an environment which eventually encompassed the yard, garage, and interior of the house. He didn't consider himself an artist, although in 1968 his work was on the cover of Art in America, the country's leading art magazine.
John Woods - Kansas City, Kansas - 1929-2018
Found object complex assemblages
John Woods came to Kansas from California where he made a name for himself with assemblages of found objects. He meticulously sorted through the mud on two occasions when a lake in LA's MacArthur Park was drained, and created large mounted pieces featuring the hundreds of keys, toys, tools, and even handguns that had been tossed into the lake. Woods continued to incorporate those objects in new works from his Kansas City studio. Woods has to be the King of Kansas City, when it comes to visual puns depicted with recycled objects. He says, "I wasn't out to make art. I wanted to make a historical presentation that people could see." Generally, Woods's sculptures are so detailed that a viewer is automatically drawn to look closer.
Newton Youngquist - Agra, Kansas - 1936
Metal Sculptures
Newton Youngquist was a farmer all his life, so welding "Junk Art" gave him a pastime in retirement. Blacksmithing would be almost a better termonology as his sculptures were constructed of heavy springs, bolts and scrap metal. He liked a good joke and some of his sculpture was "tongue 'n cheek" humor, like the Agra water tower. Some high school boys decided to add the letters VI to the AGRA water tower making it say "VIAGRA." Some townspeople thought it was scandalous but Newton just laughed and started making miniature water towers with the name VIAGRA for the lettering. Mr. Youngquist interestingly enough belonged to a Santa Claus national or international association. Each November and December he would leave Agra and travel somewhere in the US to be Santa Claus at a Mall or elsewhere for 2 months. He liked wearing red and green anytime of the year.
Tobias "Tobe" Zweygardt - St. Francis, Kansas - 1916-2017
Metal Sculptures
Tobe Zweygardt lived in Cheyenne County in Northwest Kansas his entire life. As a young child, he was a keen observer and enjoyed watching his father work as a blacksmith. He soon discovered that he also loved to work with his hands and metal. he became the county historian and installed his metal sculptures and outdoor scenes throughout the area at historical sites. His art is a blend of storytelling, history, and metal fabrication.
