This oil paint on linen,"Patriot on a Horse," was painted by Derek Gollaher of Farmington.
"Liberty" is a collage with ink and acrylic paint by Dianne Dickerson of Farmington.
"Old Glory Sailing High" is an acrylic painting by Breanna Trent of Bonne Terre.
"Stars and Stripes Barn Quilt" was created with chalk paint and acrylic on wood by Jennifer Klemp of Farmington.
A group of local artists have American themed works of art on display at the Farmington Library.
One of the artists, Dianne Dickerson, organized the showing and explained the reason behind the project.
“There’s 24 artists and there’s about 36 works, and we tried to keep it politically free,” she said. “What we wanted to do was present ‘Positive Patriotism.’
"It’s all artists from this area, and its word of mouth, and internet posted by area artists.
“It includes everything from a new American citizen to Native Americans, because this is Native American Month, there’s not any Native Americans [in this group], but we represented them with a Peace Pipe and some other things, to the Civil War to the Second Amendment, to a little bit of everything.”
The artists range from military veteran Thomas Nutter, who said that, “This painting was inspired by my service and the need for positive patriotism in today’s time,” to Glore Perez, an immigrant who became a U.S. citizen in 2015 and enjoys celebrating July 4 with her family.
"Untitled" is an acrylic painting by Army Veteran Thomas Nutter of Park Hills.
The artists that contributed were Dean Burns, Kristina Joyce Byers, Loren Depew, Dianne Dickerson, Derick Gollaher, Vada Galvin, Harry Gray, Dale and Crystal Grafton, Dee Anne Hansen, Jennifer Klemp, Ron Marler, Tanya Menard, Linda Montgomery, Elaine Murdock, Thomas Nutter, Joyce Pierson, Glore Perez, Terry Scott, Pete Soens, Breanna Trent, Lisa Thompson, Pat Towner and Steve Warren. The artists represented Bismarck, Bonne Terre, Caledonia, Farmington, Ironton, Park Hills, Ste. Genevieve and Terre Du Lac.
Dickerson had assistance for the project by Mark Henry and three volunteer students from Mineral Area College — Rebecca Byington, Rachel Turner and Rayanna Conway. The group also thanks the Farmington Library staff for their assistance and cooperation.
The display will continue at the library through Jan. 9. The library staff can provide contact information for each artist to anyone interested in purchasing an item on display or to contact them to commission another piece. All proceeds from any sales go to each artist for their work.
Mark Marberry is a reporter for the Farmington Press and Daily Journal. He can be reached at 573-518-3629, or at mmarberry@farmingtonpressonline.com
