Art Show Sure to Wow

Wonder and enthusiasm are the feelings the new art exhibit at Zanesville Museum of Art wants viewers to feel. The title of the exhibit is The Creative Spirit: A collection of Folk Art and Outsider Art. The owner of the pieces has been collecting for over 15 years. He understands the diffence between folk art and outsider.

"From my prospective the main difference is folk art is more traditional and is usually produced within a context of a society or a family situation so it has an inheritance support mechanism. Outsider art is art that is somehow produced by people who are marginalized in society" said Mark Chepp, Retired Art Director.

The featured artists did not attend art schools or academies. Their pieces are direct and playful even when then display serious ideas. This exhibit is not common for Zanesville.

"It’s something that is very different. Many times we look at things by famous artists or even our community artists who are artists that are professionals. These are things many of which that were made at home or for families that were just an expression of ideas or the need to be creative " said Susan Talbot-Stanaway, Art Director.

Bottle cap people, seen at the show, emerged during the 1950s they are made from everyday objects and that is a very common theme in this art exhibition.

Ideas and history are reflected in the show. The artists who made the pieces would be surprised they are hanging in a museum.  As pieces and shows like this emerge the stereotypes of art  are broken down. It is about the creativity.

"Any expression of creativity is important at least in my universe and you know creating things out of materials and using one’s hands and imagination to put things together is something I think is inherent in the human spirit" said Chepp.

Prison art is on display at the exhibit. Prisoners used materials like toilet paper, cigarette packs and gum wrappers.

"They all smile and it gets back to that playful aspect again – there is a direct response that people have to this kind of art ."

The show runs through March 12.