Artwork focused on Eudora’s parks and outdoor spaces were on display for a special project Wednesday night.
Mary Gage started this art project, Parks and Green Spaces, in 2020 as a way to call attention to local parks and green spaces, and because she’s always loved the promotional national parks posters.
Gage, an artist herself and contributing writer for Sunflower Publishing, is also a former Eudora resident.
“I thought it would be really cool to have the same type of artwork for local parks, and so the first project we did was for Lawrence parks and green spaces,” she said.
Gage, who now lives in Lawrence, began the project with artists capturing outdoor locations in Lawrence, but has since had projects for Topeka, Atchison, Johnson County, Douglas County and the state.
All the art in the series matches the theme of the 1930s national parks posters.
Five artists – either Eudora residents or those with ties to the area – created work for the latest iteration of the project. Works ranged in media from digital to oil pieces and got to use the composition and color that best showed their depiction of the location, but all matched the same ‘30s theme.
Gage, in collaboration with Discover Eudora, was able to find local artists and have them choose a location that has some significance in their life. Although they all share common threads, it is fun to see how artists perceive their special places and how the art turns out, she said.
Mindy Andrasevits is one of those artists. When she was first asked to participate, she knew exactly what location she wanted to paint – the Wakarusa River boat ramp.
When she was new to Eudora, driving over the river was something that intrigued her. She also uses that area to train with the fire department and do controlled burns.
“It’s one of my favorite areas, or my favorite places in Eudora,” she said.
She created her piece with acrylic paint on a foam board.
Andrasevits, formerly an art teacher, has always been a painter and drawer. She was excited to participate in the project because of its specific parameters and it matched her style, anyway, she said.
Andrasevits was not able to be at the event since she is out of town, but she FaceTimed in to visit with attendees and other artists, and discuss her project.
Eudora resident Ben Tegtmeier created a graphic design depiction of Bluejacket Park. The playground – a place he has spent significant time with his daughter – brought him a new challenge.
“I’ve put this kite in here because me and my daughter went kite flying one day, and I thought it’s the perfect park for that,” he said.
Tegtmeier owns a graphic design company, but he has never made anything in the style of this project.
He started the process by taking photos of the park and deciding on which angle to get the most color incorporated.
“I thought it’d be an awesome challenge. I was excited to do it to see if I could pull it off,” he said.
Kassidee Quaranta’s design of Paschal Fish Park featured the water tower, the playground and birds. She’s a graphic design artist from Lawrence and had previously created art for their series. She enjoyed creating in the style of the vintage national parks posters style, she said.
“I think this has been a really great project for me to familiarize myself with Eudora. It brought me out here a few times,” she said.
The project is a way to get people to remember beauty exists in their own cities, and you don’t have to go to Yosemite or the Grand Canyon to experience beauty in nature, Gage said.
“I’m hoping people will really look just right in their own backyard for some of the beauty in nature and what’s around us,” she said.
In bringing attention to the spaces, she hopes people are more likely to get outside and enjoy and respect these parks, thus preserving outdoor spaces, she said.
Gage said after the first project was well-received, she just kept going with it. She created a website so people could buy prints and postcards of the artworks.
It was never her intention to expand the project to cities all over Kansas, but with the support and interest, she will continue to spread the project.
“As long as people, you know, continue to be interested in it for their communities, and I can find artists to help with it, then sure. I’ll keep doing it,” she said. “It’s fun to promote, you know, these public spaces or outdoor spaces and get people to cherish them and use them.”
The artists and their locations were:
Mindy Andrasevits – Wakarusa River boat ramp
Ben Tegtmeier – Bluejacket Park
Makenzie Schaeffer – Pilla Park
Kassidee Quaranta – Paschal Fish Park
Stephanie Gage – CPA Park and CPA Picnic
The artwork will also be on display at Zeb’s Coffeehouse starting next week and going all summer. Eudora prints can be viewed and purchased at https://www.parksandgreenspaces.com/.
Reach reporter Sara Maloney at [email protected]
To donate to support our community journalism, please go to this link: tinyurl.com/y4u7stxj
