We are definitely a society that accumulates things. Whether its electronics, collections or fine art, we love our stuff! Three artists showing their work at the Patio Gallery at the Jewish Community Center are showing the artistic side of stuff.

Lisa Simon, an art educator at Jefferson Community and Technical College, came up with the idea with her two friends, Michelle Word and Skylar Smith. “We decided to just think about the word ‘accumulation,’ and we each went back to our studios and thought about what that word means to us,” Simon said. “We each have a different way to express that.”

In 2001, Simon received her BFA from the University of Louisville, where she concentrated in painting and printmaking. In 2002, she was awarded a Distinguished Fellowship at Michigan State University. After graduating 2005 with an MFA degree in painting and ceramics, she moved back to Louisville to grow her children, be with her family and teach. 

“I make sculptures with interchangeable parts,” Simon said. “Lately, I have been making art by fabricating bits and pieces with no specific endgame in mind. The pieces just grow organically as I let the materials and my intuition guide my arrangements.”

Skylar Smith has a BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art and a MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Her work has been exhibited regionally, including The Huff Gallery at Spalding University, The Green Building Gallery, The Barr Gallery at Indiana University Southeast, and in India at Sanskriti Kendra Foundation and through the Sanbarbh Residency in Partapur, India. She completed artist residencies in both India and Peru and is an assistant professor and programming director at Kentucky School of Art at Spalding University.

Smith’s work uses layers of paints to create a presence on the page. “I am interested in the micro/macro effect of these paintings, intricate marks and varying textures shared with shifts in color, darkness, and lightness,” Smith said. “Making this work was a contrast to the often frenetic, scattered rhythm of my days. Through these works, I was able to consciously mark the passage of time.”

Michelle word studied studio art and art history at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind. Word received a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Painting from Michigan State University and was awarded a Dissertation Completion Fellowship for her thesis body of work. She lives in Lansing, Mich., where she is a faculty member in the Department of Art, Art History, and Design and Director of Education at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University.

“As I rummage for materials at thrift stores, I think about the botanist searching for a rare or unknown species,” Word said. “I am struck by how many of the found materials I collect – whether handmade or manufactured – are directly inspired by nature.”

Patio Gallery Hours:
Sunday: 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Monday - Thursday: 8:30 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Friday: 8:30 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Saturday: CLOSED